The key here is bringing sound direct to your hearing aids, which is what the Pocket Talker does whether you are using it with ear phones of with a neckloop connected to your hearing aid's telecoil components. If the sound you wish to hear, whether it's a speaker or a sound from elsewhere, comes directly to you from the Pocket Talker's microphone as it bypasses the other sounds in the room. That is referred to as the signal to noise ratio (SNR). We all know that background noise makes hearing difficult. In short, the closer the microphone is to the sound you want to hear, the less background noise can interfere, and the more clearly you will hear.