Abstract
In this study, speech is spectro-temporally smeared, i.e., the contrasts in the spectral and/or temporal domain are reduced. This spread-of-excitation type of manipulation is embedded in a spectro-temporal analysis and resynthesis scheme. In order to perform a perceptually relevant analysis, wavelet coding with a Gaussian wavelet of 1/4 octave is used. The detectability of smearing and the effect on intelligibility are measured for normal-hearing and hearing-impaired listeners. Smearing is imposed concentrating on the spectral domain (related to upward and downward spread of masking), concentrating on the temporal domain (related to forward and backward masking), and considering the spectral and temporal domain in combination (spectro-temporal spread of excitation). Mechanisms underlying the just-noticeable degree of smearing, and the intelligibility of smeared speech will be addressed. The results may provide insight into the sharpness of the internal spectro-temporal representation of the auditory system and its effect on speech intelligibility. Comparing normal-hearing and hearing-impaired listeners, the role of a reduced sharpness in auditory spectro-temporal coding as a possible explanation for degraded speech intelligibility will be discussed. [Work supported by the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO).]
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