Understanding compression: modeling the effects of dynamic-range compression in hearing aids.
The purpose of this paper is to study the effects of dynamic-range compression and linear amplification on speech intelligibility and quality for hearing-impaired listeners. The paper focuses on the relative benefit of compression compared to linear amplification and the effect of varying the number of compression channels and the compression time constants. The stimuli are sentences in a background of stationary speech-shaped noise. Speech intelligibility and quality indices are used to predict the listener responses for a mild, moderate sloping, and moderate/severe hearing loss. The results show a strong interaction between signal processing, speech intensity, and hearing loss. The results are interpreted in terms of the two major effects of compression on speech: the increase in audibility and the decrease in temporal and spectral envelope contrast.
Kates
James M
JM
GN ReSound, Boulder, Colorado, USA. jkates@gnresound.dk
D001309:Auditory Threshold; D003198:Computer Simulation; D006310:Hearing Aids; D006319:Hearing Loss, Sensorineural / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D006801:Humans; D010469:Perceptual Distortion; D010470:Perceptual Masking; D011474:Prosthesis Design; D012815:Signal Processing, Computer-Assisted / Q000295:instrumentation*; D013018:Sound Spectrography; D013061:Speech Acoustics; D013067:Speech Perception