Hearing LossWBNCT07543770
Wind Noise Sound Quality Preference and Claims Study
A study testing New wind noise canceller and Old wind noise canceller in people with Hearing Loss, run by Jonathan Vaisberg at 1 site in Canada.
Trial summary
Claims evidence is required for a new Wind Noise Canceller (WNC) algorithm. Wind noise is not sound in the classic sense, as it does not correspond to pressure waves moving through the air. However, because the microphone membranes are deflected by the wind noise, the microphones translates them into a sound signal. Read more about this study
- Who is it for?
- Ages 18 to 99 years
- Conditions the study is for
- Hearing Loss
- What is being tested?
- New wind noise canceller and Old wind noise canceller
- Type of treatment
- Medical device
- Could I receive a placebo?
- No, everyone receives an active treatment
- How many people
- 25 participants
- Where
- 1 siteCanada
- Study dates
- 4 May 2026to 31 May 2026
- Phase
- Interventional
- Are there results?
- Not yet: the study is under way
Key requirements
Who can take part, as listed by the sponsor. Only the study team can confirm whether you are eligible, so take this list to your doctor.
- Ages 18 to 99 years
- All sexes
- No healthy volunteers
- Adult, Older adult
Who may be able to join
- Adults (18-99 years)
- Binaural, symmetric, sensorineural N2 (mild) to N5 (moderate-severe) hearing loss
- Fluent in English
Who cannot join
- Minors (< 18 years
- Normal hearing or hearing loss > N6 (severe)
Trial locations and contacts
1 site in 1 country. Contact the study team or a site near you to ask about taking part.
Canada1 site
Sonova Canada Inc.
Kitchener, Ontario, N2E 1Y6
Jonathan M Vaisberg, PhD, 905-745-6785, jonathan.vaisberg@sonova.com
Jinyu Qian, PhD
About this study
Claims evidence is required for a new Wind Noise Canceller (WNC) algorithm.
Wind noise is not sound in the classic sense, as it does not correspond to pressure waves moving through the air. However, because the microphone membranes are deflected by the wind noise, the microphones translates them into a sound signal. Since the pressure fluctuations are small in size, this wind noise signal is uncorrelated between the two HI microphones (correlation decreases with increasing microphone distance), creating bothersome sounds at low and very low frequencies. Historically, wind noise cancellers have been applied to make wind noise less bothersome. However, target signal (i.e. speech) sound fidelity can become compromised as a biproduct. Therefore, an updated wind noise canceller has been proposed to improve wind noise attenuation and target signal fidelity compared to the previous iteration. Informal exploratory testing by normal hearing Sonova employees have identified the new wind noise canceller iteration to improve sound quality ratings with some dependencies on (1) wind speed, (2) wind angle and (3) target signal. Therefore, this study will aim to produce sound quality data showing a benefit for the new wind noise canceller compared to the older version for the purpose of claim substantiation.
- Conditions
- Hearing Loss
- Being tested
- New wind noise canceller, Old wind noise canceller
- Medical subject headings
- Hearing Loss
What participants receive
What participants receive. In a randomised study each person is assigned to one group by chance.
New wind noise cancellerDevice
Updated wind noise canceller intended to improve wind noise attenuation and target signal fidelity compared to its predecessor.
Old wind noise cancellerDevice
Older version of the wind noise canceller
| Study group | Role | What they receive |
|---|---|---|
| Participant group | Experimental | Participants will listen to recorded scenes of target signals (speech, environmental sounds) in a wind tunnel, in which wind speed and incidence angle will be varied, recorded using the old and new versions of the wind noise canceller. Condition order is randomized between participants and masked from participants and experimenters. Receives: Device: New wind noise canceller; Device: Old wind noise canceller |
What is being measured
The primary outcome is the main question the study is designed to answer.
Overall preference sound quality attribute
Participants will complete an A-B paired-comparison listening task to assess subjective preference for overall preference between two hearing aid conditions. During testing, participants will listen to short audio recordings that vary in target signal, wind speed, and wind incidence angle. For each trial, participants will indicate which of the two recordings (A or B) is preferred overall. The outcome measure will be the proportion of "A preferred" versus "B preferred" responses aggregated across all trials and participants. Binary preference data will be analyzed using inferential statistics.
Measured: During a single 2-hour onsite study session
Secondary outcomes (4)
Speech clarity sound quality attribute
Participants will complete an A-B paired-comparison listening task to assess subjective preference for speech clarity between two hearing aid conditions. During testing, participants will listen to short audio recordings that vary in target signal, wind speed, and wind incidence angle. For each trial, participants will indicate which of the two recordings (A or B) is preferred in terms of speech clarity. The outcome measure will be the proportion of "A preferred" versus "B preferred" responses aggregated across all trials and participants. Binary preference data will be analyzed using inferential statistics.
