A Speech Preprocessing Method Based on Overlap-Masking Reduction to Increase Intelligibility in Reverberant Environments
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J. Grosse, and S. van de Par, "A Speech Preprocessing Method Based on Overlap-Masking Reduction to Increase Intelligibility in Reverberant Environments," J. Audio Eng. Soc., vol. 65, no. 1/2, pp. 31-41, (2017 January.). doi: https://doi.org/10.17743/jaes.2016.0067
J. Grosse, and S. van de Par, "A Speech Preprocessing Method Based on Overlap-Masking Reduction to Increase Intelligibility in Reverberant Environments," J. Audio Eng. Soc., vol. 65 Issue 1/2 pp. 31-41, (2017 January.). doi: https://doi.org/10.17743/jaes.2016.0067
Abstract: The reproduction of speech over loudspeakers in a reverberant environment is often encountered in daily life, as for example, in a train station or during a telephone conference. Spatial reverberation degrades intelligibility. This study proposes two perceptually motivated preprocessing approaches that are applied to the dry speech before being played into a reverberant environment. In the first algorithm, which assumes prior knowledge of the room impulse response, the amount of overlap-masking due to successive phonemes is reduced. In the second algorithm, emphasizing onsets is combined with overlap-masking. A speech intelligibility model is used to find the best parameters for these algorithms by minimizing the predicted speech reception thresholds. Listening tests show that this preprocessing method can indeed improve speech intelligibility in reverberant environments. In listening tests, Speech Reception Thresholds improved up to 6 dB.
@article{grosse2017a,
author={grosse, julian and van de par, steven},
journal={journal of the audio engineering society},
title={a speech preprocessing method based on overlap-masking reduction to increase intelligibility in reverberant environments},
year={2017},
volume={65},
number={1/2},
pages={31-41},
doi={https://doi.org/10.17743/jaes.2016.0067},
month={january},}
@article{grosse2017a,
author={grosse, julian and van de par, steven},
journal={journal of the audio engineering society},
title={a speech preprocessing method based on overlap-masking reduction to increase intelligibility in reverberant environments},
year={2017},
volume={65},
number={1/2},
pages={31-41},
doi={https://doi.org/10.17743/jaes.2016.0067},
month={january},
abstract={the reproduction of speech over loudspeakers in a reverberant environment is often encountered in daily life, as for example, in a train station or during a telephone conference. spatial reverberation degrades intelligibility. this study proposes two perceptually motivated preprocessing approaches that are applied to the dry speech before being played into a reverberant environment. in the first algorithm, which assumes prior knowledge of the room impulse response, the amount of overlap-masking due to successive phonemes is reduced. in the second algorithm, emphasizing onsets is combined with overlap-masking. a speech intelligibility model is used to find the best parameters for these algorithms by minimizing the predicted speech reception thresholds. listening tests show that this preprocessing method can indeed improve speech intelligibility in reverberant environments. in listening tests, speech reception thresholds improved up to 6 db.},}
TY - paper
TI - A Speech Preprocessing Method Based on Overlap-Masking Reduction to Increase Intelligibility in Reverberant Environments
SP - 31
EP - 41
AU - Grosse, Julian
AU - van de Par, Steven
PY - 2017
JO - Journal of the Audio Engineering Society
IS - 1/2
VO - 65
VL - 65
Y1 - January 2017
TY - paper
TI - A Speech Preprocessing Method Based on Overlap-Masking Reduction to Increase Intelligibility in Reverberant Environments
SP - 31
EP - 41
AU - Grosse, Julian
AU - van de Par, Steven
PY - 2017
JO - Journal of the Audio Engineering Society
IS - 1/2
VO - 65
VL - 65
Y1 - January 2017
AB - The reproduction of speech over loudspeakers in a reverberant environment is often encountered in daily life, as for example, in a train station or during a telephone conference. Spatial reverberation degrades intelligibility. This study proposes two perceptually motivated preprocessing approaches that are applied to the dry speech before being played into a reverberant environment. In the first algorithm, which assumes prior knowledge of the room impulse response, the amount of overlap-masking due to successive phonemes is reduced. In the second algorithm, emphasizing onsets is combined with overlap-masking. A speech intelligibility model is used to find the best parameters for these algorithms by minimizing the predicted speech reception thresholds. Listening tests show that this preprocessing method can indeed improve speech intelligibility in reverberant environments. In listening tests, Speech Reception Thresholds improved up to 6 dB.
The reproduction of speech over loudspeakers in a reverberant environment is often encountered in daily life, as for example, in a train station or during a telephone conference. Spatial reverberation degrades intelligibility. This study proposes two perceptually motivated preprocessing approaches that are applied to the dry speech before being played into a reverberant environment. In the first algorithm, which assumes prior knowledge of the room impulse response, the amount of overlap-masking due to successive phonemes is reduced. In the second algorithm, emphasizing onsets is combined with overlap-masking. A speech intelligibility model is used to find the best parameters for these algorithms by minimizing the predicted speech reception thresholds. Listening tests show that this preprocessing method can indeed improve speech intelligibility in reverberant environments. In listening tests, Speech Reception Thresholds improved up to 6 dB.