By Kathleen Wallace, Au.D.
Despite an explosion of technological advances in hearing devices over the past decade, one challenge persists for those who use hearing aids: hearing well in background noise.
Unfortunately, it is the most common complaint and challenging problem to address effectively. This is due to how hearing loss affects the auditory system’s mechanism to filter out background noise, and the challenge of social events where the background noise and what you want to hear can be acoustically very similar.
Simply put, your brain has to figure out what voice you should be paying attention to and what conversations you should ignore.
In audiology, we describe listening environments using the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). The signal is what you want to hear—like your conversation partner—and noise is everything you don’t want to hear.
A positive SNR means the signal is louder than the background noise; an SNR of around 0 decibels (dB) indicates that the signal and noise are equal; and a negative SNR reflects that the background noise is louder than the signal.
People with hearing loss often require at least a +10 dB SNR to perform adequately in noisy settings.
These are the three options for hearing better in noise. From top to bottom, options 1, 2, and 3, described in the text at left and below.
1. Increase the signal.
This is the natural reaction in a noisy setting—you raise your voice over the crowd’s noise, or a speaker uses a microphone onstage. If you increase the signal, even if you leave the background noise untouched, you will get a better signal-to-noise ratio and, therefore, a higher likelihood of comprehending what is being said.
2. Reduce the noise.
Rooms can be treated with sound- absorbing materials to optimize the acoustic environment of a restaurant or auditorium. Alternatively, more active mechanisms, such as noise reduction technology or active noise cancellation, can also reduce the background noise. By lowering the background noise, you can achieve a better signal-to-noise ratio, even if the signal is not altered.
3. Increase the signal and reduce the noise.
Amplifying the signal and reducing the background noise will lead to the highest signal-to-noise ratio and provide the best opportunity to hear in noisy places. Hearing aids that amplify the signal according to your specific hearing loss and use advanced algorithms to reduce extraneous noise and competing signals achieve this. For further benefit, consider a remote microphone in addition to hearing aids.
The next time you struggle to hear in a noisy setting, think through this formula to see if there is an actionable way to improve your listening performance. Whether by simply moving to a quieter table or using a remote microphone, little listening hacks can go a long way toward better comprehension in background noise.
Hearing Health editorial committee member Kathleen Wallace, Au.D., is at tiktok.com/@eardocoftiktok and instagram.com/kathleenwallaceaud. She sees patients with Tuned Care at tunedcare.com and does in-home visits in New York City through Anywhere Audiology, anywhereaudiology.com. This appears in the Spring 2025 issue of Hearing Health magazine.
The Latest Blog Posts
In audiology, we describe listening environments using the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). The signal is what you want to hear—like your conversation partner—and noise is everything you don’t want to hear.