Measured: During a single 2-hour onsite study session
Listening comfort sound quality attribute
Participants will complete an A-B paired-comparison listening task to assess subjective preference for listening comfort between two hearing aid conditions. During testing, participants will listen to short audio recordings that vary in target signal, wind speed, and wind incidence angle. For each trial, participants will indicate which of the two recordings (A or B) is preferred in terms of listening comfort. The outcome measure will be the proportion of "A preferred" versus "B preferred" responses aggregated across all trials and participants. Binary preference data will be analyzed using inferential statistics.
Measured: During a single 2-hour onsite study session
Listening effort sound quality attribute
Participants will complete an A-B paired-comparison listening task to assess subjective preference for listening effort between two hearing aid conditions. During testing, participants will listen to short audio recordings that vary in target signal, wind speed, and wind incidence angle. For each trial, participants will indicate which of the two recordings (A or B) is preferred in terms of listening effort. The outcome measure will be the proportion of "A preferred" versus "B preferred" responses aggregated across all trials and participants. Binary preference data will be analyzed using inferential statistics.
Measured: During a single 2-hour onsite study session
Naturalness sound quality attribute
Participants will complete an A-B paired-comparison listening task to assess subjective preference for naturalness between two hearing aid conditions. During testing, participants will listen to short audio recordings that vary in target signal, wind speed, and wind incidence angle. For each trial, participants will indicate which of the two recordings (A or B) is preferred in terms of naturalness. The outcome measure will be the proportion of "A preferred" versus "B preferred" responses aggregated across all trials and participants. Binary preference data will be analyzed using inferential statistics.
Measured: During a single 2-hour onsite study session
Timeline
From the start of the study to its completion; the mark is today. Estimated dates are the sponsor’s plan.
- First posted22 Apr 2026
- Study start4 May 2026 (estimated)
- Primary completion31 May 2026 (estimated)
- Study completion31 May 2026 (estimated)
Resources
- Official record on ClinicalTrials.govThe registry entry this page is built from, with its full change history.
- Other trials for Hearing LossStudies of the same condition, open and under way.
- What the trial phases meanHow a treatment moves from first tests in people to approval.
More details
For doctors and researchers: how the study is designed, who runs it, and its registry IDs.
Study design
- Study type
- Interventional
- Phase
- Phase N/A
- Primary purpose
- Treatment
- Allocation
- Not applicable
- Intervention model
- Single group
- Masking
- None (open label)
- Enrolment
- 25 participants (estimated)
Sponsor and investigators
- Lead sponsor
- Jonathan Vaisberg
- Sponsor type
- Industry (pharma, biotech, devices)
- Responsible party
- Sponsor-investigator, Jonathan Vaisberg, Sonova AG
IDs, dates and publications
- ClinicalTrials.gov ID
- NCT07543770
- Sponsor's protocol ID
- SRF-36731
- Acronym
- WB
- Status last verified
- Apr 2026
- First submitted
- 14 Apr 2026
- Last updated
- 22 Apr 2026
- Results posted
- No
- Data monitoring committee
- Yes
- FDA-regulated drug
- No
- FDA-regulated device
- No
- Individual data sharing
- No
Study at a glance
From the registry record, last updated by the sponsor on 22 Apr 2026. Recruitment status is as the sponsor reported it: confirm with the study team.
- Official title
- Wind Noise Sound Quality Preference and Claims Study
- ClinicalTrials.gov ID
- NCT07543770
- Acronym / sponsor ID
- WB / SRF-36731
- Conditions
- Hearing Loss
- Study type
- Interventional
- Recruitment status
- Not yet recruiting
- Enrolment
- 25 participants (estimated)
- Lead sponsor
- Jonathan VaisbergIndustry (pharma, biotech, devices)
- Study start
- 4 May 2026 (estimated)
- Primary completion
- 31 May 2026 (estimated)
- Study completion
- 31 May 2026 (estimated)
- First posted
- 22 Apr 2026 (actual)
- Results
- Not posted in the source record
Clinical summary
The research question as the sponsor registered it. This describes what the study plans to test, not what it found.
Claims evidence is required for a new Wind Noise Canceller (WNC) algorithm.
Wind noise is not sound in the classic sense, as it does not correspond to pressure waves moving through the air. However, because the microphone membranes are deflected by the wind noise, the microphones translates them into a sound signal. Since the pressure fluctuations are small in size, this wind noise signal is uncorrelated between the two HI microphones (correlation decreases with increasing microphone distance), creating bothersome sounds at low and very low frequencies. Historically, wind noise cancellers have been applied to make wind noise less bothersome. However, target signal (i.e. speech) sound fidelity can become compromised as a biproduct. Therefore, an updated wind noise canceller has been proposed to improve wind noise attenuation and target signal fidelity compared to the previous iteration. Informal exploratory testing by normal hearing Sonova employees have identified the new wind noise canceller iteration to improve sound quality ratings with some dependencies on (1) wind speed, (2) wind angle and (3) target signal. Therefore, this study will aim to produce sound quality data showing a benefit for the new wind noise canceller compared to the older version for the purpose of claim substantiation.
