Participants age 8-17 with bilateral hearing loss will be fit with Phonak BTE hearing aids and given access to the Phonak hearing app. The participants will use the app to adjust the hearing aid microphone and noise reduction settings.

The app is an accessory to the hearing aids which allows the user to make adjustments to their hearing aid in real-time. The hearing aid does not require the use of the app, but the objective of this study is to evaluate the effects of the user adjustments made via the app on the participant's speech intelligibility with the hearing aid.

Target speech is presented from a speaker in front of participant while background noise is presented from 4 surrounding speakers. The level of noise is presented at 65 dB SPL (Sound Pressure Level),with target speech presented at variable levels, both louder and softer than the noise. The dB SNR is the level at which the participant can correctly repeat 50% of the words. A lower/negative dB SNR is better, indicating that 50% of the speech is understood when noise is louder than or close to the level of speech. This test was given in three, randomized conditions for each participant at two visits: 1) hearing aids in Automatic, 2) hearing aids in Automatic but Directionality and Noise Reduction customized by participant using the app (i.e. "preferred" settings), and 3) hearing aids in Automatic but with the Directionality set to lowest level 0, (i.e. omnidirectional), and Noise Reduction set to the highest level 10,or all the way on (i.e., "extreme").Results of both visits was averaged

A German-language questionnaire which asks student to rate their listening quality in different environments. Participants compared their listening quality with hearing aids alone versus hearing aids plus the app. Rating scale is from 1 to 5 with 1 = mostly easy and 5 = mostly difficult, so a lower score is better, however a rating of 0 = no change. Participants were given one copy of questionnaire to fill out during week 1 of home trial, and a second copy to fill out during week 2 of home trial. Results are reported separately for week 1 and week 2.

Participants age 8-17 with bilateral hearing loss will be fit with Phonak BTE hearing aids and given access to the Phonak hearing app. The participants will use the app to adjust the hearing aid microphone and noise reduction settings.

Target speech is presented from a speaker in front of participant while background noise is presented from 4 surrounding speakers. The level of noise is presented at 65 dB SPL (Sound Pressure Level),with target speech presented at variable levels, both louder and softer than the noise. The dB SNR is the level at which the participant can correctly repeat 50% of the words. A lower/negative dB SNR is better, indicating that 50% of the speech is understood when noise is louder than or close to the level of speech. This test was given in three, randomized conditions for each participant at two visits: 1) hearing aids in Automatic, 2) hearing aids in Automatic but Directionality and Noise Reduction customized by participant using the app (i.e. "preferred" settings), and 3) hearing aids in Automatic but with the Directionality set to lowest level 0, (i.e. omnidirectional), and Noise Reduction set to the highest level 10,or all the way on (i.e., "extreme").Results of both visits was averaged

All participants who completed the testing for at least one clinic visit.

Participants age 8-17 with bilateral hearing loss will be fit with Phonak BTE hearing aids and given access to the Phonak hearing app. The participants will use the app to adjust the hearing aid microphone and noise reduction settings.