Side-effects of binaural tone vocoding on recognising target speech presented against spatially separated speech maskers

Authors

  • Martin R. Andersen Eriksholm Research Centre, Oticon A/S, DK-3070 Snekkersten, Denmark
  • Michael S. Kristensen Eriksholm Research Centre, Oticon A/S, DK-3070 Snekkersten, Denmark
  • Tobias Neher Eriksholm Research Centre, Oticon A/S, DK-3070 Snekkersten, Denmark
  • Thomas Lunner Eriksholm Research Centre, Oticon A/S, DK-3070 Snekkersten, Denmark

Abstract

Previous experiments have indicated that monaural Temporal Fine Structure (mTFS) information aids Speech Reception. In these experiments mTFS was either kept or substituted using a tone-vocoder. Results showed that hearing-impaired subjects were not able to utilise mTFS information to the same degree as normal-hearing subjects. A first step towards a more ecological experiment would be to exploit the tone-vocoder paradigm in a simulated spatial setup, and measure binaural TFS (bTFS) benefit. However, by the introduction of a binaural tone-vocoder, a concern arose that artificial ITD cues pointing to a direction determined by the phase difference between the carriers of the two channels, would be introduced in addition to the intended removal of the original Interaural Time Difference (ITD) by vocoding. This experiment investigated this concern, by measuring speech reception for target speech presented against spatially separated speech maskers. 21 young normal hearing, 10 elderly normal hearing and 11 elderly hearing impaired subjects were tested in a fixed spatial condition with either the artificial ITD pointing forward (0o azimuth) or ±50o.

References

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Andersen, M. R., Kristensen, M. S., Neher, T. and Lunner T. (2010). “Effect of Binaural Tone Vocoding on Recognising Target Speech Presented Against Spatially Separated Speech Maskers” Poster at IHCON 2010.

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Additional Files

Published

2011-12-15

How to Cite

Andersen, M. R., Kristensen, M. S., Neher, T., & Lunner, T. (2011). Side-effects of binaural tone vocoding on recognising target speech presented against spatially separated speech maskers. Proceedings of the International Symposium on Auditory and Audiological Research, 3, 103–110. Retrieved from https://proceedings.isaar.eu/index.php/isaarproc/article/view/2011-12

Issue

Vol. 3 (2011): Speech Perception and Auditory Disorders

Section

2011/1. Indicators of hearing impairment and measures of speech perception

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