Study design
- Primary purpose
- Treatment
- Allocation
- Not applicable
- Intervention model
- Single group
- Masking
- None (open label)
- Number of arms
- 1
| Arm | Type | Receives |
|---|---|---|
| Participant group | Experimental | Device: New wind noise canceller, Device: Old wind noise cancellerParticipants will listen to recorded scenes of target signals (speech, environmental sounds) in a wind tunnel, in which wind speed and incidence angle will be varied, recorded using the old and new versions of the wind noise canceller. Condition order is randomized between participants and masked from participants and experimenters. |
Who may qualify
- Ages
- 18 to 99 years
- Sex
- All
- Healthy volunteers
- Not accepted
- Age groups
- Adult, Older adult
Key inclusion criteria (3 listed)
- Adults (18-99 years)
- Binaural, symmetric, sensorineural N2 (mild) to N5 (moderate-severe) hearing loss
- Fluent in English
Key exclusion criteria (2 listed)
- Minors (< 18 years
- Normal hearing or hearing loss > N6 (severe)
Eligibility is decided by the study team after screening; this overview does not establish that a patient qualifies. Full inclusion and exclusion criteria.
Interventions
| Intervention | Type | Arms |
|---|---|---|
| New wind noise cancellerUpdated wind noise canceller intended to improve wind noise attenuation and target signal fidelity compared to its predecessor. | Device | Participant group |
| Old wind noise cancellerOlder version of the wind noise canceller | Device | Participant group |
Primary outcome
Overall preference sound quality attribute
Time frame: During a single 2-hour onsite study session
Participants will complete an A-B paired-comparison listening task to assess subjective preference for overall preference between two hearing aid conditions. During testing, participants will listen to short audio recordings that vary in target signal, wind speed, and wind incidence angle. For each trial, participants will indicate which of the two recordings (A or B) is preferred overall. The outcome measure will be the proportion of "A preferred" versus "B preferred" responses aggregated across all trials and participants. Binary preference data will be analyzed using inferential statistics.
4 secondary outcomes
Speech clarity sound quality attribute
Time frame: During a single 2-hour onsite study session
Listening comfort sound quality attribute
Time frame: During a single 2-hour onsite study session
Listening effort sound quality attribute
Time frame: During a single 2-hour onsite study session
Naturalness sound quality attribute
Time frame: During a single 2-hour onsite study session
Results and safety
This study is still under way. Results are not available in the source record yet.
Research links
- Official record on ClinicalTrials.govLast updated by the sponsor 22 Apr 2026.
- Individual participant dataSharing planned: No
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Referral and contact
AzTrials does not enrol participants or take referrals. Contact the study team or a site listed below; they decide who can take part.
1 site in 1 country: see every site and its status.
Questions about this trial
What is this clinical trial studying?
A study testing New wind noise canceller and Old wind noise canceller in people with Hearing Loss, run by Jonathan Vaisberg at 1 site in Canada.
The full registered description is in the About this study section and the official record.
Who may be eligible to take part?
The sponsor lists 3 inclusion and 2 exclusion criteria. Eligibility is decided by the study team after screening, so read the full criteria and contact a listed site.
Is this clinical trial currently recruiting?
The record says: opening soon, as of the sponsor's last update on 22 Apr 2026. Status can change between updates, so confirm with the study contact before making plans.
Where is the study taking place?
The record lists 1 site in Canada. Whether a site is taking part right now should be confirmed with that site. See every site.
What are the possible benefits and risks?
They depend on the study and the treatment, and no study can promise a benefit. The study team explains the known risks during informed consent, before anyone joins; the record itself does not list them.
Are results available for this study?
This study is still under way. Results are not available in the source record yet.
How can a doctor refer a patient or contact the research team?
Contact Jonathan M Vaisberg, PhD (905-745-6785, jonathan.vaisberg@sonova.com), or a site near the patient. AzTrials does not enrol participants or take referrals.
What does the primary outcome measure?
Overall preference sound quality attribute (time frame: During a single 2-hour onsite study session). It is what the study was designed to measure, not a finding.
Where can I read the original study information?
Does a listing mean the treatment is approved or proven to work?
No. A listing means the study is registered. It does not show that the treatment is safe, works, or is approved by a regulator.
How often is this information updated?
AzTrials copies changed records from ClinicalTrials.gov every night and reloads the whole registry every week. The sponsor last updated this record on 22 Apr 2026.