Spatial release from masking for sentence recognition in noise

Authors

  • Juan-Pablo Ramirez Quality and usability Lab, Deutsche Telekom AG Laboratories, Berlin Institute of Technology, Berlin, Germany
  • Maxime Kolly Ecole Nationale Supérieure de l’Electronique et de ses Applications, Cergy- Pontoise, France
  • Alexander Raake Quality and usability Lab, Deutsche Telekom AG Laboratories, Berlin Institute of Technology, Berlin, Germany

Abstract

The scope of this study is to investigate the impact of a single interfering noise on the binaural intelligibility of sentences. Speech Reception Thresholds (SRT) were assessed using semantically unpredictable short sentences presented in the horizontal plan at an angle x while masked by stationary speech shaped noise at an angle y. The test procedure and results are detailed and a Binaural Better Band per ear Speech Intelligibility Index (SII3b) is compared to the resulting Spatial Release from Masking (SRfM), showing satisfactory correlation.

References

ANSI (1997). “Methods for calculation of the speech intelligibility index,” ANSI Report No. S3.5-1997 (American National Standards Institute, New York).

Avendano, C., Duda, R. O., and Algazi, V. R. (1999). “Modeling the contralateral HRTF”, 16th International Conference: Spatial Sound Reproduction, Rovaniemi, Finland, 313-318.

Beutelmann, R., and Brand, T. (2006). “Prediction of speech intelligibility in spatial noise and reverberation for normal-hearing and hearing-impaired listeners,” J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 120, 332-342.

Brand, T., and Kollmeier, B. (2002). “Ef cient adaptice procedures for threshold and concurrent slope estimates for psychophysics and speech intelligibility tests,” J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 111, 2801-2810.

Bronkhorst, A. W. (1992). “Effect of multiple speechlike maskers on binaural speech recognition in normal and impaired hearing,” J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 92, 3132-3138.

Bronkhorst, A. W. (2000). “The cocktail party phenomenon: A review of research on speech intelligibility in multiple-talker conditions,” Acustica 86, 117-128.

Hawley, M. L., Litovsky, R. Y., and Culling, J. F. (2004). “The bene t of binaural hearing in a cocktail party: Effect of location and type of interferer,” J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 115, 833-843.

Lavandier, M., and Culling, J. (2008).”Speech segregation in rooms: Monaural, binaural, and interacting effects of reverberation on target and interferer,” J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 123, 2237-2248.

Pessig, J., and Kollmeier, B. (1997). “Directivity of binaural noise reduction in spatial multiple noise-source arrangements for normal and impaired listeners,” J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 101, 1660-1670.

Plomp, R., and Mimpen, A. M. (1981). “Effect of the orientation of the speaker’s head and the azimuth of a noise source on the speech reception threshold for sentences,” Acustica 48, 325-328.

Plomp, R. (1986). “A signal-to-noise ratio method for the speech-reception SRT of the hearing impaired,” J Speech Hear Res. 29, 146-154.

Ramirez, J-P., Raake, A., and Reusch, D. (2009). “Intelligibility assessment method for semantically unpredictable sentences in German,” Proceedings of the Dega Annual Conference, Rotterdam, Nederland.

van Wijngaarden, S. J., and Drullman, R. (2008). “Binaural intelligibility prediction based on the speech transmission index,” J. Acout. Soc. Am. 123, 4514-4523.

Additional Files

Published

2009-12-15

How to Cite

Ramirez, J.-P., Kolly, M., & Raake, A. (2009). Spatial release from masking for sentence recognition in noise. Proceedings of the International Symposium on Auditory and Audiological Research, 2, 363–370. Retrieved from https://proceedings.isaar.eu/index.php/isaarproc/article/view/2009-37

Issue

Section

2009/3. Speech processing and perception under adverse conditions