How loops and other assistive listening systems work

1.  Pick up the sound

The speech, music or other sound is picked up via a microphone or electrical connection.

2.  Transmit the sound

This is done via a wireless signal of some kind.

3.  Deposit the sound

There needs to be a suitable ‘receiver’ to ‘catch’ the transmitted signal.
Some signals can be ‘received’ directly by hearing aids.

4.  Sound reaches your ear
You’ll experience the sound as coming straight into your hearing aids (or cochlear implant) or into the headset that works with the system.

You can hear across a distance

• Even the best hearing aids can struggle to pick up sound that is more than a few metres away.
• They cut out reverberation as sound bounces around a room and/or booms out from a microphone.
• They cut out distortion which naturally happens when sound travels across a distance.

You can hear when there’s background noise

• Even the best hearing aids struggle when there is lots of background noise.
• These systems cut out the background noise and send only the sound being picked up by the microphone directly into your ears.

You may even be able to tailor what you hear

• Headsets and many types of hearing aids will allow you to choose the volume you want to listen at.
• It is often possible to also select if you want to hear only what the assistive listening system is sending to your ears or to select to hear ‘normal’ sound alongside it too.
• The most comfortable option will depend on what you’re trying to hear, the assistive listening system in place, and the hearing aids or headset you are using.