Noise gates and compression let aids make faint speech audible without amplifying noise

Evidence

Deficits in auditory perceptual abilities have a direct consequence for perception of sounds in natural environments. Audibility is the greatest factor in communication difficulties for listeners with hearing loss. However, supra-threshold deficits all contribute to poor auditory perception. … Specific deficits can be difficult to compensate for using modern hearing aid technology, and in many cases, hearing aid algorithms distort the cues available to a listener with SNHL. Despite the distortion provided by these algorithms, hearing aids provide benefits to speech understanding. — Jennifer Lentz, Psychoacoustics- Perception of Normal…, 1777 (#expands, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Hearing aids cannot deliver speech-in-noise gains that users can perceive or value; Hearing aids address only audibility, loudness, and noise, not spectral and temporal processing; Wide dynamic range compression typifies all nonlinear hearing aid amplification (+6 more)

Broader Connections

• Hearing aid algorithms distort auditory cues yet still improve speech understanding #expands (0.80) — Jennifer Lentz, Psychoacoustics- Perception of Normal…, 1777
• Hearing aid compression maps a wide input range into a narrower output range #expands (0.78)
• Hearing aids address audibility, recruitment, and noise but not resolution deficits #expands (0.75)
• Volume compression worsens speech intelligibility by flattening syllabic amplitude cues #complicates (0.75) — David M. Howard, Jamie Angus, Acoustics and Psychoacoustics, 2492