EXPLORING WAYS TO IMPROVE STI'S RECOGNITION OF THE EFFECTS OF POOR SPECTRAL BALANCE ON SUBJECTIVE INTELLIGIBILITY

Over their many years of designing and commissioning sound systems, the authors have acquired considerable field evidence showing that an unbalanced frequency response can greatly affect subjective speech intelligibility. Relatively small changes to the response, sometimes as small as 1 dB, can noticeably affect the intelligibility of conversational speech and the degree of listening concentration that is required.

[1]  Hugo Fastl,et al.  Psychoacoustics: Facts and Models , 1990 .

[2]  Ye Wang,et al.  An excitation level based psychoacoustic model for audio compression , 1999, MULTIMEDIA '99.

[3]  T Houtgast,et al.  A physical method for measuring speech-transmission quality. , 1980, The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America.

[5]  C Ludvigsen.  Relations among some psychoacoustic parameters in normal and cochlearly impaired listeners. , 1985, The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America.

[6]  Peter Mapp.  Some Effects of Equalisation on Sound System Intelligibility & Measurement , 2003 .

[7]  C V Pavlovic,et al.  Derivation of primary parameters and procedures for use in speech intelligibility predictions. , 1987, The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America.

[8]  Brian R Glasberg,et al.  Derivation of auditory filter shapes from notched-noise data , 1990, Hearing Research.

[9]  Thomas Baer,et al.  A model for the prediction of thresholds, loudness, and partial loudness , 1997 .

[10]  Brian C J Moore,et al.  Prediction of absolute thresholds and equal-loudness contours using a modified loudness model. , 2006, The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America.

[11]  R. Patterson,et al.  The deterioration of hearing with age: frequency selectivity, the critical ratio, the audiogram, and speech threshold. , 1982, The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America.

[12]  J. C. Steinberg,et al.  Factors Governing the Intelligibility of Speech Sounds , 1945 .

[13]  B. Moore,et al.  Suggested formulae for calculating auditory-filter bandwidths and excitation patterns. , 1983, The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America.

[14]  B C Moore,et al.  Auditory filter shapes in subjects with unilateral and bilateral cochlear impairments. , 1986, The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America.

[15]  Raymond L. Goldsworthy,et al.  Analysis of speech-based Speech Transmission Index methods with implications for nonlinear operations. , 2004, The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America.

[16]  Brian C. J. Moore,et al.  Formulae describing frequency selectivity as a function of frequency and level, and their use in calculating excitation patterns , 1987, Hearing Research.

[17]  E. Owens,et al.  An Introduction to the Psychology of Hearing , 1997 .

[18]  T. Houtgast,et al.  Quantifying the intelligibility of speech in noise for non-native listeners. , 2002, The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America.