Wind Noise Sound Quality Preference and Claims Study (WB)

Claims evidence is required for a new Wind Noise Canceller (WNC) algorithm.

Wind noise is not sound in the classic sense, as it does not correspond to pressure waves moving through the air. However, because the microphone membranes are deflected by the wind noise, the microphones translates them into a sound signal. Since the pressure fluctuations are small in size, this wind noise signal is uncorrelated between the two HI microphones (correlation decreases with increasing microphone distance), creating bothersome sounds at low and very low frequencies. Historically, wind noise cancellers have been applied to make wind noise less bothersome. However, target signal (i.e. speech) sound fidelity can become compromised as a biproduct. Therefore, an updated wind noise canceller has been proposed to improve wind noise attenuation and target signal fidelity compared to the previous iteration. Informal exploratory testing by normal hearing Sonova employees have identified the new wind noise canceller iteration to improve sound quality ratings with some dependencies on (1) wind speed, (2) wind angle and (3) target signal. Therefore, this study will aim to produce sound quality data showing a benefit for the new wind noise canceller compared to the older version for the purpose of claim substantiation.

Study Overview

• Status: Not yet recruiting
• Conditions: Hearing Loss
• Intervention / Treatment: Device: New wind noise canceller; Device: Old wind noise canceller

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Estimated): 25
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

• Study Contact: Name: Jonathan M Vaisberg, PhD; Phone Number: 905-745-6785; Email: jonathan.vaisberg@sonova.com

Study Locations

• Canada
  • Ontario
    • Kitchener, Ontario, Canada, N2E 1Y6
      • Sonova Canada Inc.
      • Contact: Jonathan M Vaisberg, PhD; Phone Number: 905-745-6785; Email: jonathan.vaisberg@sonova.com
      • Principal Investigator: Jinyu Qian, PhD

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: Adult; Older Adult
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Adults (18-99 years)
• Binaural, symmetric, sensorineural N2 (mild) to N5 (moderate-severe) hearing loss
• Fluent in English

Exclusion Criteria:

• Minors (< 18 years
• Normal hearing or hearing loss > N6 (severe)

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Treatment
• Allocation: N/A
• Interventional Model: Single Group Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)

Number of Arms

1

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Participant group; Participants will listen to recorded scenes of target signals (speech, environmental sounds) in a wind tunnel, in which wind speed and incidence angle will be varied, recorded using the old and new versions of the wind noise canceller. Condition order is randomized between participants and masked from participants and experimenters.	Device: New wind noise canceller; Updated wind noise canceller intended to improve wind noise attenuation and target signal fidelity compared to its predecessor.; Device: Old wind noise canceller; Older version of the wind noise canceller

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Overall preference sound quality attribute	Participants will complete an A-B paired-comparison listening task to assess subjective preference for overall preference between two hearing aid conditions. During testing, participants will listen to short audio recordings that vary in target signal, wind speed, and wind incidence angle. For each trial, participants will indicate which of the two recordings (A or B) is preferred overall. The outcome measure will be the proportion of "A preferred" versus "B preferred" responses aggregated across all trials and participants. Binary preference data will be analyzed using inferential statistics.	During a single 2-hour onsite study session

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Speech clarity sound quality attribute	Participants will complete an A-B paired-comparison listening task to assess subjective preference for speech clarity between two hearing aid conditions. During testing, participants will listen to short audio recordings that vary in target signal, wind speed, and wind incidence angle. For each trial, participants will indicate which of the two recordings (A or B) is preferred in terms of speech clarity. The outcome measure will be the proportion of "A preferred" versus "B preferred" responses aggregated across all trials and participants. Binary preference data will be analyzed using inferential statistics.	During a single 2-hour onsite study session
Listening comfort sound quality attribute	Participants will complete an A-B paired-comparison listening task to assess subjective preference for listening comfort between two hearing aid conditions. During testing, participants will listen to short audio recordings that vary in target signal, wind speed, and wind incidence angle. For each trial, participants will indicate which of the two recordings (A or B) is preferred in terms of listening comfort. The outcome measure will be the proportion of "A preferred" versus "B preferred" responses aggregated across all trials and participants. Binary preference data will be analyzed using inferential statistics.	During a single 2-hour onsite study session
Listening effort sound quality attribute	Participants will complete an A-B paired-comparison listening task to assess subjective preference for listening effort between two hearing aid conditions. During testing, participants will listen to short audio recordings that vary in target signal, wind speed, and wind incidence angle. For each trial, participants will indicate which of the two recordings (A or B) is preferred in terms of listening effort. The outcome measure will be the proportion of "A preferred" versus "B preferred" responses aggregated across all trials and participants. Binary preference data will be analyzed using inferential statistics.	During a single 2-hour onsite study session
Naturalness sound quality attribute	Participants will complete an A-B paired-comparison listening task to assess subjective preference for naturalness between two hearing aid conditions. During testing, participants will listen to short audio recordings that vary in target signal, wind speed, and wind incidence angle. For each trial, participants will indicate which of the two recordings (A or B) is preferred in terms of naturalness. The outcome measure will be the proportion of "A preferred" versus "B preferred" responses aggregated across all trials and participants. Binary preference data will be analyzed using inferential statistics.	During a single 2-hour onsite study session

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Jonathan Vaisberg

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Estimated): May 4, 2026
• Primary Completion (Estimated): May 31, 2026
• Study Completion (Estimated): May 31, 2026

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: April 14, 2026
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: April 14, 2026
• First Posted (Actual): April 22, 2026

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): April 22, 2026
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: April 14, 2026
• Last Verified: April 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Neurologic Manifestations; Nervous System Diseases; Otorhinolaryngologic Diseases; Sensation Disorders; Ear Diseases; Hearing Disorders; Pathological Conditions, Signs and Symptoms; Signs and Symptoms; Hearing Loss
• Other Study ID Numbers: SRF-36731

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: NO

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No