Wayne Staab

Dr. Staab is an internationally recognized authority in hearing aids. As President of Dr. Wayne J. Staab and Associates, he is engaged in consulting, research, development, manufacturing, education, and marketing projects related to hearing. His professional career has included University teaching, hearing clinic work, hearing aid company management and sales, and extensive work with engineering in developing and bringing new technology and products to the discipline of hearing. This varied background allows him to couple manufacturing and business with the science of acoustics to bring innovative developments and insights to our discipline. Dr. Staab has authored numerous books, chapters, and articles related to hearing aids and their fitting, and is an internationally-requested presenter. He is a past President and past Executive Director of the American Auditory Society and a retired Fellow of the International Collegium of Rehabilitative Audiology. Interests engaged in outside of the above include: fishing, hunting, hiking, mountain biking, golf, travel, tennis, softball, lecturing, sporting clays, 4-wheeling, archery, swimming, guitar, computers, and photography. These are great topics of discussion away from business.

Deep-Fitting Hearing Aid Real-Ear Measurements: Easy, Accurate, Consistent

Why Perform Real-ear Testing? The reason for hearing aid real-ear measurement is to determine the actual amplification of the hearing aid as worn on the head of the user. As is known (and reviewed in the 7/6/2011 blog), coupler measurements produce varying results, depending on how they are made. Real-ear results are not the same as measured using hearing aid

RIC Hearing Aid Coupler Measurements

Introduction RIC (receiver-in-canal) hearing aids have become very popular over the past few years. However, electro-acoustical coupler measurements of such instruments to properly suggest how they perform on the real ear have not been standardized. So, how are RIC coupler measurements made and what do they tell us? For RIC instruments, especially those that use occluded coupling, the use of

The Origin of Hearing Aid Manufacturing in Minneapolis/St. Paul

In the 1960s it was estimated that the United States had approximately 40 companies identifying themselves as hearing aid manufacturers. The greatest number were located in Minneapolis, MN and as a result, Minneapolis/St. Paul was often identified as the hearing aid capital of the world, and still today, as the hearing aid capital of the United States. And although Minneapolis/St.

RIC Speaker Link Replacement/Consistency of Performance

A Case For Extra Speaker Links For The Consumer Some RIC (Receiver-in-the-Canal) hearing aids allow for the speaker link to be removable (Figure 1). This has significant advantages to both the user and to the dispenser because when a problem occurs with the hearing aid, it is more likely a speaker link problem than a problem with the processing device.

Hearing Aid Evaluation/Rating Scales

Throughout the years numerous evaluation/rating scales have been conducted to determine patient/subject reaction to hearing aids – from comfort, cosmetics, handicap, self-evaluation of hearing difficulty, performance, satisfaction, cost, benefit, etc. Some have been validated and others have been developed for specific purposes. Regardless, all serve a purpose. A partial list includes: Feasibility Scale for Predicting Hearing Aid Use Hearing Aid

Hearing Testing in Song

Over the years many items of interest to hearing professionals have been lost or forgotten, and for others, have never been experienced. This blog relates to an item of interest that if not presented here, may never have been known to hearing professionals. In my library is an audio tape with a couple of songs on it, and one relates

Other Uses of the Decibel

The decibel (dB) is most generally associated with sound levels, especially for those of us in acoustics. However, acoustics has no sole claim to the use of this term. For example, there is no reason why the decibel could not be used to express values in frequency, weight, height, distance, the national debt, or to any measurement that has two

Errors of the Acoustic Gain Prescribed Via Real-Ear-to-Coupler Differences (RECD)

Editor’s Note: This is an interesting concept and was introduced at the April 2011 meeting of the ANSI standard’s working group 80, now working on a revision of the S3.46 real ear standard. In this suggestion, the HA-2 coupler result is not as good as the HA-1, especially when using the same custom earmold that would be used in the

Golf and Hearing: Does theory Sometimes Get in the Way of Reality?

During the rain delay in the golf Players Championship on television, I attempted to justify the time I was spending watching a “good walk ruined” as Mark Twain was fond of saying. The announcers were commenting on how far the ball was now being driven, and in a moment of brilliance I had my justification for watching. The comment

Are Directional Mic Hearing Aids Really Directional (Part IV)

This blog started by looking at three assumptions about directional microphone hearing aids. Do hearing aid manufacturers routinely measure the directional properties of DM hearing aids prior to shipment? Are directional features programmed into the hearing aid seen on the computer programming screen actually what is programmed into the hearing aid? Once the hearing aid is programmed, is the measured