Wind noise in hearing aids with directional and omnidirectional microphones: Polar characteristics of behind-the-ear hearing aids

Wind noise can be a significant problem for hearing instrument users. This study examined the polar characteristics of flow noise at outputs of two behind-the-ear digital hearing aids, and a microphone mounted on the surface of a cylinder at flow velocities ranging from a gentle breeze (4.5 m/s) to a strong gale (22.5 m/s). The hearing aids were programed in an anechoic chamber, and tested in a quiet wind tunnel for flow noise recordings. Flow noise levels were estimated by normalizing the overall gain of the hearing aids to 0 dB. The results indicated that the two hearing aids had similar flow noise characteristics: The noise level was generally the lowest when the microphone faced upstream, higher when the microphone faced downstream, and the highest for frontal and rearward incidence angles. Directional microphones often generated higher flow noise level than onmidirectional microphones but they could reduce far-field background noise, resulting in a lower ambient noise level than onmidirectional microphones. Data for the academic microphone-on-cylinder configuration suggested that both turbulence and flow impingement might have contributed to the generation of flow noise in the hearing aids. Clinical and engineering design applications are discussed. (C) 2009 Acoustical Society of America. [DOI: 10.1121/1.3086268]