The consonant-weighted envelope difference index (cEDI): a proposed technique for quantifying envelope distortion
Eric C Hoover1, Pamela E Souza, Frederick J Gallun
1Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA. EricHoover2014@u.northwestern.edu
Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research : JSLHR
|March 14, 2012
Summary
Amplitude compression in hearing aids can cause distortion. A new method segments speech to better measure distortion
Area of Science:
- Audiology
- Speech Processing
- Signal Analysis
Background:
- Hearing aid amplitude compression can introduce distortion, potentially limiting benefits.
- Existing metrics like the Envelope Difference Index (EDI) are sensitive to distortion but include irrelevant signal portions.
Purpose of the Study:
- To develop a computationally efficient method for segmenting speech based on syllable structure.
- To create a distortion metric sensitive to consonant recognition changes, improving upon the EDI.
Main Methods:
- Speech signal segmentation using the 1st derivative of the envelope.
- Generation of a weighting function based on derivative peaks.
- Computation of a signal distortion metric using the weighting function.
Main Results:
- The developed weighting function improved variance explained in consonant recognition scores compared to previous methods.
- The revised model, incorporating the weighting function, explained only 3.2% of the variance in consonant recognition.
Conclusions:
- The technique effectively focuses distortion analysis on relevant speech segments.
- The amplitude envelope difference of consonants is not a robust predictor of hearing aid compression's effect on consonant recognition.
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