The dynamic range of speech, compression, and its effect on the speech reception threshold in stationary and
Koenraad S Rhebergen1, Niek J Versfeld, Wouter A Dreschler
1Department of Clinical and Experimental Audiology, Academic Medical Center, Amsterdam, Meibergdreff 9, 1105 AZ, The Netherlands. k.s.rhebergen@amc.uva.nl
Abstract:
Changes in the speech reception threshold (SRT) after amplitude compression of speech or speech in noise may be due to changes in the dynamic range of the speech signal. However, current models set up to predict the speech intelligibility consider the dynamic range of speech to be fixed regardless of the type of compression. The present paper describes two experiments with normal-hearing subjects to examine the effect of the dynamic range on the SRT in stationary and interrupted noise after wide dynamic range compression. The dynamic range has been varied by compression or expansion of only the speech signal, leaving the masking noise unaltered, or by compression or expansion of the mixed speech-in-noise signal. The results show that compression affects the SRT, both in a positive or a negative direction, not only due to dynamic range but also due to distortion of the speech signal.
Related Concept Videos
Sound Intensity Level
The human ear can perceive an extensive range of sound intensity, necessitating the use of the logarithmic scale to define a physical quantity—the intensity level. It is a ratio of two intensities and hence a...
Difference from Background: Limit of Detection
The LOD indicates the presence or absence...
Sound Waves: Interference
Intensity and Pressure of Sound Waves
Unlike the time average of a sinusoidal term, which is zero since it is positive and...
Interference: Path Lengths
Two special sources may be considered when they are in phase. This can be easily achieved by feeding the two sources from the same source. An example would be synchronizing the two speakers by feeding them with the same source, such as the sound waves produced by a tuning fork. This setup ensures that the two sources have the same frequency and are...
Echo
Imagine the sound is reflected back to the ears. Assuming that the source is very close to the human, the difference between hearing the two sounds—the emitted sound and the reflected sound—may be more than the minimum time for perceiving distinct sounds. If this is the case, then the...


