SNR
Also written as: SNR — Signal-to-Noise Ratio
Abbreviation for signal-to-noise ratio; the decibel difference between a target signal and competing background noise in audiological assessment contexts.
Full Definition
SNR is the standard abbreviation for signal-to-noise ratio in audiological and hearing science literature. It quantifies the listening difficulty presented by background noise relative to a target signal such as speech. In hearing aid and cochlear implant research, SNR loss refers to the additional SNR a person with hearing loss requires to achieve the same speech intelligibility as a normal-hearing listener. Editors should confirm that SNR is distinguished from 'dB HL' or 'dB SPL,' which are absolute level measures, whereas SNR is a relative measure. The variant 'S/N' appears in older literature and should be standardized to SNR in contemporary documents.
Usage
Usage note: Standardize to 'SNR' in current documents; flag legacy use of 'S/N.'
In Context
- "Participants with sensorineural hearing loss required an SNR of +5 dB to achieve 50% speech intelligibility." — Clinical research article
- "Replace 'S/N' with 'SNR' throughout for consistency with current ASHA style recommendations." — Copy-editing instruction