The duplex mechanism account postulates two functionally distinct forms of auditory distraction in short-term memory. The changing-state effect is associated with task-specific interference of perceptual changes in acoustical stimuli and deliberate serial-order processing. In contrast, the auditory deviation effect is supposed to be due to a more general diversion of attentional resources, which is more dependent on individual cognitive control capacities. Here, we test the hypothesis that the changing-state effect is related to perceptual distractor filtering, whereas the deviation effect is related to working memory capacity. While both the ability to filter distractors from further cognitive processing and the working memory capacity are assumed to decline with age, the empirical evidence for differences in the two forms of irrelevant sound effects between younger and older adults is inconclusive. The aim of the present study is to predict the age differences in the changing-state and deviation effects based on individual differences in distractor filtering and working memory capacities. Therefore, two age groups (18 to 30 years and over 60 years) completed a serial and non-serial short-term memory task while being exposed to different types of irrelevant sound. In line with previous findings, individual differences in working memory capacity (i.e., operation span) were related to the auditory deviation effect, but not the changing-state effect. In addition, participants distractor filtering abilities, as measured with an auditory flanker task, predicted the size of the changing-state effect.