The Impact of Transducer Selection on the Acceptable Noise Level

Abstract

Purpose The aim of this study was to assess the impact of transducer (loudspeaker, supra-aural headphones, and insert earphones) selection on the acceptable noise level (ANL).

Study Sample Thirty young adults with normal hearing who reported difficulty with background noise served as participants.

Research Design A repeated-measures experimental design was employed.

Data Collection and Analysis Most comfortable listening level (MCL) and background noise level (BNL) were measured for all participants using three transducers (loudspeaker, supra-aural headphones, and insert earphones). ANL was computed as the difference between the mean MCL and the mean BNL.

Results Analytical statistics revealed that ANL did not differ due to the transducer used. However, there were statistically significant differences found for MCL and BNL across transducers.

Conclusions Results of this study indicate that ANL is not vulnerable to the selection of transducer and that ANLs can be compared across transducer types. Researchers should cautiously interpret findings across studies when discussing the base measures of MCL and BNL as these may be influenced slightly by transducer selection.

Keywords

acceptable noise level - background noise level - background noise acceptance - transducer - transducer type

Disclaimer

Any mention of a product, service, or procedure in the Journal of the American Academy of Audiology does not constitute an endorsement of the product, service, or procedure by the American Academy of Audiology.

Publication History

Received: 15 October 2020

Accepted: 15 July 2021

Article published online:
16 May 2022

• References

• 1 Abrams HB, Kihm J. An introduction to MarkeTrak IX: a new baseline for the hearing aid market. Hearing Review. 2015; 22 (06) 16
• 2 Nabelek AK, Freyaldenhoven MC, Tampas JW, Burchfiel SB, Muenchen RA. Acceptable noise level as a predictor of hearing aid use. J Am Acad Audiol 2006; 17 (09) 626-639
• 3 Nabelek AK, Tucker FM, Letowski TR. Toleration of background noises: relationship with patterns of hearing aid use by elderly persons. J Speech Hear Res 1991; 34 (03) 679-685
• 4 Freyaldenhoven MC, Nabelek AK, Burchfield SB, Thelin JW. Acceptable noise level as a measure of directional hearing aid benefit. J Am Acad Audiol 2005; 16 (04) 228-236
• 5 Lowery KJ, Plyler PN. The effects of noise reduction technologies on the acceptance of background noise. J Am Acad Audiol 2013; 24 (08) 649-659
• 6 Mueller HG, Weber J, Hornsby BW. The effects of digital noise reduction on the acceptance of background noise. Trends Amplif 2006; 10 (02) 83-93
• 7 Peeters H, Kuk F, Lau CC, Keenan D. Subjective and objective evaluation of noise management algorithms. J Am Acad Audiol 2009; 20 (02) 89-98
• 8 Wu YH, Stangl E. The effect of hearing aid signal-processing schemes on acceptable noise levels: perception and prediction. Ear Hear 2013; 34 (03) 333-341
• 9 Gordon-Hickey S, Davis S, Lewis L, Van Haneghan J. Improving acceptance of background noise with sound enrichment. J Am Acad Audiol 2020; 31 (07) 513-520
• 10 Kalikow DN, Stevens KN, Elliott LL. Development of a test of speech intelligibility in noise using sentence materials with controlled word predictability. J Acoust Soc Am 1977; 61 (05) 1337-1351
• 11 Wu YH, Ho HC, Hsiao SH, Brummet RB, Chipara O. Predicting three-month and 12-month post-fitting real-world hearing-aid outcome using pre-fitting acceptable noise level (ANL). Int J Audiol 2016; 55 (05) 285-294
• 12 Eddins DA, Arnold M, Kelin A, Ellison J. Individual variability in unaided and aided measurements of the acceptable noise level. Semin Hear 2013; 34: 118-127
• 13 Nabelek AK, Tampas JW, Burchfield SB. Comparison of speech perception in background noise with acceptance of background noise in aided and unaided conditions. J Speech Lang Hear Res 2004; 47 (05) 1001-1011
• 14 Crowley HJ, Nabelek IV. Estimation of client-assessed hearing aid performance based upon unaided variables. J Speech Hear Res 1996; 39 (01) 19-27
• 15 Franklin CA, White LJ, Franklin TC, Livengood LG. Comparing loudness tolerance and acceptable noise level in listeners with hearing loss. Percept Mot Skills 2016; 123 (01) 109-120
• 16 Gordon-Hickey S, Moore RE. Influence of music and music preference on acceptable noise levels in listeners with normal hearing. J Am Acad Audiol 2007; 18 (05) 417-427
• 17 Harkrider AW, Smith SB. Acceptable noise level, phoneme recognition in noise, and measures of auditory efferent activity. J Am Acad Audiol 2005; 16 (08) 530-545
• 18 Rogers DS, Harkrider AW, Burchfield SB, Nabelek AK. The influence of listener's gender on the acceptance of background noise. J Am Acad Audiol 2003; 14 (07) 372-382 , quiz 401
• 19 Jonas Brännström K, Olsen SO. The acceptable noise level and the pure-tone audiogram. Am J Audiol 2017; 26 (01) 80-87
• 20 Nichols AC, Gordon-Hickey S. The relationship of locus of control, self-control, and acceptable noise levels for young listeners with normal hearing. Int J Audiol 2012; 51 (04) 353-359
• 21 Bryan MF, Gordon-Hickey S, Hay AL, Davis ST. Acceptable noise level stability over a one-year period of time. J Am Acad Audiol 2020; 31 (05) 336-341
• 22 Gordon-Hickey S, Moore R, Estis J. The impact of listening condition on background noise acceptance for young adults with normal hearing. J Speech Lang Hear Res 2012; 55 (05) 1356-1372
• 23 Plyler PN, Alworth LN, Rossini TP, Mapes KE. Effects of speech signal content and speaker gender on acceptance of noise in listeners with normal hearing. Int J Audiol 2011; 50 (04) 243-248
• 24 Freyaldenhoven MC, Smiley DF, Muenchen RA, Konrad TN. Acceptable noise level: reliability measures and comparison to preference for background sounds. J Am Acad Audiol 2006; b 17 (09) 640-648
• 25 Xia L, He J, Sun Y. et al. Comparison of acceptable noise level generated using different transducers and response modes. Neural Plast 2018; 2018: 3786489
• 26 Franklin CA, White LJ, Franklin TC. Relationship between loudness tolerance and the acceptance of background noise for young adults with normal hearing. Percept Mot Skills 2012; 114 (03) 717-722
• 27 Freyaldenhoven MC, Plyler PN, Thelin JW, Burchfield SB. Acceptance of noise with monaural and binaural amplification. J Am Acad Audiol 2006; a 17 (09) 659-666
• 28 Olsen SØ, Nielsen LH, Lantz J, Brännström KJ. Acceptable noise level: repeatability with Danish and non-semantic speech materials for adults with normal hearing. Int J Audiol 2012; 51 (07) 557-563
• 29 American National Standards Institute. Maximum Ambient Noise Levels for Audiometric Test Room (ANSI S3.1–2018). New York: American National Standards Institute; 2018
• 30 American National Standards Institute. American National Standards Specification for Audiometers (ANSI S3. 6–2018). New York: American National Standards Institute; 2018
• 31 Bregman A. Auditory Scene Analysis: The Perceptual Organization of Sound. Cambridge: MIT Press; 1990