The Ambient Noise feature allows you to monitor the test environment for noise during audiometric testing. It is ideal when testing in non-optimal conditions or when testing via tele-audiometry.
Knowledge of your testing conditions will allow you to assess the validity of your measurements ahead of making a diagnosis.
Ensure that you have the Ambient Noise microphone plugged into your Equinox Evo. The socket for this has been highlighted in the image below.
Launch your Equinox Evo Suite and go into the AC440 Module.
The Ambient Noise monitor can be seen in the left panel of the AUD screen when enabled in your test protocol.
The below image shows the location of the Ambient Noise Settings in your Audiometry protocol.
The Ambient Noise feature constantly shows the average noise level in the top bar and then individual frequency levels below. It will show darker bars (limits) and orange bars above this when the limit is exceeded, see example below.
The Ambient Noise feature operates according to specific guidance found in calibration standard documents. The applied settings can be found in the configuration of this feature in your protocol settings.
In the Ambient Noise configuration, you have the option to activate the Ambient Noise feature.
You will also notice that there are boxes to input the limit levels for different transducers and their associated frequencies. You can only manually input these values when selecting a Custom standard. These will be greyed out when a standard is chosen (e.g. ANSI, OSHA or ISO).
Note: Despite this feature only being present in the AC440 module, you can still use this to assess your test environment ahead of performing REM or HIT measurements.