COPENHAGEN, DENMARK — Auditdata has added two independent hearing-care tools to its Measure™ clinical software platform, bringing the new NAL-NL3 hearing aid fitting system and the Oldenburg Matrix Sentence Test into a single clinical workflow.
The additions connect two important parts of hearing care: selecting evidence-based hearing aid fitting targets and evaluating how well a patient can understand speech in background noise. Rather than requiring clinicians to move between separate systems, the integration is designed to make both processes more accessible during routine clinical care.
NAL-NL3, developed by Australia’s National Acoustic Laboratories (NAL), is the first new NAL hearing aid prescription in 15 years and succeeds the widely used NAL-NL2. The Oldenburg Matrix Sentence Test, developed and validated by Hörzentrum Oldenburg in Germany, provides a standardized method for measuring speech recognition in noise.
NAL-NL3 Brings a New Generation of Fitting Targets
NAL-NL3 builds on the principles of NAL-NL2 while introducing a more data-driven and modular approach to hearing aid fitting. NAL developed the system using data from millions of real-world hearing aid fittings, along with real-ear measurements and user feedback, applying machine-learning analysis to help refine fitting recommendations.
The core NAL-NL3 Prescription is available in Auditdata Measure release 6.6.0. Two additional modules — Comfort in Noise and Minimal Hearing Loss — are expected with Measure release 6.7.0.
The Comfort in Noise module is intended to improve listening comfort in noisy environments without sacrificing speech understanding. The Minimal Hearing Loss module addresses a different population: people who report difficulty understanding speech in noise despite having little measurable hearing loss and who may not traditionally be considered candidates for amplification.
NAL Director Brent Edwards said the development of NAL-NL3 began by identifying areas where existing fitting prescriptions were not fully addressing patients’ needs, particularly difficulty hearing in noise and hearing difficulties among people with minimal measurable hearing loss.
“With their adoption of the NAL-NL3 Fitting System, Auditdata is making the gold standard fitting prescription available to more clinicians around the world.”
The upcoming modules are notable because they move beyond the concept of a single prescription intended to address every listening situation. Instead, NAL-NL3 provides a core prescription with additional approaches designed around specific listening needs.
Adding Speech-in-Noise Assessment to the Same Workflow
Auditdata has also integrated the Oldenburg Matrix Sentence Test into Measure, providing clinicians with a standardized speech-in-noise assessment that can be used alongside the new fitting system.
The Matrix approach uses sentences constructed from a fixed set of words arranged in a predictable grammatical structure but randomized combinations. Because the sentences provide little contextual information that would allow a listener to simply guess the answer, the test can provide a repeatable measure of speech recognition. The method can also be administered repeatedly, making it useful for comparing performance over time or under different hearing aid conditions.
Within Measure, the test automatically adjusts the signal-to-noise ratio based on the patient’s responses to determine a speech recognition threshold. Auditdata’s initial implementation includes 15 languages, allowing testing to be performed in a patient’s language even when the clinician does not speak that language.
According to Hörzentrum Oldenburg, international Matrix tests were developed to provide comparable measurement methods across languages, an increasingly important consideration for both clinical care and international research.
“Speech-in-noise testing belongs in every clinic. Seeing the Matrix Sentence Test reach audiologists worldwide through Measure™ is exactly the impact our research was made for.”
— Dr. Dirk Oetting, Project Manager, Hörzentrum Oldenburg
Connecting the Fitting with Real-World Performance
Together, the two additions potentially give clinicians a more direct way to connect hearing aid fitting with one of the most common challenges reported by people with hearing loss: understanding conversation in background noise.
A clinician can assess speech-in-noise performance, fit hearing aids using NAL-NL3 targets, and then repeat speech-in-noise testing to quantify whether performance has changed. The results can also provide patients with a more concrete demonstration of how amplification affects their ability to understand speech under challenging listening conditions.
Importantly, neither NAL-NL3 nor the Oldenburg Matrix methodology was developed by Auditdata or a hearing aid manufacturer. NAL-NL3 comes from the National Acoustic Laboratories in Australia, while the Matrix testing methodology was developed through Hörzentrum Oldenburg in Germany. Their integration into Measure places both independent approaches within the same manufacturer-agnostic clinical environment.
For larger hearing-care organizations, standardized testing may also make it easier to compare outcomes across clinicians, locations and time, particularly when patients speak different languages.
Auditdata will demonstrate NAL-NL3 and the Oldenburg Matrix Sentence Test at EUHA 2026 in Hannover, Germany, October 14–16. The core NAL-NL3 Prescription and Oldenburg Matrix Sentence Test are available beginning with Measure 6.6.0, while the NAL-NL3 Comfort in Noise and Minimal Hearing Loss modules are planned for release 6.7.0.
Source: Auditdata
