Speech audiometric trial using synthetic vowels produced with DEC-talk

A speech audiometric trial is described for testing the degree of hearing loss and its pathogenesis. Test vowels and distorted speech sounds were synthesized with DECtalk for use in speech audiometric tests. Results showed that 100% articulation can be obtained with undistorted synthesized vowels, while reasonable articulation scores can be obtained with distorted synthetic speech signals. This method could solve some of the problems inherent in use of recorded natural Japanese speech sounds as acoustic stimuli during otological examinations.