Noise of ears and microphones

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Abstract
Although it is well known that the internal noise of the human ear is less than that of many microphones, little has been published since Baerwald (1940) directly comparing the noise level of ears and microphones. When a microphone is to be used in a hearing aid, it is of interest to know how soft a sound the wearer can hear if he turns the gain up far enough. If the noise spectrum of the microphone is known, the ’’aided pure‐tone threshold’’ which can be achieved with that microphone can be calculated by utilizing the extensive literature on the masking of pure tones by noise. Following French and Steinberg [J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 19, 90–119 (1947)], one can turn the tables and calculate the apparent noise spectrum of the ear considered as a microphone. Such a calculation indicates that an acute young ear has an apparent noise level equivalent to that of a microphone with an A‐weighted noise level of about 20 dB SPL. Experimental verification has been obtained on a new hearing aid microphone designed to be quieter than the human ear. A brief comment on the clinical implications of these results for hearing aid evaluation is included. Subject Classification: [43]65.50, [43]65.80; [43]85.62.

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