Hearing Protection Research

In-Ear Microphone

In-ear microphone for behind-earplug HRTF measurements – a collaboration between David A. Anderson (ARA, Inc.) and Professor Andrew Brown at the University of Washington. (special thanks to Bruno Mary for his excellent electrical layout skills)

XL Audiometric Earmuff Testing Headphones

Over-earmuff audiometric headphones with measured frequency response measurements. A design collaboration between David A. Anderson (ARA, Inc.) and Prof. Nate Greene at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Center. (Special thanks to Cortney LeNeave, Sarah Corniea, and Bruno Mary for assisting with 3D design)

Kurtosis Loss analysis

An analysis of the reduction in kurtosis level (impulsiveness) of sound through earplugs. Kurtosis has significance for hearing damage, speech intelligibility, and musical timbre.

Takeaways: Spectral insertion loss is independent of the kurtosis of the noise exposure! Kurtosis loss (kurtosis exposure reduction) is independent of spectral insertion loss. Kurtosis loss for HPDs should be incorporated into testing standards, especially regarding complex noise exposures (such as music)!

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