Internal research on the manufacturer's hearing aid products has idenitfied areas in which the investigators can improve the hearing aid frequency response curve. Based on the conclusions of the first study, we have identified areas that require further analysis and testing prior to implementing of the proposed frequency response curve into our products. This study aims to investigate the current freqeuncy response curve in the manufacturer's products to variations of these curves to determine if hearing aid users prefer the variations over the manufacturer's standard curve.
Internal testing has identified areas in which the investigators can improve the performance of the manufacturer's hearing aid products. This should potentially lead to increased hearing aid user satisfaction due to an improvement in sound quality and listener comfort. Therefore, a study is proposed in which hearing aid users will compare the manufacturer's current frequency response curve to variations made to the curve and determine which one they prefer while listening to live speech/music or while streaming speech/music and while in different listening enviroments.
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation
NA
Purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
NONE
Enrollment
25
Our current hearing aids which will be programmed to our standard frequency response curve.
Hearing aids that will have the frequency response curve #1 adjusted and fit to the participant's hearing loss.
Our current hearing aids which will be programmed to our standard frequency response curve.
Sonova - Kitchener
Kitchener, Ontario, Canada
Sound Quality Ratings - Listening Comfort - Program 1
Participants will be asked to wear hearing aids and as they are exposed to listening environments. They will be asked to toggle between the two hearing aid programs (standard curve and variation #1) and determine which program provides increased listening comfort. Participants will be asked to make these ratings while seated in a sound booth. Scores will be tallied at the end to see which program of the two was preferred more in the different listening environments. Scores can range from 0 (the program was not preferred at all) to unlimited (dependent on the numbers of trials ran and samples tested). Higher scores will indicate that the program was preferred more than the other program and lowers scores mean the program was not preferred when compared to the other program.
Time frame: 10 Minutes
Sound Quality Ratings - Overall Preference - Program 1
Participants will be asked to wear hearing aids and as they are exposed to listening environments. They will be asked to toggle between the two hearing aid programs (standard curve and variation #1) and determine which program they prefer to listen to. Participants will be asked to make these ratings while seated in a sound booth. Scores will be tallied at the end to see which program of the two was preferred more in the different listening environments. Scores can range from 0 (the program was not preferred at all) to unlimited (dependent on the numbers of trials run and samples tested). Higher scores will indicate that the program was preferred more than the other program and lowers scores mean the program was not preferred when compared to the other program.
Time frame: 10 Minutes
Sound Quality Ratings - Speech Clarity - Program 1
Participants will be asked to wear hearing aids and as they are exposed to listening environments. They will be asked to toggle between the two hearing aid programs (standard curve and variation #1) and determine which program has better speech clarity. Participants will be asked to make these ratings while seated in a sound booth. Scores will be tallied at the end to see which program of the two was preferred more in the different listening environments. Scores can range from 0 (the program was not preferred at all) to unlimited (dependent on the numbers of trials ran and samples tested). Higher scores will indicate that the program was preferred more than the other program and lowers scores mean the program was not preferred when compared to the other program.
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Hearing aids that will have the frequency response curve #3 adjusted and fit to the participant's hearing loss.
Hearing aids that will have the frequency response curve #4 adjusted and fit to the participant's hearing loss.
Our current hearing aids which will be programmed to our standard frequency response curve.
Hearing aids that will have the frequency response curve #1 adjusted and fit to the participant's hearing loss.
Our current hearing aids which will be programmed to our standard frequency response curve.
Hearing aids that will have the frequency response curve #1 adjusted and fit to the participant's hearing loss.
Our current hearing aids which will be programmed to our standard frequency response curve.
Hearing aids that will have the frequency response curve #1 adjusted and fit to the participant's hearing loss.
No hearing aids worn at all and participants tested as is.
Time frame: 10 minutes
Sound Quality Ratings - Noise Intrusion - Program 1
Participants will be asked to wear hearing aids and as they are exposed to listening environments. They will be asked to toggle between the two hearing aid programs (Standard curve and variation #1) and determine which program has more noise intrusion. Participants will be asked to make these ratings while seated in a sound booth. Scores will be tallied at the end to see which program of the two was preferred more in the different listening environments. Scores can range from 0 (the program was not preferred at all) to unlimited (dependent on the numbers of trials ran and samples tested). Higher scores will indicate that the program was preferred more than the other program and lowers scores mean the program was not preferred when compared to the other program.
Time frame: 10 Minutes
Sound Quality Ratings - Listening Comfort - Program 2
Participants will be asked to wear hearing aids and as they are exposed to listening environments. They will be asked to toggle between the two hearing aid programs (standard curve and variation #1) and determine which program provides increased listening comfort. Participants will be asked to make these ratings while seated in a sound booth. Scores will be tallied at the end to see which program of the two was preferred more in the different listening environments. Scores can range from 0 (the program was not preferred at all) to unlimited (dependent on the numbers of trials ran and samples tested). Higher scores will indicate that the program was preferred more than the other program and lowers scores mean the program was not preferred when compared to the other program.
Time frame: 10 Minutes
Sound Quality Ratings - Overall Preference - Program 2
Participants will be asked to wear hearing aids and as they are exposed to listening environments. They will be asked to toggle between the two hearing aid programs (standard curve and variation #1) and determine which program they prefer to listen to. Participants will be asked to make these ratings while seated in a sound booth. Scores will be tallied at the end to see which program of the two was preferred more in the different listening environments. Scores can range from 0 (the program was not preferred at all) to unlimited (dependent on the numbers of trials run and samples tested). Higher scores will indicate that the program was preferred more than the other program and lowers scores mean the program was not preferred when compared to the other program.
