Previous studies investigated wind noise with Behind-The-Ear (BTE) hearing aids, but not the more common mini-BTE style of device, which typically has a smaller shell and microphones located more deeply behind the pinna. The current study investigated wind-noise levels across one BTE and two mini-BTE devices, and between the front and rear omni-directional microphones within devices. Levels were measured at two wind speeds (3 and 6 m/s) and 36 wind azimuths (10° increments). The pattern of wind-noise level versus azimuth was similar across mini-BTE devices, and differed for the BTE device. However, mean levels were markedly different across mini-BTE devices, and could be higher, lower, or similar to those of the BTE device. For within-device level differences, the pattern and mean across azimuth were similar across mini-BTE devices, and differed for the BTE device. Wind noise had the potential to slightly or severely reduce speech intelligibility at 3 or 6 m/s, respectively, across all devices.
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October 2015
October 21 2015
Wind noise within and across behind-the-ear and miniature behind-the-ear hearing aidsa) Available to Purchase
Justin A. Zakis;
Justin A. Zakis
b)
Wolfson Dynamic Hearing Pty Ltd.
, 2 Chapel Street, Richmond, Victoria 3121, Australia
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Daniel J. Hawkins
Daniel J. Hawkins
Wolfson Dynamic Hearing Pty Ltd.
, 2 Chapel Street, Richmond, Victoria 3121, Australia
Search for other works by this author on:
Justin A. Zakis
b)
Wolfson Dynamic Hearing Pty Ltd.
, 2 Chapel Street, Richmond, Victoria 3121, Australia
Daniel J. Hawkins
Wolfson Dynamic Hearing Pty Ltd.
, 2 Chapel Street, Richmond, Victoria 3121, Australia
b)
Electronic mail: [email protected]
a)
Portions of this work were presented in “The effect of hearing aid shell and wind shield designs on wind noise levels at the front and rear microphones,” Poster presented at The International Hearing Aid Conference 2012, Lake Tahoe, USA, August 8–12, 2012.
J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 138, 2291–2300 (2015)
Article history
Received:
August 25 2014
Accepted:
September 07 2015
Citation
Justin A. Zakis, Daniel J. Hawkins; Wind noise within and across behind-the-ear and miniature behind-the-ear hearing aids. J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 1 October 2015; 138 (4): 2291–2300. https://doi.org/10.1121/1.4931442
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