Assistive Listening Knowledge Base

Technology

Hearing loops

Questions and sources on hearing loops (audio-frequency induction loop systems) in rooms and at counters, and on listening to them through a telecoil.

  • 39 questions
  • 211 sources
  • Newest dated source

Introduction

A hearing loop, or audio-frequency induction loop system, carries a venue's sound as a magnetic field that hearing aids pick up through a telecoil1. The telecoil is a magnetic pickup coil in a hearing aid or in a separate receiving device2. Listeners whose hearing aid or implant processor has a telecoil need no borrowed receiver in a looped room3. Others can listen through a loop receiver with headphones, earbuds or a streamer4. Installers choose a perimeter, figure-of-eight or phased-array layout to suit the building5. Not every hearing aid has a telecoil: in a 2026 consumer guide, 59% of listed prescription models had a manual telecoil, as standard or as an option, against 79% in 20166. Over-the-counter hearing aids typically lack one6. Where there is a telecoil, the audiologist may need to enable it and set it up in the fitting software7,8.

In two surveys recruited through hearing-loss networks, most respondents who chose a listening system picked a loop over borrowed FM or infrared receivers9,10,11. In the first, paid for by loop, assistive listening and hearing-device technology makers, 81% of 243 loop users did so9. In the second, a self-selected survey run by a committee of hearing-loss advocates, among them loop advocates (funding not stated), 187 of 312 did10,11. In that survey, about seven in ten telecoil users who go to looped venues listen through the loop always or usually10,11. The question What do listeners prefer, and how often do they use venue systems? sets out these studies, and a maker's test that favoured Auracast's sound.

IEC 60118-4 sets requirements for an installed loop's magnetic field strength and minimum frequency response, and says how to measure the field1. IEC 62489-1 covers measuring loop amplifiers, microphones and neckloops, and IEC TR 63079 is the code of practice for design, installation, testing and maintenance2,12. The standards' texts are sold, but a loop maker, Ampetronic, publishes commissioning targets it attributes to IEC 60118-41,13. They are a field strength of 400 mA/m within ±3 dB over the listening area, a frequency response within ±3 dB from 100 Hz to 5 kHz, and magnetic background noise of -32 dB (A-weighted) or better13. Other guides state the targets differently: a meter maker's note, written by a member of the IEC committee, gives an average of 100 mA/m with 400 mA/m as the maximum and a noise limit of -22 dB, and a loop maker's managing director recommends -40 dB14,15. The standard has a clause of recommended maximum noise levels, whose values are in its paid text1. The question How is an installed hearing loop checked against IEC 60118-4? sets out these differences. In the US, the 2010 ADA Standards define assistive listening systems to include induction loops16. Where a loop serves every seat, they waive the share of loan receivers that must be hearing-aid compatible16. England's building guidance names induction loop, infrared and radio as the systems commonly used17. Europe's spectrum recommendation lists 100 Hz to 9 kHz for inductive loop systems for people with hearing loss18.

Questions

The questions that report evidence on hearing loops, including the shared ones on codes, receivers, neckloops, telecoils and what listeners prefer (also listed under Shared).

See these questions in the tracker, with its filters

Sources

211 sources in the library report on hearing loops, newest first, with undated web pages last.

  • 41 independent
  • 41 manufacturer
  • 13 standards body
  • 39 nonprofit advocacy
  • 17 trade body
  • 60 government

