Programming hearing instruments to make live music more enjoyable

Hockley, Neil S.; Bahlmann, Frauke; Chasin, Marshall

doi:10.1097/01.hj.0000388538.27405.93

Cited by 9 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 9 publications

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“…The effects of hearing aid processing on musical signals and the perception of music have received very little attention in research (Hockley, Bahlmann & Chasin, 2010;Wessel, Fitz, Battenberg, Schmeder & Edwards, 2007) although listeners with a hearing loss are no less interested in music than normal-hearing listeners. Every person is immersed in an environment filled with sound, and being able to understand speech is not the only function of hearing.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

The influence of non-linear frequency compression on the perception of music by adults with a moderate to severe hearing loss: Subjective impressions

Uys

Pottas

Vinck

et al. 2012

South African Journal of Communication Disorders

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Objective: To date, the main direction in frequency-lowering hearing aid studies has been in relation to speech perception abilities. With improvements in hearing aid technology, interest in musical perception as a dimension that could improve hearing aid users’ quality of life has grown. The purpose of this study was to determine the influence of non-linear frequency compression (NFC) on hearing aid users’ subjective impressions of listening to music. Design & sample: A survey research design was implemented to elicit participants’ (N=40) subjective impressions of musical stimuli with and without NFC. Results: The use of NFC significantly improved hearing aid users’ perception of the musical qualities of overall fidelity, tinniness and reverberance. Although participants preferred to listen to the loudness, fullness, crispness, naturalness and pleasantness of music with the use of NFC, these benefits were not significant. Conclusion: The use of NFC can increase hearing aid users’ enjoyment and appreciation of music. Given that a relatively large percentage of hearing aid users express a loss of enjoyment of music, audiologists should not ignore the possible benefits of NFC, especially if one takes into account that previous research indicates speech perception benefits with this technology.

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mentioning

confidence: 99%

The influence of non-linear frequency compression on the perception of music by adults with a moderate to severe hearing loss: Subjective impressions

Uys

Pottas

Vinck

et al. 2012

South African Journal of Communication Disorders

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“…The improvement was evident in the subjective assessment by a group of musicians who had previously rejected digital processing hearing instruments in favor of an analog instrument. As tested by Hockley et al (2010), the judgments of sound quality revealed that when wearing digital hearing instruments, these musicians preferred a program with the level-shift engaged for live music.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…It is important to determine if subjective improvements can be found when the level-shift in the front end for higher input levels is implemented and used by individuals, who had reported previous poor experience with digital hearing instruments. Hockley et al (2010) conducted a study which looked at the ratings of sound quality attributes by 9 professional musicians (8 males and 1 female). Four of these musicians were woodwind players (clarinet, saxophone, and flute); 3 played jazz, while the other was a classical musician.…”

Section: Experience With a Hearing Instrument Utilizing The Input Levmentioning

confidence: 99%

Analog-to-Digital Conversion to Accommodate the Dynamics of Live Music in Hearing Instruments

Hockley¹,

Bahlmann²,

Fulton³

2012

Trends in Amplification

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Hearing instrument design focuses on the amplification of speech to reduce the negative effects of hearing loss. Many amateur and professional musicians, along with music enthusiasts, also require their hearing instruments to perform well when listening to the frequent, high amplitude peaks of live music. One limitation, in most current digital hearing instruments with 16-bit analog-to-digital (A/D) converters, is that the compressor before the A/D conversion is limited to 95 dB (SPL) or less at the input. This is more than adequate for the dynamic range of speech; however, this does not accommodate the amplitude peaks present in live music. The hearing instrument input compression system can be adjusted to accommodate for the amplitudes present in music that would otherwise be compressed before the A/D converter in the hearing instrument. The methodology behind this technological approach will be presented along with measurements to demonstrate its effectiveness.Keywords hearing aids, hearing instruments, live music, musicians and hearing loss A/D conversion peak sound pressure level of music

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“…To ensure that it was identification abilities being assessed and not musical knowledge, participants' familiarity with the melodies was verified before testing [19]. Participants were given an alphabetical list of the melodies and were instructed to mark all the melodies that were familiar to them.…”

Section: Sub-test 11mentioning

confidence: 99%

The Influence of Non-Linear Frequency Compression on the Perception of Timbre and Melody by Adults with a Moderate to Severe Hearing Loss

Dijk¹

2013

Commun Disord Deaf Stud Hearing Aids

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Objective: To date, the main focus in frequency lowering hearing aid studies has been in relation to speech perception abilities. With improvements in hearing aid technology, interest in musical perception as a dimension that could improve hearing aid users' quality of life, however, grew. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the influence of non-linear frequency compression (NFC) on music perception with the use of a self-compiled Music Perception Test (MPT). Design & Sample: A quasi-experimental research design was implemented to fit participants (n=40) with NFC hearing aids. Test data was obtained with the hearing aids with NFC inactive and active. Results:The use of NFC significantly improves hearing aid users' perception of timbre and melody. Conclusion:The use of NFC can result in hearing users perceiving music more positively and does not influence music perception negatively.

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Programming hearing instruments to make live music more enjoyable

Cited by 9 publications

References 9 publications

The influence of non-linear frequency compression on the perception of music by adults with a moderate to severe hearing loss: Subjective impressions

The influence of non-linear frequency compression on the perception of music by adults with a moderate to severe hearing loss: Subjective impressions

Analog-to-Digital Conversion to Accommodate the Dynamics of Live Music in Hearing Instruments

The Influence of Non-Linear Frequency Compression on the Perception of Timbre and Melody by Adults with a Moderate to Severe Hearing Loss

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