Audio Loop Systems

Deaf people don't hear like other people do. Some deaf people can't hear at all. Some deaf people can hear a little bit – possibly only certain frequencies (which vary from person to person).

Some deaf people with a degree of hearing choose to wear a hearing aid to amplify sounds. Depending on the level of hearing the individual has, the amplified sound may enable them to understand conversations or may simply assist in alerting them to surrounding noises or loud sounds (such as an alarm or bang).

Those people who are able to understand conversation with the assistance of a hearing aid are also able to benefit from Audio Induction Loops.

An Audio Induction Loop is made up of a microphone, an amplifier and a coil of wire placed around the room. When someone speaks, their voice is picked up by the microphone, amplified, and then sent through the coil which emits a magnetic field in the room.

Many hearing aids have a switch (either push button or a toggle switch) giving up to three options:

• "M" to turn on the hearing aid's microphone for standard face to face audio
• "T" to activate the telephone coil to pick up an Audio Induction Loop
• "O" to turn off all audio so the hearing aid does not pick up any sound

Alternatively, some hearing aids have the M and the MT options. The MT option is where the microphone and the T switch are on at the same time. Unfortunately, this often results in failure as the main aims of the T switch are to remove background noise and to remove reverberation.

On the "M" setting, all sounds (including background noises) – not just a person's voice – are amplified. This can sound like an overwhelming jumble of sounds to the person wearing the hearing aid. When listening to a P.A. System, the sound from the speakers bounces off all the surfaces in the room, resulting in a blurred sound for the wearer.

When a hearing aid is switched to the "T" setting, it picks up the magnetic field generated by the Audio Induction Loop, further amplifies the field, then converts it back into sound. Hearing aid users sitting within the loop system can pick up the speaker's voice or other auditory stimulus with a minimum of distortion and no background noise. The loop is basically an antenna sending the signal to the T switch.

Audio Induction Loops can also be adapted for television, radio, stereo, tape recorder or movie projector.

Any buildings that use an amplification system attached to a microphone, such as meeting halls, theatres, senior citizens' clubs and churches are suitable for loop installation. Some people choose to install a loop in their home to hear the television or radio. The whole room or hall is normally looped, with the cable normally run under the floor, in the ceiling or under the carpet.

An Audio Induction Loop gives most hearing aid wearers fuller enjoyment of live theatre, films, concerts, lectures, meetings and church services, all of which they might otherwise rarely attend as the hearing aid picks up so much background noise that the wearer cannot understand the speaker.

Where can I buy or find out more about Audio Induction Loops?

Printacall is a specialist provider of equipment for people who are deaf and hard of hearing. For their contact details, click here.

Shhh Australia (a leading organisation in NSW for people who are hard of hearing) has an Information Sheet about Audio Induction Loops. To see this Information Sheet, click here.

More Information

• hearing loss
• deafness
• Deaf, deaf, hearing-impaired or hard of hearing
• equipment for deaf people