Loss of speech perception in noise – causes and compensation

Authors

  • Jorge Mejia The HEARing Cooperative Research Centre, Australia National Acoustic Laboratories, Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia
  • Harvey Dillon The HEARing Cooperative Research Centre, Australia National Acoustic Laboratories, Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia
  • Richard Van Hoesel The HEARing Cooperative Research Centre, Australia Department of Audiology and Speech Pathology, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia
  • Elizabeth Beach The HEARing Cooperative Research Centre, Australia National Acoustic Laboratories, Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia
  • Helen Glyde The HEARing Cooperative Research Centre, Australia National Acoustic Laboratories, Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia
  • Ingrid Yeend The HEARing Cooperative Research Centre, Australia National Acoustic Laboratories, Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia
  • Tim Beechey The HEARing Cooperative Research Centre, Australia National Acoustic Laboratories, Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia
  • Margo Mclelland The HEARing Cooperative Research Centre, Australia National Acoustic Laboratories, Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia
  • Anna O'Brien The HEARing Cooperative Research Centre, Australia Department of Audiology and Speech Pathology, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia
  • Jörg Buchholz The HEARing Cooperative Research Centre, Australia National Acoustic Laboratories, Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia Department of Audiology, Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia
  • Mridula Sharma The HEARing Cooperative Research Centre, Australia Department of Audiology, Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia
  • Joaquin Valderrama The HEARing Cooperative Research Centre, Australia National Acoustic Laboratories, Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia
  • Warwick Williams The HEARing Cooperative Research Centre, Australia National Acoustic Laboratories, Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia

Abstract

Any damage within the cochlea, whether affecting hearing thresholds or high threshold nerve fibres, that affects the resolving power of the cochlear, necessitates a higher input signal-to-noise ratio to achieve normal speech understanding in noise.  Other than wireless remote microphone systems, super-directional beamformers are the most effective way to achieve this.  To optimise their performance, they should have beam widths that are neither too narrow nor too broad, attenuate off-beam signals in a way that preserves spatial awareness of the environment, and adapt to changing competing signals fast enough to suppress them but not so fast as to distort the target signal.  This paper reports on the advantages and limitations of super-directional beamformers as measured in six different experiments.

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Published

2015-12-15

How to Cite

Mejia, J., Dillon, H., Van Hoesel, R., Beach, E., Glyde, H., Yeend, I., … Williams, W. (2015). Loss of speech perception in noise – causes and compensation. Proceedings of the International Symposium on Auditory and Audiological Research, 5, 205–216. Retrieved from https://proceedings.isaar.eu/index.php/isaarproc/article/view/2015-24

Issue

Vol. 5 (2015): Individual Hearing Loss - Characterization, modelling, compensation strategies

Section

2015/4. Compensation strategies for hearing rehabilitation with hearing aids

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