Why can I hear people but not understand them in noise?

That pattern — clear hearing in quiet but trouble understanding in noisy places — is one of the earliest signs of sensorineural hearing loss. The cochlea loses the fine detail needed to separate a voice from background sound. A digits-in-noise test like this one is designed specifically to pick that up.

Is the digits-in-noise test accurate for hearing loss?

Digits-in-noise testing is one of the most validated home hearing screens and is used in national programmes worldwide. This version is uncalibrated, so treat the number as a relative guide and a prompt to get a professional check rather than a diagnosis.

What is a good speech-in-noise score?

Lower (more negative) signal-to-noise thresholds are better. As a rough guide here, around −7 dB SNR or lower is good, −7 to −3 is worth monitoring, and above −3 suggests you should see a hearing professional.

Do I need headphones for this test?

Yes — headphones keep the speech and noise balanced and block out room sound. Laptop or phone speakers make the result unreliable.

Hearing

Speech in Noise Test

Hear but can’t understand in noisy places? This validated digits-in-noise screen finds your speech-in-noise threshold.

~5 minTime

Digits-in-Noise (DIN) adaptive speech-reception thresholdMethod

FreeCost

Before you start

Use headphones and a quiet room. Set your volume to a comfortable, moderate level before you begin.

How it works

1Set your volume — Calibrate to a gentle 1 kHz reference so the noise sits at a sensible level.
2Listen for three numbers — Spoken digits play inside background noise — type the three you hear.
3Get your threshold — The noise adapts to find the level where you understand about half the sequences.

1Wear headphones — They deliver the noise and speech at a consistent balance in both ears.
2Quiet room — Outside noise adds to the test noise and worsens your apparent threshold.
3Comfortable volume — Set the reference tone so it's clearly audible but never loud.
4Guess if unsure — The staircase expects errors near your threshold — always enter three digits.

digits in noise

5′

Digits-in-Noise (DIN) adaptive speech-reception threshold

What it measures

How well you understand speech when there's background noise — the everyday situation people with hearing loss struggle with first. It estimates your speech-reception threshold in noise (SRTn): the signal-to-noise ratio, in decibels, at which you can just follow a voice. A more negative number means you cope with harder, noisier conditions.

How it works

This is a Digits-in-Noise (DIN) test, the method behind the National Hearing Test and the WHO hearWHO app — the most validated home hearing screen there is. You hear three spoken digits buried in speech-shaped noise and type them back. An adaptive staircase raises the noise when you're right and lowers it when you're wrong, homing in on your threshold over several reversals.

Tips for an accurate result

1Listen to the whole sequence — Wait for all three digits before answering — early guessing throws off the threshold.
2Test both contexts — If you suspect one ear, take the pure-tone test too; DIN here is diotic (both ears together).
3Repeat across days — One run can be affected by fatigue or a noisy room; trends are more reliable.
4Trouble in restaurants is the classic sign — ‘I can hear but can't understand’ in noise is exactly what this test captures.

Frequently asked questions

Continue your check-up

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Online Hearing Test: Pure-Tone Audiometry & Audiogram

Map the faintest tones you can hear with this online hearing test and get a real pure-tone audiogram for each ear.

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Dichotic Digits Test

Check how your brain handles a different number in each ear at once — an auditory-processing (APD) screen.

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Word Recognition Test

A spoken-word hearing screen: listen to single words and pick what you heard. Uses your device voice, so it is uncalibrated.

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