Sex differences in most preferred listening level for telephone speech

Abstract

Female listeners were found to prefer to hear speech significantly lower in volume than male listeners. A series of three studies was conducted to evaluate the preferred listening level for speech heard over a standard telephone handset [G-type]. Equal numbers of men and women listened over a G-type handset to recorded speech samples. Hearing threshold and age of the listener were obtained. The sex of the talker, the transmitter device and room conditions, ambient noise and reverberation time, were varied systematically during preparation of the speech samples. Subjects adjusted the loudness level with a slide attenuator. In the three studies the mean preferred listening levels were as follows. Women Men Study 1 −33.5 VU −29.3 VU Study 2 −41.7 VU −39.1 VU Study 3 −49.8 VU −45.3 VU