Music Quality in Hearing Aids

SANDGREN, EMILY
ALEXANDER, JOSHUA M.

Emily Sandgren, BS, is a third-year AuD at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana.

Joshua M. Alexander, PhD, is an associate professor at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana.

Audiology Today 35(4):p 42-51, July-August 2023.

MUSIC PERCEPTION IN HEARING AIDS is much less thoroughly researched than speech perception; therefore, we evaluated the efficacy of programs designed for music listening using seven hearing aid brands with premium-level technology. Results confirm previous findings that hearing aids significantly degrade music quality. For three of the brands, the music program significantly improved music quality compared to the default speech program; however, two of the brands significantly outperformed the others regardless of which program was used.