Overview
REAT Plug is a software application that conducts boothless Real Ear Attenuation at Threshold (REAT) measurements on earplugs, in accordance with the standard test methods*. REAT Plug does not require an acoustic test chamber or sound system. Instead, it uses a special audiometric headset, which provides ambient noise isolation while outputting calibrated test signals. The attenuation of the headset is comparable to that of single wall audiometric testing chamber, which gives hearing professionals the flexibility to conduct testing in a wide array of acoustic environments.
REAT Plug operates on NI PXIe-4468 series hardware and a custom modified version of the WAHTS Hearing Audiometric Headset. It is interests much of its feature set from our REAT Pro system: it is an automatic Bekesey audiometer program designed to provide stimulus and track responses for sound field hearing threshold determination for both occluded and unoccluded conditions. REAT Plug also provides calibrated signal generation for fixture based tests.
Features:
- Tracks both unoccluded and occluded hearing thresholds
- Can output signals to either ear, or both simultaneously
- Provides both thresholds and trace history
- Provides tools for headset calibration
- Data export into Excel for post-process analysis and reporting
REAT Plug and REAT Pro are the fourth generation of the REATMaster software originally developed in 2007 by Nelson Acoustics Software for the NASA Glenn Research Center and in conjunction with technical input from NIOSH. In 2010 the REATPlus second generation application of hearing protector evaluation was released which added additional features. In 2014 REATPro was released and has been adopted by several large hearing protector manufacturers and government hearing protector laboratories. REATPro has been enhanced with additional features and is now supported by VIacoustics for laboratories with an interest in hearing protector attenuation measurement.
*Standardized test methods:
Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) 40, Part 211, Subpart B – Hearing Protective Devices
ISO 4869-1:2018 Acoustics — Hearing protectors — Part 1: Subjective method for the measurement of sound attenuation
ISO 4869-3:2007 Acoustics — Hearing protectors — Part 3: Measurement of insertion loss of ear-muff type protectors using an acoustic test fixture
ISO/TS 4869-5:2006 Acoustics — Hearing protectors — Part 5: Method for estimation of noise reduction using fitting by inexperienced test subjects
ANSI S12.6 – Methods for Measuring the Real-Ear Attenuation of Hearing Protector
ANSI/ASA S12.42 American National Standard Methods for the Measurement of Insertion Loss of Hearing Protection Devices in Continuous or Impulsive Noise Using Microphone-in-Real-Ear or Acoustic Test Fixture Procedures
ANSI S3.19 – Method for Measurement of Real-Ear Protection of Hearing Protectors and Physical Attenuation Ear Muffs
Australian/New Zealand Standard 1270:2002, Acoustics – Hearing Protectors