See these sources in the evidence library, with its filters

Sources of the introduction

  1. IEC 60118-4:2014 Electroacoustics - Hearing aids - Part 4: Induction-loop systems for hearing aid purposes - System performance requirements. IEC TC 29 (Electroacoustics). International Electrotechnical Commission, 11 December 2014. Standards body (International Electrotechnical Commission; the full text is sold, and only the abstract is public) ↩︎ https://webstore.iec.ch/en/publication/798
  2. IEC 62489-1:2010+AMD1:2014+AMD2:2017 Electroacoustics - Audio-frequency induction loop systems for assisted hearing - Part 1: Methods of measuring and specifying the performance of system components. IEC TC 29 (Electroacoustics). International Electrotechnical Commission, 27 November 2017. Standards body (International Electrotechnical Commission; the full text is sold, and only the abstract and a preview are public) ↩︎ https://webstore.iec.ch/en/publication/62119
  3. Comparison of Large Area Assistive Listening Systems. Compton-Conley C. Hearing Loss Association of America (reprint), 2015. Nonprofit advocacy (reprinted by HLAA with the contact address of its Get in the Hearing Loop program; written by Cynthia Compton-Conley, PhD, of Gallaudet University; who paid for the original is not stated) ↩︎ https://www.hearingloss.org/wp-content/uploads/comparison-of-large-area-assistive-listening-systems.pdf
  4. Coupling Options: Ways to Connect to Assistive Listening System Audio. Kaneb A (credited on the chart). Hearing Loss Association of America (HLAA), 2026. Nonprofit advocacy (Hearing Loss Association of America, a US consumer organisation for people with hearing loss; the chart is credited to Andrea Kaneb and names no funder) ↩︎ https://www.hearingloss.org/wp-content/uploads/documents/advocacy-resources/hlaa-coupling-options-als-chart.pdf
  5. Hearing Loops: Installations. Center for Hearing Access (The John G. Shedd Institute). Center for Hearing Access, undated (read 13 October 2026). Nonprofit advocacy (Center for Hearing Access, a 501(c)(3) advocacy and education initiative of The John G. Shedd Institute for the Arts, founded in 2024, whose website succeeded hearingloop.org; it states that it accepts no donations from hearing-related vendors) ↩︎ https://centerforhearingaccess.org/biz-hearing-loop-installation/
  6. A Telecoil is One of the Best Hearing Aid Features. Many Still Aren't Using It.. Roberts C. Consumer Reports, 7 May 2026. Independent (Consumer Reports, a nonprofit consumer organisation; article by Catherine Roberts, a health and science journalist on its staff, quoting loop advocates from the Center for Hearing Access and HLAA and an assistive listening installer) ↩︎ https://www.consumerreports.org/health/hearing-aids/one-of-best-hearing-aid-features-many-still-arent-using-a4102935824/
  7. Using Telecoils in Your Cochlear Implant & Bone Anchored Devices. Center for Hearing Access (The John G. Shedd Institute). Center for Hearing Access, undated (read 9 October 2026). Nonprofit advocacy (Center for Hearing Access, a 501(c)(3) advocacy and education initiative of The John G. Shedd Institute for the Arts, founded in 2024; it states that it accepts no donations from hearing-related vendors) ↩︎ https://centerforhearingaccess.org/how-use-telecoils-ci/
  8. The Telecoil: The Lonely Transducer that Can Be a Big Producer. Valente M. AudiologyOnline (article 11911), 24 June 2013. Independent (Michael Valente, professor and director of adult audiology at Washington University School of Medicine; published by AudiologyOnline, a commercial continuing-education site; the author declares no commercial interest in the manufacturers whose fitting software is shown) ↩︎ https://www.audiologyonline.com/articles/telecoil-lonely-transducer-that-big-11911
  9. Consumer Perceptions of the Impact of Inductively Looped Venues on the Utility of Their Hearing Devices. Kochkin S, Sterkens J, Compton-Conley C, Beck DL, Taylor B, Kricos P, Caccavo M, Holmes A, Powers TA. Hearing Review (October 2014 issue), 24 September 2014. Manufacturer (paid for by grants from Etymotic Research, Contacta, Listen Technologies, IntriCon and Univox by Edin, which the acknowledgments describe as including two hearing loop makers, an assistive listening company and two hearing-device technology makers; co-author Juliëtte Sterkens runs the Loop Wisconsin advocacy blog, one of the recruitment channels. The article prints no affiliations; from other sources, co-author Douglas L. Beck worked for the hearing-aid maker Oticon, joining as director of professional relations in 2005 (AudiologyOnline, 20 August 2005) and named director of academic sciences in 2016 (Hearing Review, 6 April 2016), and co-author Thomas A. Powers was vice-president of audiology at the hearing-aid maker Siemens Hearing Instruments (Hearing Review, 19 September 2013) and later a vice-president of its successor, Sivantos (Better Hearing Institute biography)) ↩︎ https://hearingreview.com/hearing-products/implants-bone-conduction/cochlear-implants/consumer-perceptions-impact-inductively-looped-venues-utility-hearing-devices
