Improved performance with automatic sound management 3 in the MED-EL SONNET 2 cochlear implant audio processor

OBJECTIVES: The SONNET 2 audio processor features ambient noise reduction (ANR), transient-noise reduction (TNR), and adaptive intelligence (AI). The primary aim of this study was to evaluate if using these features improves speech perception in noise, subjective listening effort, and sound quality. DESIGN: In this prospective longitudinal study, twenty adult SONNET users were fitted with the SONNET 2 audio processor, configured either as a default SONNET (no ANR/TNR/AI), with mild ANR/TNR, with strong ANR/TNR, with mild AI, and with strong AI. Speech perception in noise was assessed in speech and stationary noise from the front (S0N0); speech, stationary noise, and transient noise from the front (S0N0T0); and speech from the front in spatially-distributed stationary noise (S0N±45N±135). Listening effort, subjective sound quality, and device/setup preference were assessed. RESULTS: In the S0N0 setup, speech perception in noise was significantly better with the SONNET 2 when using ANR/TNR in the mild setup than with the SONNET or the SONNET 2 in the default SONNET configuration. In the S0N±45N±135 setup, speech understanding was significantly better in all four SONNET 2 configurations than with the SONNET or the SONNET 2 in the default SONNET configuration (a 1.26–2.55 dB SRT80 benefit). Subjects tolerated consistently lower signal-to-noise values with the SONNET 2 configurations using ANR/TNR than with the default SONNET configuration in all listening effort categories. All SONNET 2 configurations using ANR/TNR were preferred and better rated in speech in stationary and/or transient noise compared to the default SONNET configuration. Sound quality and pleasantness were better in those SONNET 2 configurations. Subjects strongly preferred the SONNET 2 configurations over the SONNET configuration. CONCLUSIONS: The new front-end features implemented in the SONNET 2 audio processor objectively improve speech perception in noise. Subjects preferred the SONNET 2, over the SONNET, in the presence of stationary and transient noise.