Binaural hearing and the hearing-impaired.

Abstract

I Within the past few years, there has been a renewed and vigorous attempt to reproduce by unique electromechanical methods our multidimensional acoustic environment. On one hand, there has been the influx of stereophonic in the attempt to reproduce the sound space attendant to original listening conditions. A second interest, implemented by electronic miniaturization, is the binaural hearing aid. Each of these approaches reflects an attempt to provide both the normal and the hearing-impaired listener with a more complete auditory experience than previously was possible with a single reproduction or amplification system. The purpose of this present discussion is to call attention to what appears to be many neglected aspects and pitfalls in applying binaural amplification to the hearing-impaired and to scrutinize, in light of previous experimentation, the current clinical methods frequently used in the evaluation and selection of hearing aids in general and binaural hearing aids in particular.