  10. Consumer use of and preferences for assistive communication technology in public places. Committee for Communication Access in America (Frazier SO, Bailey A, Cadwell B, Clifford C, Liebe K, Myers D, Sterkens J). Committee for Communication Access in America, 8 January 2024. Nonprofit advocacy (an ad hoc committee of hearing-loss advocates, chaired by Stephen O. Frazier (Loop New Mexico; a founding member of HLAA's Get in the Hearing Loop initiative), the report's correspondence author; funding not stated; data collected and analysed by the Frost Center for Data and Social Research at Hope College. The committee's site lists David Myers (founder of hearingloop.org) and Juliette Sterkens (HLAA hearing loop advocate) among its members, with Abram Bailey (founder of HearingTracker), Blake Cadwell (founder and CEO of Soundly), Kevin Liebe (hearinghealthmatters.org) and Carol Clifford (audiologist, former ReSound training director)) ↩︎ https://www.ccaa.name/Report_Final_1-12-24.pdf
  11. CCAA Survey on Assistive Communication Technology: Graphs. Committee for Communication Access in America. Committee for Communication Access in America (ccaa.name), 2023. Nonprofit advocacy (an ad hoc committee of hearing-loss advocates chaired by Stephen O. Frazier (Loop New Mexico; a founding member of HLAA's Get in the Hearing Loop initiative), among them hearing loop advocates David Myers and Juliette Sterkens; funding not stated; the survey page says the responses were recorded by the Frost Center for Data and Social Research at Hope College) ↩︎ https://www.ccaa.name/CCAA_Graphs.pdf
  12. IEC TR 63079:2017 Code of practice for hearing-loop systems (HLS). IEC TC 29 (Electroacoustics). International Electrotechnical Commission, 10 April 2017. Standards body (International Electrotechnical Commission; the full text is sold, and only the abstract and a preview of the opening pages are public) ↩︎ https://webstore.iec.ch/en/publication/32554
  13. Commissioning an Induction Loop System. Ampetronic. Ampetronic (learning zone web page), undated (read 9 October 2026). Manufacturer (Ampetronic, which makes hearing loop drivers and loop test equipment and sells installer training) ↩︎ https://www.ampetronic.com/info-centre/learning-zone/testing-and-maintaining/commissioning/
  14. Application Note: Induction Loop Systems with XL2 Analyzer (AFILS). Norman DI (for NTi Audio). NTi Audio, 12 January 2021. Manufacturer (NTi Audio, which sells the analyzer and signal generator the note is written for; the author, David Ian Norman, is described in the note as a member of the IEC committee for these systems) ↩︎ https://www.nti-audio.com/wp-content/uploads/NTi-Audio-AppNote-AFILS-with-XL2.pdf
  15. Best Practices to Install a Hearing Loop System that Meets the IEC Standard. McKinley R. Hearing Loss Association of America (reprinted with permission), 30 September 2021. Manufacturer (written by Richard McKinley, managing director of Contacta Inc., a hearing loop maker that offers installer training and certification; reprinted by the Hearing Loss Association of America's hearing loop programme) ↩︎ https://www.hearingloss.org/wp-content/uploads/best-practices-to-install-a-hearing-loop-system-that-meets-the-iec-standard.pdf
  16. 2010 ADA Standards for Accessible Design. US Department of Justice. US Department of Justice (ada.gov), 15 September 2010. Government (US Department of Justice) ↩︎ https://www.ada.gov/law-and-regs/design-standards/2010-stds/
  17. Approved Document M, Volume 2: buildings other than dwellings (2015 edition incorporating 2020 and 2024 amendments). UK Government. Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (GOV.UK), 30 September 2024. Government (UK Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government) ↩︎ https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/66f6c5eec71e42688b65ee11/ADM__V2_with_2024_amendments.pdf
  18. ERC Recommendation 70-03 relating to the use of Short Range Devices (SRD), Annex 10: radio microphone applications including assistive listening devices. CEPT Electronic Communications Committee (ECC). European Communications Office (ECO Documentation Database), 5 June 2026. Government (CEPT, the European Conference of Postal and Telecommunications Administrations, whose Electronic Communications Committee brings together national spectrum regulators) ↩︎ https://docdb.cept.org/document/845

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