Individual listeners differ in situational strengths, not just overall speech-in-noise ability.

Evidence

These results suggest that different variables modulate listening in different situations, and that listeners may vary not only in their overall level of performance but also in how well they perceive speech in a particular situation depending on which auditory/cognitive abilities underpin listening in that situation and how successful the listener is at employing them. — Dijk, Pim van, Physiology, Psychoacoustics and…, 1229

Categorization

• CANDY: Fun framing: two people may hear equally well on average but in completely different situations — a nice conversational hook about individual hearing differences.