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.

Featured image for “How Stiffness and Mass Impact the Audiogram”

How Stiffness and Mass Impact the Audiogram

A number of years ago, an article was published describing the importance of the impedance formula in interpretation of audiograms1. The article by Campbell offered a fairly simple and visible way to help understand the audiogram, based on stiffness and mass, and the impact of these two elements on conductive hearing loss. It is recognized that today more sophisticated methods

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Earwax – Current State of Knowledge

What is Earwax? It has been called earwax, cerumen, gunk, cat earwax (Japan), and other names, not all complimentary. It is technically called cerumen, and while often thought of as a hygienic nuisance, is far from this, actually representing one our body’s ingenious functional mechanisms, even though scientists are still not certain why we have earwax. It is the

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Hearables – Wearables – Earables?

Ah – Nothing like a neologism Hearing Aids, Hearables, Wearables, Earables – Evolving, But in Which Direction? New product trends related to devices at the ear have taken up some rather interesting names – hearables, wearables, and earables – in addition to the more traditional hearing aids. Figure 1. Bragi Dash hearable. A hearable (Figure 1) as described by Wikipedia is

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The Preferred Hearing Aid?

What Would be a Preferred Hearing Aid Performance? Would a consumer select the same hearing aid performance as was recommended by an audiologist if given a choice among different signal processing schemes? Results show that there is not agreement, at least for four different hearing aid algorithms (different hearing aid operating systems) as reported in this study. This post

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Localization: Is it More Important Than Word Recognition?

Sound Localization – Time-of-Arrival Differences at the Ears Time-of-arrival of sound at the two ears is an important contributor to sound localization. In this continuation of a series on binaural hearing, special attention is given to the second major contributor to sound localization, that of time-of-arrival of the sound at the two ears. Last week’s post on localization featured

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Hearing Aid Selection: Consumer vs Hearing Aid Dispenser

Hearing Aid Selection: Consumer vs Hearing Aid Dispenser This post is directed at answering the question: would a consumer select the same hearing aid signal processing algorithm as was recommended by an audiologist? A signal processing algorithm refers to a completely different type of functioning hearing aid, not just to single hearing aid that allowed the user to select from among

Featured image for “Eardrum Rupture – At What Pressure?”

Eardrum Rupture – At What Pressure?

Ruptured eardrums are not uncommon, but when they occur, they are traumatic to the person involved. However, there seems to be little knowledge among professionals working with the hearing impaired as to the actual pressure levels required to rupture the eardrum (tympanic membrane) even though they know that this can happen. There are many causes of eardrum rupture. They include,

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Status of the Independent U.S. Hearing Aid Retail Market

by Wayne Staab, PhD Historically, we think of the U.S. hearing aid market being served primarily by independent dispensers. Following the very early years of hearing aid franchises, sales were made mostly by what we now refer to as independent hearing aid dealers (actually, at one time, called hearing aid audiologists). Over time, audiologists also entered the business of hearing

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Energy Harvesting Approaches to Powering Hearing Aids

Energy Harvesting Approaches to Powering Hearing Aids Note: For those expecting to find the continuation of Directional Microphone Mismatch, as mentioned in last week’s post, please note that some recent information has been presented that will relate to improving the robustness of matching two omnidirectional microphones to create a directional listening experience. As a result, the second part is being

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The Sounds of Africa – Lions

The Lion Roar is the Voice and Sound of Africa Old male lion Off in the distance in the savannahs of Africa, you listen, and a roar comes out of the deep, creating an uneasy trepidation. The lion’s roar is indeed the voice and sound of Africa. It sends an awesome message to the world that he is lord