Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 29, 2026

Assessment of Audio-Tactile Sensory Substitution Training in Participants with Profound Deafness Using the Event-Related Potential Technique
Published on: September 7, 2022
Long-term usage of modern signal processing by listeners with severe or profound hearing loss: a retrospective survey
Gitte Keidser1, David Hartley, Lyndal Carter
1National Acoustic Laboratories, 126 Greville Street, Chatswood, NSW 2067, Australia.
Purpose:
To investigate the long-term benefit of multichannel wide dynamic range compression (WDRC) alone and in combination with directional microphones and noise reduction/speech enhancement for listeners with severe or profound hearing loss.
Method:
At the conclusion of a research project, 39 participants with severe or profound hearing loss were fitted with WDRC in one program and WDRC with directional microphones and speech enhancement enabled in a 2nd program. More than 2 years after the 1st participants exited the project, a retrospective survey was conducted to determine the participants' use of, and satisfaction with, the 2 programs.
Results:
From the 30 returned questionnaires, it seems that WDRC is used with a high degree of satisfaction in general everyday listening situations. The reported benefit from the addition of a directional microphone and speech enhancement for listening in noisy environments was lower and varied among the users. This variable was significantly correlated with how much the program was used.
Conclusions:
The less frequent and more varied use of the program with directional microphones and speech enhancement activated in combination suggests that these features may be best offered in a 2nd listening program for listeners with severe or profound hearing loss.
Related Concept Videos
Perception of Sound Waves
The pitch of a sound depends on the frequency and the pressure amplitude of the source. Two sounds of the same frequency...
Perceiving Loudness, Pitch, and Location
Place theory, or place coding, suggests that different pitches are heard because various sound waves activate specific locations along the cochlea's basilar membrane. The brain determines the pitch of a sound by identifying...
Hearing
The Cochlea
