Hearing loss is a growing problem — not just for rock stars but also for people all over the world. Eventually, everyone will lose some of their hearing. One of the first times people tend to notice the difference is when they have trouble understanding dialogue while watching TV, a situation they often attempt to correct by turning up the volume — and in the process, driving other family members out of the room.Soundbar and TV manufacturers have tried to address this problem by adding voice-enhancement modes intended to make the dialogue in movies and TV shows easier to hear and understand. These modes usually boost midrange frequencies, where voices reside, and sometimes emphasize the center (dialogue) channel of surround-sound mixes. They may also compress the sound to make quiet voices sound louder. These modes seem like a great idea, but as a former product-design consultant, I know that audio engineers sometimes put only token effort into creating special listening modes.Wirecutter’s audio-device reviewers have tried some voice-enhancement modes before, and to us, most of them have sounded unnatural and unpleasant. But since we don’t have significant hearing loss, our judgment might not be relevant in this case. Do these modes really help improve dialogue clarity for people with hearing loss?