The Performance of the Acoustic Voice Quality Index and Acoustic Breathiness Index in Synthesized Voices

Abstract

The aim of the present study was to investigate the performance of the Acoustic Voice Quality Index (AVQI) and the Acoustic Breathiness Index (ABI) in synthesized voice samples. The validity of the AVQI and ABI performances was analyzed in synthesized voice samples controlling the degree of predefined deviations for overall voice quality (G-scale) and breathiness (B-scale). A range of 26 synthesized voice samples with various severity degrees in G-scale with and without prominence of breathiness for male and female voices were created. ABI received higher validity in the evaluation of breathiness than AVQI. Furthermore, ABI evaluated accurately breathiness degrees without considering roughness effects in voice samples and confirmed the findings of other studies with natural voices. Furthermore, ABI was more robust than AVQI in the evaluation of severe voice-disordered voice samples. Finally, AVQI represented moreover overall voice quality with an emphasis of breathiness evaluation and less roughness although roughness had a necessary component in overall voice quality evaluation. AVQI and ABI are two robust measurements in the evaluation of voice quality. However, ABI received fewer errors than AVQI in the analyses of higher abnormalities in the voice signal. Disturbances of other subtypes of abnormal overall voice quality such as roughness were not demonstrated in the results of ABI.