HearAdvisor Procedures for Recording and Evaluating Earplugs
Introduction
Earplug use for loud recreational activities such as concerts is becoming increasingly common. While a great deal of work has focused on standardizing the protective effects of earplugs[1][2][3], we are not aware of any widely adopted standard for evaluating their perceptual effects.
To address this gap, we designed an objective and repeatable method for measuring the estimated perceptual consequences of earplugs. We make manikin recordings using industry-standard methodologies and pass those recordings through models from auditory science. Those models are used to estimate both loudness reduction and sound quality.
Documentation Overview
| Section | Description |
|---|---|
| Laboratory Setup | Acoustic test lab, speaker ring, KEMAR manikin |
| Recordings | Insertion procedure, diffuse-field stimulus, listening simulations |
| Metrics | Perceptual loudness reduction, sound quality, SoundScore |
| Results | Summary of findings across tested earplugs |
| References | Full bibliography |
The earplugs evaluation uses the same acoustic laboratory as our hearing device evaluation, with minor differences in room properties noted in Laboratory Setup.
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