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(Why) Do Transparent Hearing Devices Impair Speech Perception in Collocated Noise?
Florian Denk1, Luca Wiederschein1, Markus Kemper1,2
1German Institute of Hearing Aids, Lübeck, Germany.
Trends in Hearing
|April 17, 2024
Summary
Even transparent hearing devices can reduce speech intelligibility and increase listening effort. This hearing device disadvantage may stem from sound quality issues like poor equalization or processing delays.
Area of Science:
- Audiology
- Speech Perception
- Hearing Device Technology
Background:
- Hearing devices aim to improve hearing but can negatively impact perception.
- Negative effects on spatial hearing, sound quality, and voice perception are documented.
- Transparent hearing devices, offering no gain, isolate side effects for study.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the impact of transparent hearing devices on speech perception in collocated speech-in-noise tasks.
- To identify potential causes for any observed disadvantages in speech intelligibility and listening effort.
Main Methods:
- Conducted experiments using transparent hearing devices in speech-in-noise scenarios.
- Varied hearing devices, gain settings, and stimulus levels to test hypotheses.
- Utilized auditory model predictions to correlate with speech intelligibility findings.
Main Results:
- A consistent hearing device disadvantage was observed for speech intelligibility.
- Similar trends indicating increased listening effort were noted.
- Self-noise and nonlinear distortions were ruled out as causes.
Conclusions:
- Transparent hearing devices can negatively affect speech intelligibility and listening effort.
- The disadvantage is linked to sound quality, likely due to insufficient equalization, processing artifacts, or delays.
- Further research is needed to pinpoint the exact cause of this unexpected disadvantage.
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