Time frame: 10 Minutes
Sound Quality Ratings - Noise Intrusion - Program 2
Participants will be asked to wear hearing aids and as they are exposed to listening environments. They will be asked to toggle between the two hearing aid programs (Standard curve and variation #1) and determine which program has more noise intrusion. Participants will be asked to make these ratings while seated in a sound booth. Scores will be tallied at the end to see which program of the two was preferred more in the different listening environments. Scores can range from 0 (the program was not preferred at all) to unlimited (dependent on the numbers of trials ran and samples tested). Higher scores will indicate that the program was preferred more than the other program and lowers scores mean the program was not preferred when compared to the other program.
Time frame: 10 Minutes
Sound Quality Ratings - Listening Comfort - Program 3
Participants will be asked to wear hearing aids and as they are exposed to listening environments. They will be asked to toggle between the two hearing aid programs (standard curve and variation #1) and determine which program provides increased listening comfort. Participants will be asked to make these ratings while seated in a sound booth. Scores will be tallied at the end to see which program of the two was preferred more in the different listening environments. Scores can range from 0 (the program was not preferred at all) to unlimited (dependent on the numbers of trials ran and samples tested). Higher scores will indicate that the program was preferred more than the other program and lowers scores mean the program was not preferred when compared to the other program.
Time frame: 10 Minutes
Sound Quality Ratings - Overall Preference - Program 3
Participants will be asked to wear hearing aids and as they are exposed to listening environments. They will be asked to toggle between the two hearing aid programs (standard curve and variation #1) and determine which program they prefer to listen to. Participants will be asked to make these ratings while seated in a sound booth. Scores will be tallied at the end to see which program of the two was preferred more in the different listening environments. Scores can range from 0 (the program was not preferred at all) to unlimited (dependent on the numbers of trials run and samples tested). Higher scores will indicate that the program was preferred more than the other program and lowers scores mean the program was not preferred when compared to the other program.
Time frame: 10 Minutes
Sound Quality Ratings - Speech Clarity - Program 3
Participants will be asked to wear hearing aids and as they are exposed to listening environments. They will be asked to toggle between the two hearing aid programs (standard curve and variation #1) and determine which program has better speech clarity. Participants will be asked to make these ratings while seated in a sound booth. Scores will be tallied at the end to see which program of the two was preferred more in the different listening environments. Scores can range from 0 (the program was not preferred at all) to unlimited (dependent on the numbers of trials ran and samples tested). Higher scores will indicate that the program was preferred more than the other program and lowers scores mean the program was not preferred when compared to the other program.
Time frame: 10 minutes
Sound Quality Ratings - Noise Intrusion - Program 3
Participants will be asked to wear hearing aids and as they are exposed to listening environments. They will be asked to toggle between the two hearing aid programs (Standard curve and variation #1) and determine which program has more noise intrusion. Participants will be asked to make these ratings while seated in a sound booth. Scores will be tallied at the end to see which program of the two was preferred more in the different listening environments. Scores can range from 0 (the program was not preferred at all) to unlimited (dependent on the numbers of trials ran and samples tested). Higher scores will indicate that the program was preferred more than the other program and lowers scores mean the program was not preferred when compared to the other program.
Time frame: 10 Minutes
Sound Quality Ratings - Overall Preference - Program 4
Participants will be asked to wear hearing aids and as they are exposed to listening environments. They will be asked to toggle between the two hearing aid programs (standard curve and variation #1) and determine which program they prefer to listen to. Participants will be asked to make these ratings while seated in a sound booth. Scores will be tallied at the end to see which program of the two was preferred more in the different listening environments. Scores can range from 0 (the program was not preferred at all) to unlimited (dependent on the numbers of trials run and samples tested). Higher scores will indicate that the program was preferred more than the other program and lowers scores mean the program was not preferred when compared to the other program.
Time frame: 10 Minutes
US Matrix Test in Noise Results - dB SNR 50%
Oldenburg Sentence Test (OLSA) sentences were presented to participants while they were aided under the standard curve, aided under variation #1 frequency response curve, and unaided. Participants are presented with sentences from a loudspeaker placed Infront of them and noise from 7 loudspeakers placed around them (8 speakers placed 30 degrees apart from each other). Participants were asked to repeat what they heard. Correct repetition results in the next sentence to be presented at a lower sound level. Incorrect repetition results in an increase in presentation level for the next sentence. 20 sentences are presented for each condition (i.e., unaided, aided with the standard curve, and aided with the proposed frequency response curve). decibel signal to noise ratio (dB SNR) at 50% correctness scores were calculated at the end and compared amongst the three conditions. There are no minimum or maximum values, however lower scores indicate better performance.
Time frame: 30 Minutes
Sound Quality Ratings - Streaming
Participants will be asked to listen to various streamed stimuli via headphones. They will be asked to toggle between three programs (standard curve, variation #2, and variation #3) and determine which one they prefer the most, which one the prefer the least, and which one they prefer in the middle. Participants will be asked to make these ratings while seated in a sound booth. Scores will be tallied at the end to see which program was constantly the most preferred across the various stimuli. Highers rankings will indicate that the program was preferred more than the other program and lower rankings mean the program was not preferred when compared to the other program.
Time frame: 1 hour