@awilst when you write about "attack and release" you are getting into something the typical audiologist does not have time to adequately evaluate... but really cognitive ... thinking capacity.. is a very individual problem..... from children to adults teachers observe differences in cognitive capacity.. some get it and some do not... Hearing affects how fast we can parse a sentence... to get it.... the trick is can an audiologist evaluate how fast people think when they get a new hearing aid that eliminates the mental confusion of making sense of a group of words... Having enough fortitude to tell those speaking to slow down is also widely individualistic..
I found this introductory paragraph to a study... of a particular brand.. "In the past 15 years, research has suggested that people with hearing loss might benefit from either fast or slow compression depending on their cognitive status. This article reviews the concept of compressor speed and its possible relationship to cognitive capacity and also looks at how the Variable Speed Compressor (VSC) used in the BEYOND hearing aid may allow optimal speech understanding for people with all cognitive backgrounds." What do you think about a solution to this problem... As a university teacher for 20 yrs.. cognitive capacity was a constant problem even among those who were smart enough to enroll... Ken