scholarly journals The Role of Reverberation and Magnitude Spectra of Direct Parts in Contralateral and Ipsilateral Ear Signals on Perceived Externalization

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 460 ◽  
Author(s):  
Song Li ◽  
Roman Schlieper ◽  
Jürgen Peissig
Keyword(s):  
Speech Signal ◽  
Impulse Responses ◽  
Sound Sources ◽  
Reverberant Environments ◽  
Contralateral Ear ◽  
Listening Experiment ◽  
Binaural Sound

Several studies show that the reverberation and spectral details in direct sounds are two essential cues for perceived externalization of virtual sound sources in reverberant environments. The present study investigated the role of these two cues in contralateral and ipsilateral ear signals on perceived externalization of headphone-reproduced binaural sound images at different azimuth angles. For this purpose, seven pairs of non-individual binaural room impulse responses (BRIRs) were measured at azimuth angles of −90°, −60°, −30°, 0°, 30°, 60°, and 90° in a listening room. The magnitude spectra of direct parts were smoothed, and the reverberation was removed, either in left or right ear BRIRs. Such modified BRIRs were convolved with a speech signal, and the resulting binaural sounds were presented over headphones. Subjects were asked to assess the degree of perceived externalization for the presented stimuli. The result of the subjective listening experiment revealed that the magnitude spectra of direct parts in ipsilateral ear signals and the reverberation in contralateral ear signals are important for perceived externalization of virtual lateral sound sources.

scholarly journals Modeling perceived externalization of a static, lateral sound image

Acta Acustica ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (5) ◽  
pp. 21
Author(s):  
Song Li ◽  
Robert Baumgartner ◽  
Jürgen Peissig
Keyword(s):  
Auditory Processing ◽  
Experimental Conditions ◽  
Acoustic Environment ◽  
Spectral Cues ◽  
Sound Image ◽  
Reverberant Environments ◽  
Contralateral Ear ◽  
Monaural Spectral Cues ◽  
Interaural Level Differences

Perceived externalization is a relevant feature to create an immersive acoustic environment with headphone reproduction. In the present study, listener-specific acoustic transfer characteristics for an azimuth angle of 90° were modified to investigate the role of monaural spectral cues, interaural level differences (ILDs), and temporal fluctuations of ILDs on perceived externalization in anechoic and reverberant environments. Listeners’ ratings suggested that each acoustic cue was important for perceived externalization. If only one correct acoustic cue remained in the ear signals, the sound image could not be perceived as fully externalized. Reverberation did reduce but not eliminate the influences of monaural spectral and ILD cues on perceived externalization. Additionally, the spectral details of the ipsilateral ear signal were more important for perceived externalization than those in the contralateral ear signal. A computational model was proposed to quantify those relationships and predict externalization ratings by comparing the acoustic cues extracted from the target (modified) and template (non-processed) binaural signals after several auditory processing steps. The accuracy of predicted externalization ratings was higher than 90% under all experimental conditions.

Perceptual Learning of Vocoded Speech With and Without Contralateral Hearing: Implications for Cochlear Implant Rehabilitation

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-10
Author(s):  
Martin Chavant ◽  
Alexis Hervais-Adelman ◽  
Olivier Macherey
Keyword(s):  
Cochlear Implant ◽  
Perceptual Learning ◽  
Speech Signal ◽  
Training Phase ◽  
Monosyllabic Words ◽  
Low Pass ◽  
Contralateral Ear ◽  
Number Of Individuals ◽  
Insight Into ◽  
Vocoded Speech

Purpose An increasing number of individuals with residual or even normal contralateral hearing are being considered for cochlear implantation. It remains unknown whether the presence of contralateral hearing is beneficial or detrimental to their perceptual learning of cochlear implant (CI)–processed speech. The aim of this experiment was to provide a first insight into this question using acoustic simulations of CI processing. Method Sixty normal-hearing listeners took part in an auditory perceptual learning experiment. Each subject was randomly assigned to one of three groups of 20 referred to as NORMAL, LOWPASS, and NOTHING. The experiment consisted of two test phases separated by a training phase. In the test phases, all subjects were tested on recognition of monosyllabic words passed through a six-channel “PSHC” vocoder presented to a single ear. In the training phase, which consisted of listening to a 25-min audio book, all subjects were also presented with the same vocoded speech in one ear but the signal they received in their other ear differed across groups. The NORMAL group was presented with the unprocessed speech signal, the LOWPASS group with a low-pass filtered version of the speech signal, and the NOTHING group with no sound at all. Results The improvement in speech scores following training was significantly smaller for the NORMAL than for the LOWPASS and NOTHING groups. Conclusions This study suggests that the presentation of normal speech in the contralateral ear reduces or slows down perceptual learning of vocoded speech but that an unintelligible low-pass filtered contralateral signal does not have this effect. Potential implications for the rehabilitation of CI patients with partial or full contralateral hearing are discussed.

