Related Experiment Video
Updated: Mar 20, 2026

Author Spotlight: Investigating the Impact of Emotional Prosodies on Voice Recognition and Perception
Published on: August 9, 2024
The multiple contributions of interaural differences to improved speech intelligibility in multitalker scenarios
Esther Schoenmaker1, Thomas Brand2, Steven van de Par1
1Acoustics Group, Cluster of Excellence Hearing4all, Carl von Ossietzky University, 26111 Oldenburg, Germany.
Abstract:
Spatial separation of talkers is known to improve speech intelligibility in a multitalker scenario. A contribution of binaural unmasking, in addition to a better-ear effect, is usually considered to account for this advantage. Binaural unmasking is assumed to result from the spectro-temporally simultaneous presence of target and masker energy with different interaural properties. However, in the case of speech targets and speech interference, the spectro-temporal signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) fluctuates strongly, resulting in audible and localizable glimpses of target speech even at adverse global SNRs. The disparate interaural properties of target and masker may thus lead to improved segregation without requiring simultaneity. This study addresses the binaural contribution to spatial release from masking due to simultaneous disparities in interaural cues between target and interferers. For that purpose stimuli were designed that lacked simultaneously occurring disparities, but yielded a percept of spatially separated speech nearly indistinguishable from that of non-modified stimuli. A phoneme recognition experiment with either three collocated or spatially separated talkers showed a substantial spatial release from masking for the modified stimuli. The results suggest that binaural unmasking made a minor contribution to spatial release from masking, and that rather the interaural cues mediated by dominant speech components were essential.
More Related Videos
Related Concept Videos
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...
Perceiving Loudness, Pitch, and Location
Place theory, or place coding, suggests that different pitches are heard because various sound waves activate specific locations along the cochlea's basilar membrane. The brain determines the pitch of a sound by...
Sound Waves: Interference
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,...
Auditory Perception
Causes of Similarity-Dissimilarity Effect

