Posted Thursday August 7, 2025
Do you ever find it hard to keep up with conversations in noisy environments like cafés, restaurants, or family gatherings? You’re not alone. For people with hearing loss, group conversations—especially in background noise—are among the most challenging and frustrating listening situations. But exciting new research has found a major breakthrough: a new generation of hearing aid technology can significantly improve speech understanding in those tricky environments.
Why speech-in-noise is so difficult
When you're in a group, people often speak over each other, change direction mid-sentence, or laugh while talking. Add-in background noise—clinking cutlery, music, chatter—and your brain has to work overtime just to keep up. Even with hearing aids, many people still struggle to follow the flow.
In fact, over 88% of hearing aid users say that hearing speech in noisy situations is one of the most important things they want from their devices.
A new kind of hearing aid
To tackle this challenge, hearing aid manufacturer Signia has developed a new platform called Integrated Xperience (IX). It features RealTime Conversation Enhancement (RTCE)—an advanced multi-stream processing system designed specifically to improve speech clarity in group conversations.
So how does it actually perform in the real world? That’s exactly what a recent independent study set out to discover.
The study: Putting hearing aids to the test
An independent research team at Hörzentrum Oldenburg in Germany conducted a head-to-head comparison between:
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Signia IX hearing aids with RTCE
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A leading competitor's hearing aids that use single-stream AI-based noise reduction
The goal? To assess how well each device helps users understand speech in a realistic group setting with background noise.
28 experienced hearing aid users, aged 24 to 84, took part in the study. They were placed in a specially designed lab environment that mimicked a busy social setting—with multiple people speaking and background noise playing. Participants were asked to listen and repeat sentences during these group conversations.
The results: Signia leads the way
The outcome was clear:
86% of participants performed better with the Signia IX hearing aids compared to the competitor’s product.
The key to this success? RealTime Conversation Enhancement, which can focus on multiple speakers at once and dynamically adjust in real time. This makes it easier for users to stay engaged in fast-moving conversations, even when background noise is high.
Most traditional hearing aids—AI or not—process just one stream of speech at a time, making it hard to shift focus between different talkers or stay with the flow of a lively conversation.
What this means for people with hearing loss
This research confirms what many users have already discovered: Signia’s latest technology can make a real difference in day-to-day life.
Here’s how:
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Clearer conversations in social settings
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Less listening fatigue when background noise is present
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More confidence and enjoyment in social environments
Ultimately, better speech understanding means better connection with others—and that can be life-changing.
Interested in finding out more about Signia IX hearing aids? Check out our latest offer.
Article adapted from '86% of participants performed better with Signia Integrated Xperience versus key competitor in noisy group conversation'