Revision, extension, and evaluation of a binaural speech intelligibility model.
This study presents revision, extension, and evaluation of a binaural speech intelligibility model (Beutelmann, R., and Brand, T. (2006). J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 120, 331-342) that yields accurate predictions of speech reception thresholds (SRTs) in the presence of a stationary noise source at arbitrary azimuths and in different rooms. The modified model is based on an analytical expression of binaural unmasking for arbitrary input signals and is computationally more efficient, while maintaining the prediction quality of the original model. An extension for nonstationary interferers was realized by applying the model to short time frames of the input signals and averaging over the predicted SRT results. Binaural SRTs from 8 normal-hearing and 12 hearing-impaired subjects, incorporating all combinations of four rooms, three source setups, and three noise types were measured and compared to the model's predictions. Depending on the noise type, the parametric correlation coefficients between observed and predicted SRTs were 0.80-0.93 for normal-hearing subjects and 0.59-0.80 for hearing-impaired subjects. The mean absolute prediction error was 3 dB for the mean normal-hearing data and 4 dB for the individual hearing-impaired data. 70% of the variance of the SRTs of hearing-impaired subjects could be explained by the model, which is based only on the audiogram.
Beutelmann
Rainer
R
Medizinische Physik, Carl-von-Ossietzky-Universitat Oldenburg, 26111 Oldenburg, Germany. rainer.beutelmann@uni-oldenburg.de
Brand
Thomas
T
Kollmeier
Birger
B
D000162:Acoustics; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001301:Audiometry, Pure-Tone; D001309:Auditory Threshold; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D032882:Comprehension; D003198:Computer Simulation; D005160:Facility Design and Construction; D034381:Hearing Loss / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D008960:Models, Psychological; D009622:Noise / Q000009:adverse effects; D010470:Perceptual Masking; D019986:Persons with Hearing Disabilities / Q000523:psychology*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D017603:Signal Detection, Psychological; D013017:Sound Localization; D013018:Sound Spectrography; D013063:Speech Discrimination Tests; D013065:Speech Intelligibility; D013997:Time Factors