Introduction: The auditory processing occurs properly in tuned people and improperly in tuneless people. An effective way to investigate this process is the evaluation of the speech auditory brainstem response (SABR), which allows the identification of fine-grained auditory processing.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to analyze the SABR in tuneless and tuned people.

Methods: The SABR was compared between two groups: the control group (CG) = 17 volunteers self-reported as tuned (28 to 49 years) and the experimental group (EG) = 20 volunteers self-reported as tuneless (15 to 55 years). All participants answered the Brazilian version of the Voice Symptom Scale and were submitted to a pitch-matching scanning test. The SABR was recorded at 80 SPL for speech stimuli, with the synthesized syllable /da/ provided by a computer software, using a Biologic Navigator Pro equipment. In order to compare groups (tuned and tuneless) across each wave, the ANOVA procedure was used, testing the age and gender variables as well as their interactions.

Results: Results showed better latencies for the CG when compared to the EG, with significant statistical differences for the waves A (p = 0.045), C (p = 0.002), D (p = 0.030) and F (p = 0.046). The amplitude measurements not seem to be a better parameter for the identification of changes in coding of speech sounds in the comparison between tuneless and tuned groups.

Conclusion: The SABR proved to be an objective and effective instrument to identify the sound perception changes, as well as allowing a differential diagnosis between tuned and tuneless people.