Scientific Article

Evaluation of elevated hearing thresholds produced by models for the simulation of cochlear hearing loss

¹ RWTH Aachen University, Institute for Hearing Technology and Acoustics, Kopernikusstraße 5, 52074 Aachen, Germany
² RWTH Aachen University, Institute of Psychology, Jägerstraße 17-19, 52056 Aachen, Germany
³ RWTH Aachen University, Department of Neurology, Pauwelsstraße 30, 52074 Aachen, Germany

^* Corresponding author: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Received: 2 August 2025
Accepted: 20 January 2026

Abstract

Introduction: As the statistical distribution of hearing thresholds moves towards stronger hearing impairments with age, plausible simulations of its perceptual effects are useful for a variety of applications. Four software tools for the simulation of hearing loss, capable of generating audible output, were evaluated. An overview of the simulators is presented, their capabilities and significant signal processing steps are introduced. Methods: The perceptual evaluation focuses on the simulation of elevated hearing thresholds. Two listening experiments were conducted to assess how accurately the hearing loss simulators can reproduce target audiograms, i.e., elevated hearing thresholds when normal-hearing listeners are subjected to the simulation. Mild and moderate degrees of simulated hearing loss conditions were defined based on typical hearing thresholds of 70- and 80-year-olds. The complementary technical analysis addresses additional simulated consequences of cochlear hearing loss by investigating input-vs.-output level functions and spectral smearing effects. Results: Statistically significant differences between simulators were found: Good agreement with the target hearing thresholds was found for the simulator “WHIS" (deviations 0 to 6 dB), while the others showed deviations of varying degree (−29 to 7 dB). The created input-output functions proved to be suitable for demonstrating expansive dynamic range processing and explaining the listening experiment results.