Compression hearing aids distort spectral temporal and binaural cues in poorly understood ways

Evidence

Compression algorithms accomplish a great deal in providing comfort for patients and restoring audibility. They have some negative consequences, however, and a patient’s specific perceptual deficits might interact with the type of compression parameters used in amplification schemes. Spectral, temporal, and binaural acoustic information is changed by these algorithms. Describing the impact of these algorithms on perception is a large task, as there are many parameters involved in nonlinear hearing aids (including number of channels, compression ratio, etc.). Further, relatively few studies evaluate the effects of compression on psychoacoustic abilities, and so we can only make some logical conclusions about the impact of compression on particular abilities in some cases. — Jennifer Lentz, Psychoacoustics- Perception of Normal…, 1722

Taken together, there is no doubt that nonlinear algorithms in hearing aids provide benefits to a listener with SNHL. These benefits include, but are not exclusive to, improving the audibility of sounds without exceeding uncomfortable loudness levels and expanding a listener’s dynamic range. However, these algorithms include unintended side effects and can distort the cues present in sounds in a variety of different ways. — Jennifer Lentz, Psychoacoustics- Perception of Normal…, 1733

Categorization

• corroborated: 4 independent passages support this claim — Jennifer Lentz, Psychoacoustics- Perception of Normal…, 1722; Jennifer Lentz, Psychoacoustics- Perception of Normal…, 1733