Normal-hearing listeners need 7 dB lower SNR in fluctuating versus continuous noise

Evidence

The results shown in Fig. 16.39 suggest that at a given signal to noise ratio it is easier to correctly identify a monosyllable in the fluctuating noise than in the continuous noise. This holds true for all languages investigated. For 50% correct score of subjects with normal hearing, the signal to noise ratio has to be increased by about 7 dB when proceeding from the fluctuating Fastl-noise to the continuous CCITT-noise. In comparison to subjects with normal hearing, for the subjects with 40 dB hearing loss at 4 kHz signal to noise ratio has to be improved by 7 dB for the Fastl-noise and by 4 dB for the CCITT-noise. — Professor Dr.-Ing. Hugo Fastl, Professor Dr.-Ing. Eberhard, Psychoacoustics- Facts and Models, 1998