Subjective and objective effects of fast and slow compression on the perception of reverberant speech in listeners with hearing loss.

PURPOSE The purpose of the current study was to assess the effect of fast and slow attack/release times (ATs/RTs) on aided perception of reverberant speech in quiet. METHOD Thirty listeners with mild-to-moderate sensorineural hearing loss were tested monaurally with a commercial hearing aid programmed in 3 AT/RT settings: linear, fast (AT = 9 ms, RT = 90 ms), and slow (AT = 900 ms, RT = 1,500 ms). Stimuli consisted of 200 low-predictability Speech-Perception-in-Noise sentences, presented at 60 dB SPL at 4 reverberation levels (RT(60) = 0, 0.6, 1.2, and 3.6 s). Listeners were randomly presented with 12 listening conditions (3 AT/RT settings x 4 reverberation levels). Intelligibility scores and clarity ratings of the sentences were obtained. RESULTS Aided speech intelligibility and clarity significantly decreased as reverberation increased. Both fast and slow ATs/RTs resulted in significantly higher speech intelligibility than linear, but no significant difference was observed between fast and slow ATs/RTs. Clarity rating was similar across 3 settings; however, rating decreased the fastest with fast AT/RT as reverberation increased. Slow AT/RT resulted in significantly higher real-ear aided response than fast AT/RT and linear, despite the same programmed gain for all settings. CONCLUSION Reverberation had a more significant effect on aided speech perception than AT/RT, but fast and slow AT/RT resulted in improved speech intelligibility over linear amplification.