Assessing the impact of fundamental frequency on speech intelligibility in competing-talker scenarios

Authors

  • Paolo A. Mesiano Hearing Systems Section, Department of Health Technology, Technical University of Denmark, DK-2800 Lyngby, Denmark
  • Johannes Zaar Hearing Systems Section, Department of Health Technology, Technical University of Denmark, DK-2800 Lyngby, Denmark
  • Lars Bramsløw Augmented Hearing, Eriksholm Research Centre, 3070 Snekkersten, Denmark
  • Niels H. Pontoppidan Augmented Hearing, Eriksholm Research Centre, 3070 Snekkersten, Denmark
  • Torsten Dau Hearing Systems Section, Department of Health Technology, Technical University of Denmark, DK-2800 Lyngby, Denmark

Abstract

When only monaural cues are available in competing-talker scenarios, normal- hearing (NH) listeners are able to identify and understand the target speech while hearing-impaired listeners often experience difficulties. A good understanding of the role of monaural cues in speech segregation is therefore essential for developing hearing-aid compensation strategies. Earlier studies with NH listeners showed that differences in fundamental frequency (∆F0) between the target talker and one interfering talker can facilitate the segregation of the speech signals. However, most of these studies used speech materials that bear little resemblance with everyday speech. Furthermore, the F0 was either defined by talker sex or measured as a talker-specific average, thus ignoring the significant F0 variability across sentences. The present study instead used everyday-speech type sentences from the Danish Hearing in Noise Test (HINT) and employed a more accurate method for assessing the impact of F0 on intelligibility for NH listeners. Compared to previous studies, the overall effect of ∆F0 was found to be smaller and it was hypothesised that the previously employed speech materials might have enhanced the effect of ∆F0 beyond its real-life importance.

References

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Auditory Learning in Biological and Artificial Systems

Additional Files

Published

2020-05-01

How to Cite

Mesiano, P. A., Zaar, J., Bramsløw, L., Pontoppidan, N. H., & Dau, T. (2020). Assessing the impact of fundamental frequency on speech intelligibility in competing-talker scenarios. Proceedings of the International Symposium on Auditory and Audiological Research, 7, 77–84. Retrieved from https://proceedings.isaar.eu/index.php/isaarproc/article/view/2019-10

Issue

Vol. 7 (2019): Auditory Learning in Biological and Artificial Systems

Section

2019/2. Learning from natural sounds

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