A 1 dB SNR improvement raises speech intelligibility by 7 to 19 percent.

Evidence

Regardless of a listener’s perceptual deficit (or even lack of deficits), improving the signalto-noise ratio is always helpful to a listener. Cleaning up a signal will help with pitch perception and temporal processing, as it allows a listener to apply the auditory mechanisms available without the detrimental effects of masking. Recall that under difficult listening conditions, a 1 dB improvement in the SNR can result in an increase in intelligibility of between 7% and 19%. — Jennifer Lentz, Psychoacoustics- Perception of Normal…, 1734

Categorization

• SHARE: Nerdy tidbit for an audiologist: the steep 7-19% intelligibility gain per 1 dB SNR is a striking headline number worth quoting.