A virtual orchestra to qualify the acoustics of historical opera houses

2020 ◽  
Vol 27 (3) ◽  
pp. 235-252 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dario D’Orazio ◽  
Giulia Fratoni ◽  
Anna Rovigatti ◽  
Massimo Garai
Keyword(s):  
18Th Century ◽  
Public Spaces ◽  
Early Age ◽  
Impulse Responses ◽  
Sound Sources ◽  
Social Division ◽  
Subjective Preference ◽  
Acoustic Comfort ◽  
Opera Houses

Italian Historical Opera Houses are private or public spaces built around a cavea, with tiers of boxes on the surrounding walls. At the early age – from 16th to 18th century – boxes were private properties of the richest class, typically the financial responsible of the whole building. The stalls hosted the middle class, that gradually increased its social position and for this reason the wooden seats were progressively replaced by chairs. The gallery was reserved to lower classes. Does this social division correspond to a different acoustic comfort? The present work tries to answer this question using subjective preference models provided by scholars. With this aim, the room criteria defined by different authors and in distinct times are lined up with the ISO 3382 standards and analysed depending on the acoustic peculiarities of an Italian Historical Opera House selected as case study. Calibrated impulse responses were handled through the numerical simulations of a whole orchestra of virtual sound sources in the pit.

scholarly journals The Historical Soundscape Analysis of Fatahillah Square, Jakarta

Acoustics ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 2 (4) ◽  
pp. 847-867
Author(s):  
Michael Isnaeni Djimantoro ◽  
Widjaja Martokusumo ◽  
Heru W. Poerbo ◽  
R. Joko Sarwono
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Heritage ◽  
Visual Analysis ◽  
Sound Sources ◽  
The Past ◽  
Holistic Understanding ◽  
Sonic Environment ◽  
The 19Th Century ◽  
Comprehensive Study

Understanding conceptions of the protection of cultural heritage continues to develop until now. Presently, urban historic places are not only comprehended as tangible but also include intangible dimensions. However, the conservation of cultural heritage dominantly still emphasises the visual sense more than any other senses. Thus, this paper addressed several questions on the role of human senses, the historic sonic environments, and the soundmarks of the past in examining a historical area. This paper aims to reveal the relation between sound sources and its predicted sonic environment in historic places over the time. The case study was Fatahillah Square, Jakarta, which has been documented from the 19th century until now. Some methods were carried out such as soundwalk, recalled in memory, and visual analysis. The results show that comprehensive study of multisensorial stimulus can increase a holistic understanding of historic places. Therefore, the protection of historic sites cannot only focus on the object per se, but also it must be considered to be a holistic entity. This research highlights new perspectives in analysing historical areas using combination of pictorial sources and sonic information.

scholarly journals Localizing nearby sound sources in a classroom: Binaural room impulse responses

2005 ◽  
Vol 117 (5) ◽  
pp. 3100-3115 ◽  
Author(s):  
Barbara G. Shinn-Cunningham ◽  
Norbert Kopco ◽  
Tara J. Martin
Keyword(s):  
Impulse Responses ◽  
Sound Sources

scholarly journals Auditory model-based estimation of the effect of head-worn devices on frontal horizontal localisation

Acta Acustica ◽  
2022 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
pp. 1
Author(s):  
Pedro Lladó ◽  
Petteri Hyvärinen ◽  
Ville Pulkki
Keyword(s):  
Neural Network ◽  
Horizontal Plane ◽  
Estimation Error ◽  
Computational Method ◽  
Impulse Responses ◽  
Auditory Model ◽  
Position Uncertainty ◽  
Average Estimation Error ◽  
Listening Experiment ◽  
Auditory Localisation

Auditory localisation accuracy may be degraded when a head-worn device (HWD), such as a helmet or hearing protector, is used. A computational method is proposed in this study for estimating how horizontal plane localisation is impaired by a HWD through distortions of interaural cues. Head-related impulse responses (HRIRs) of different HWDs were measured with a KEMAR and a binaural auditory model was used to compute interaural cues from HRIR-convolved noise bursts. A shallow neural network (NN) was trained with data from a subjective listening experiment, where horizontal plane localisation was assessed while wearing different HWDs. Interaural cues were used as features to estimate perceived direction and position uncertainty (standard deviation) of a sound source in the horizontal plane with the NN. The NN predicted the position uncertainty of localisation among subjects for a given HWD with an average estimation error of 1°. The obtained results suggest that it is possible to predict the degradation of localisation ability for specific HWDs in the frontal horizontal plane using the method.

scholarly journals Mishearing as a Side Effect of Rational Language Comprehension in Noise

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marjolein Van Os ◽  
Jutta Kray ◽  
Vera Demberg
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Language Processing ◽  
Language Comprehension ◽  
Speech Signal ◽  
Speech Comprehension ◽  
Noisy Signal ◽  
Simple Consequence ◽  
Top Down ◽  
Rational Language ◽  
Listening Experiment

Language comprehension in noise can sometimes lead to mishearing, due to the noise disrupting the speech signal. Some of the difficulties in dealing with the noisy signal can be alleviated by drawing on the context – indeed, top-down predictability has shown to facilitate speech comprehension in noise. Previous studies have furthermore shown that strong reliance on the top-down predictions can lead to increased rates of mishearing, especially in older adults, which are attributed to general deficits in cognitive control in older adults. We here propose that the observed mishearing may be a simple consequence of rational language processing in noise. It should not be related to failure on the side of the older comprehenders, but instead would be predicted by rational processing accounts. To test this hypothesis, we extend earlier studies by running an online listening experiment with younger and older adults, carefully controlling the target and direct competitor in our stimuli. We show that mishearing is directly related to the perceptibility of the signal. We furthermore add an analysis of wrong responses, which shows that results are at odds with the idea that participants overly strongly rely on context in this task, as most false answers are indeed close to the speech signal, and not to the semantics of the context.

Locating two sound sources: The role of amplitude modulation and spectral content.

2011 ◽  
Vol 129 (4) ◽  
pp. 2488-2488
Author(s):  
Willim A. Yost ◽  
Christopher Brown ◽  
Farris Walling
Keyword(s):  
Amplitude Modulation ◽  
Sound Sources ◽  
Spectral Content
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