Predicting the benefit of binaural cue preservation in bilateral directional processing schemes for listeners with impaired hearing
Keywords:
speech intelligibility, informational masking, energetic masking, speech maskersAbstract
Linked pairs of hearing aids offer various possibilities for directional processing providing adjustable trade-off between improving signal-to-noise ratio and preserving binaural listening. The benefit depends on the processing scheme, the acoustic scenario, and the listener’s ability to exploit binaural cues. Neher et al. (2017) investigated candidacy for different bilateral processing schemes for 20 elderly listeners with symmetric and 19 age matched listeners with asymmetric hearing thresholds below 2 kHz. The acoustic scenarios consisted of a frontal target talker presented against two intelligible or unintelligible speech maskers from ±60° azimuth. In this study, the speech reception threshold (SRT) data were compared to predictions of the binaural speech intelligibility model (BSIM; Beutelmann et al., 2010), which was used to model pure better-ear-glimpsing as well as additional binaural unmasking. The speech intelligibility index (SII), which served as backend of BSIM, was calibrated to an individual reference value at the SRT for each listener. This reference value mirrors the amount of acoustical information needed by the listener to achieve the SRT and correlated with the listeners’ ability to process temporal fine structure. BSIM revealed a benefit due to binaural processing in well-performing listeners when processing provided low-frequency interaural timing cues.
References
Beutelmann, R., Brand, T., and Kollmeier, B. (2010). “Revision, extension, and evaluation of a binaural speech intelligibility model,” J. Acoust. Soc. Am., 127, 2479-2497. doi: 10.1121/1.3295575
Brungart D.S., and Iyer N. (2012) “Better-ear glimpsing efficiency with symmetrically-placed interfering talkers,” J. Acoust. Soc. Am., 132, 2545-2556.
Durlach, N. I. (1963). “Equalization and cancellation theory of binaural masking level differences,” J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 35(8), 1206–1218. doi: 10.1121/1.1918675.
Hauth, C.F., Brand, T., and Kollmeier B. (2017). “Modelling the frequency dependency of binaural masking level difference and its role for binaural unmasking of speech in normal hearing and hearing impaired listeners,” J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 141, 3638. doi: 10.1121/1.4987846
Holube, I., Fredelake, S., Vlaming, M., and Kollmeier, B. (2010). “Development and analysis of an international speech test signal (ISTS),” Int. J. Audiol., 49, 891-903. doi: 10.3109/14992027.2010.506889
Kayser, H., Ewert, S.D., Anemüller, J., Rohdenburg, T., Hohmann, V., and Kollmeier, B. (2009). “Database of multichannel in-ear and behind-the-ear head-related and binaural room impulse responses,” EURASIP J. Adv. Signal Process., 1-10.
Neher, T., Wagener, K.C., and Latzel, M. (2017). “Speech reception with different bilateral directional processing schemes: Influence of binaural hearing, audiometric asymmetry, and acoustic scenario,” Hear. Res. 353, 36-48.
Wagener, K., Brand, T., and Kollmeier, B. (1999). “Development and evaluation of a sentence test for the German language. I-III: Design, optimization and evaluation of the Oldenburg sentence test,” Z. für Audiol. Audiol. Acoust., 38, 86e95, 4-15, 44-56.
Additional Files
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:
a. Authors retain copyright* and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
b. Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
c. Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See The Effect of Open Access).
*From the 2017 issue onward. The Danavox Jubilee Foundation owns the copyright of all articles published in the 1969-2015 issues. However, authors are still allowed to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.