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Published on: February 10, 2023
Wind noise in hearing aids: I. Effect of wide dynamic range compression and modulation-based noise reduction
1Department of Allied Health and Communication Disorders, Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, Illinois 60115, USA. kchung@niu.edu
Objective:
The objectives of this study were: (1) to examine the effect of wide dynamic range compression (WDRC) and modulation-based noise reduction (NR) algorithms on wind noise levels at the hearing aid output; and (2) to derive effective strategies for clinicians and engineers to reduce wind noise in hearing aids.
Design:
Three digital hearing aids were fitted to KEMAR. The noise output was recorded at flow velocities of 0, 4.5, 9.0, and 13.5 m/s in a wind tunnel as the KEMAR head was turned from 0° to 360°.
Study Sample:
Flow noise levels were compared between the 1:1 linear and 3:1 WDRC conditions, and between NR-activated and NR-deactivated conditions when the hearing aid was programmed to the directional and omnidirectional modes.
Results:
The results showed that: (1) WDRC increased low-level noise and reduced high-level noise; and (2) different noise reduction algorithms provided different amounts of wind noise reduction in different microphone modes, frequency regions, flow velocities, and head angles.
Conclusions:
Wind noise can be reduced by decreasing the gain for low-level inputs, increasing the compression ratio for high-level inputs, and activating modulation-based noise reduction algorithms.
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