Independent compression in each ear distorts binaural localization cues

Evidence

As we observed in Chapter 7, binaural abilities of listeners with hearing loss tend to be substantially poorer than those with normal hearing. Further, because the ears receive different signals for sounds at different locations, one can expect the compression algorithm to be working at a different sound level across the ears. For example, a sound to the left of a person might be 20 dB lower in level when presented to the right ear, particularly the high frequencies present in that sound. If that sound is presented at the level of conversational speech, the hearing aid in the right ear might provide more gain than the left hearing aid. In this way, the representation of ILD presented to the ears would be distorted. Delays imposed by the hearing aid may also impact the ITD representation, causing even more distortions to binaural perception. — Jennifer Lentz, Psychoacoustics- Perception of Normal…, 1732

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to the reader’s broader interest in normal vs impaired hearing perception and how assistive tech alters acoustic cues.