ROCKFORD, ILLINOIS — HearAdvisor, an independent sound performance lab, has announced the awarding of its new “HearAdvisor Expert Choice” badge to 13 hearing aid models. The badge is intended to provide consumers with a straightforward and dependable method of recognizing high-quality hearing aids “in a market that is flooded with low-performing imports”.
Founded by three hearing experts, Abram Bailey AuD, Steve Taddei AuD, and Andrew Sabin PhD, HearAdvisor is on a mission to help consumers make better-informed decisions while navigating a confusing, sometimes deceptive marketplace. The recent introduction of OTC hearing aids in the US has given consumers more options than ever, creating a flood of new hearing aids of varying quality (even in FDA-compliant devices) being offered by top national retailers.
Some of the winners of the “Expert Choice” badge include:
- Sony CRE-E10 Self-Fitting OTC Hearing Aids
- Sony CRE-C10 Self-Fitting OTC Hearing Aids
- Jabra Enhance Select 200
- Lexie B2
- Lucid Engage
“I need to give full credit for this recognition to our incredible team at Lucid Hearing for the extraordinary work that they’ve done to make our products, like the Engage Rechargeable, such a high performing OTC hearing aid,” said Bennett Griffin, Executive Vice President of Research and Development. “Lucid Hearing was fully prepared when the OTC market opened up to offer quality hearing devices that are easily accessible and affordable, while still performing at advanced levels. That is due to the efforts of multiple teams, who have designed and built an exceptional line of OTC hearing aid products that have led to our ability to help so many people secure solutions for their hearing loss.”
“It’s an honor to be recognized as an Expert Choice hearing aid by HearAdvisor. We understand that the best hearing aids are the ones you wear. That’s why the Lexie B2 Hearing Aids, Powered by Bose uses the world’s first self-fitting technology to provide a clinically-proven, high-quality hearing experience that people can enjoy wearing for a fraction of the cost of traditional hearing aids. Our innovative technology, easy to use app, and accessible, remote support, make Lexie Hearing Aids a standout product – and one people can feel comfortable wearing.”
–Brian Maguire, SVP of North America for Lexie Hearing
“We’re honored to receive HearAdvisor’s Expert Choice Award,” said Adam Karp, CEO of Jabra Enhance. “Jabra Enhance Select was designed to elevate hearing care for millions of Americans in need of hearing solutions and we look forward to continuing to innovate and enable users to reach their full hearing potential with our devices.”
HearAdvisor is also launching an overall sound performance score—the HearAdvisor SoundScore™—that summarizes, in a single easy-to-compare number, a hearing aid’s overall sound performance. SoundScore™ combines various aspects of performance such as speech in quiet/noise benefits, streamed audio quality, feedback handling, and fit voice quality. HearAdvisor has measured almost all of the most popular hearing aids on the US market in 2023.
“Coming up with a single number to quantify the overall sound performance of a hearing aid is super challenging,” said Abram Bailey, Au.D. and co-founder of HearAdvisor. “We leaned on the latest research in audiology and hearing science to make realistic recordings and compute perceptually-validated metrics from the scientific literature. We even conducted our own research to find which of our metrics were most important to consumers and audiology professionals. This helped us to create a composite score that captures the priorities of both groups.” Today, hearing aids with the highest SoundScore™ are awarded the 2023 HearAdvisor Experts Choice award.
Lucid Engage OTC hearing aids on a KEMAR testing manikin in the HearAdvisor test chamber
Consumers can also now listen to realistic recordings of all devices measured by HearAdvisor. Using its state-of-the-art acoustic testing laboratory, HearAdvisor records each hearing aid in a range of realistic environments presented with ambisonic reproduction, in a semi-anechoic room, and recorded on an industry-standard hearing manikin.
The resulting binaural hearing aid audio recordings place the listener in 3D sound environments, allowing customers to preview hearing aids from their homes with just a pair of headphones. Consumers can now visit HearingTracker.com to listen to the recordings of a number of different devices.
About HearAdvisor
HearAdvisor is an independently owned business led by Abram Bailey AuD, Steve Taddei AuD, and Andrew Sabin PhD. HearAdvisor is committed to making the hearing aid market less confusing and helping consumers cut through the noise in the marketplace to make informed decisions based on scientifically-validated metrics and realistic recordings.
To learn more about HearAdvisor, visit our website https://hearadvisor.com/ and to see more of our content visit https://www.hearingtracker.com/hearing-aids/compare
Source: HearAdvisor
