Try it
Choose a level, then press play. The recording is filtered to give a rough idea of how speech can sound with hearing loss that mainly affects higher pitches.
Ready. Use headphones or a speaker at a comfortable volume.
What it does
Hearing loss often affects higher pitches first. Many speech sounds that make words clear, such as "s", "f" and "th", are higher-pitched and quieter, so speech may seem loud enough but unclear. The simulator cuts higher pitches and lowers the volume more at each level. The filter settings are illustrative and are not taken from any standard.
RNID notes that two people with the same category of hearing loss can experience it very differently.
About the recording
Short extract from the LibriVox recording of the Gettysburg Address (Abraham Lincoln), read by Jim Cadwell. LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. Stored in this app so it works offline.
Want to check your own hearing?
Try our hearing self-check or see how hearing works.
Ask the clinic
Questions about your own hearing? Ask us at your next appointment.
Sources
- Internet Archive: LibriVox – The Gettysburg Address (public domain)
- RNID: Understanding hearing loss and hearing aids
- NIDCD (US National Institutes of Health): How do we hear?
Checked October 2026. If anything here differs from what your clinician tells you, follow your clinician.