Can the right remote microphone make a difference?

A recent study found that children achieved significantly better speech recognition with Roger™ Touchscreen Mic than with a traditional fixed directional remote microphone in realistic classroom listening scenarios.

Remote microphone technology has long been recognized as an important tool for improving a child’s access to speech in noise. Previous research has shown benefits for speech understanding, language development, and communication outcomes compared to hearing aids alone. However, not all remote microphone systems operate in the same way.

A recent study conducted by Hearts for Hearing and Sonova compared the performance of the Roger™ Touchscreen Mic (TSM) with a traditional fixed directional remote microphone in school-aged children with hearing loss.1

The findings provide valuable insights into how microphone technology can influence listening outcomes in realistic educational environments.

Why this question matters

Classroom noise levels can vary considerably throughout the day, with signal-to-noise ratios ranging from approximately -7 dB to +15 dB. Children may spend a significant portion of their day listening in environments where speech is competing with background noise.

Previous studies have shown that Roger technology can improve speech intelligibility in noise, receptive discourse skills, and exposure to child-directed speech compared with hearing aids alone.

While earlier research demonstrated advantages of Roger over FM systems and other fixed-gain remote microphone systems in adults, less evidence has been available in pediatric populations. This study set out to address that gap.

How the study was conducted

The study included 25 children between 8 and 12 years of age with moderate hearing loss. All participants were fitted with Phonak Sky™ or Audéo™ hearing aids programmed to DSLv 5 child targets.

Researchers compared three listening conditions:

  • Hearing aids alone
  • A traditional fixed directional remote microphone
  • Roger Touchscreen Mic operating in dual adaptive mode

Performance was evaluated in two realistic listening scenerios.

Scenario 1: Simulated teaching environment

In the first experiment, a single talker was presented from the front of the classroom while diffuse classroom noise was introduced. Speech recognition performance was measured across multiple presentation levels and listening conditions.

The results showed that:

  • Speech recognition with Roger and the fixed directional remote microphone was significantly better than hearing aids alone.
  • Speech recognition with Roger was significantly better than the fixed directional remote microphone.
  • Roger was consistently preferred over the fixed directional remote microphone.

These findings suggest that while both remote microphone systems provided benefits compared to hearing aids alone, Roger delivered additional advantages in challenging listening situations.

Scenerio 2: Small group with multiple speakers

Modern classrooms rarely involve a single speaker all day. Students frequently participate in small-group discussions where talkers may be located in different positions around the room.

To simulate this environment, the second experiment used multiple speakers positioned at different angles around the listener while diffuse classroom noise was present.

The results were particularly interesting. The fixed directional remote microphone performed worse than hearing aids alone. In contrast, speech recognition with Roger was significantly better than both the fixed directional microphone and hearing aids alone. Roger was also predominantly preferred by participants.

The researchers suggest that the fixed directional microphone may have reduced access to speech coming from off-axis talkers, whereas Roger’s multibeam technology helped overcome this limitation. These results highlight the detrimental effects that can happen when using a microphone that was not designed for a particular use case.

What did the children prefer?

Beyond objective speech recognition scores, the study also explored children’s subjective impressions of the devices. In both listening scenarios, Roger received more favorable ratings for sound quality, speech clarity, and overall performance.

When participants were asked about design and esthetics, opinions were divided, with a slight preference for the smaller fixed directional remote microphone.

However, when asked to choose only one device overall, the majority of children selected Roger.

˃ Over 2/3 of participants chose Roger as their preferred microphone.

This highlights the fact that children in this age group do have the ability to choose a better performing remote microphone over aesthetics alone.

Clinical takeaways

This study reinforces an important point for pediatric fittings: remote microphones can provide substantial listening benefits beyond hearing aids alone.

The findings also suggest that adaptive microphone behavior matters. While traditional fixed directional remote microphones can improve access to speech in some situations, their performance may be limited when listening environments become more dynamic, such as during group discussions or in louder noise conditions.

In this study, the Roger Touchscreen Mic provided significantly better speech recognition than the fixed directional remote microphone in both simulated teaching and small-group listening situations. The researchers suggest that Roger’s adaptive gain and adaptive behavior may contribute to these advantages.

For hearing care professionals working with school-aged children, these findings offer further evidence that microphone technology selection can influence listening outcomes, particularly in the complex and unpredictable environments children encounter every day.

To learn more about Roger technology for children, we invite you to visit our product pages.

Reference

  1. Neumann S, Calise S, Hill H, Standaert L, Schnittker JA, Roh M, Nelson J, Zhu X. Not all remote microphones are created equal: A comparison of remote microphone technologies for pediatric hearing aid users. Poster presented at PAT Conference 2025.

Contributor:

Lisa Bacic, Manager of Audiology Thought Leadership at Phonak HQ

As Global Manager of Audiology Thought Leadership and Manager of the Audiology Blog, Lisa oversees content development and helps keep clinicians up to date on best practices by giving experts in the hearing industry a platform to share their knowledge. Lisa holds a Master’s degree in Speech Pathology and Audiology.