Low Loudness Research Articles

Analysis of Supraglottic Activity during Vocalization in Flamenco Singers.

Flamenco is a traditional music originally from Andalusia in southern Spain. Some of the vocal resources used in Flamenco have components of voice distortion and other voice qualities that could sound like hyperfunctional voice productions. The present study aimed at observing supraglottic activity in flamenco singers while engaged in singing at various degrees of pitch and loudness and while engaged in realizing phonatory tasks. A total of eighteen flamenco singers with at least 5 years of voice training were recruited. Flexible endoscopic voice evaluations were recorded and edited to provide samples of different pitches, loudness levels, and phonatory tasks. Sound was removed from video samples. Two blinded laryngologists were asked to assess antero-posterior compression, medial compression, pharyngeal compression, and VLP for every sample, using a visual analog scale. Significantly higher values were found for medial compression, anterior-posterior compression, VLP and pharyngeal compression during high loudness levels when compared to medium and low loudness. Overall, medial compression was lower than anterior-posterior compression. Supraglottic activity is present in flamenco singing in the four laryngoscopic variables. It seems to be that supraglottic activity increases with loudness level and pitch. This behavior could be a natural and necessary aspect of flamenco singing present during both sustained vowels and song.

Ambulatory Phonation Monitoring in Prelingual and Postlingual Deaf Patients after Cochlear Implantation

Introduction: Hearing loss is known to play a fundamental role in voice production due to a lack of auditory feedback. In this study, we evaluated both fundamental frequency (F₀) and loudness of voice on adult deaf patients subjected to cochlear implantation, and we analyzed these results according to the prelingual or postlingual onset of the deafness. Methods: The study population, balanced in terms of sex, consisted of 32 adults who had undergone cochlear implantation due to severe or profound bilateral hearing loss (16 with prelingual deafness and 16 with postlingual deafness) and their outcomes were compared with a control group of 32 normal hearing (NH) subjects. All subjects were asked to utter the sustained vowel /a/ for at least 5 s and then to read an Italian phonetically balanced text. Voice recordings were performed by means of an ambulatory phonation monitoring (APM 3200). Measurements were performed without cochlear implant (CI), then with CI switched on, both in quiet condition and with background noise. Results: Compared to NH subjects, deaf individuals were overall characterized by higher F₀ and loudness values, especially in the vowel task than the reading. In the sustained vowel task, no patients demonstrated significant voice changes after switching on the CI; contrarily, in the reading task, the use of the CI reduced both loudness and F₀ up to values comparable to NH subjects, although only in males. There was no significant difference in speech parameters between prelingual and postlingual deafness, although overall lower values were evident in case of postlingual deafness. The use of the CI showed a significant reduction of F₀ in males with postlingual deafness and of loudness, both for patients with prelingual and postlingual deafness. Finally, there was a positive correlation between postoperative hearing thresholds and overall speech loudness, highlighting how subjects with better hearing outcomes after CI positioning generally speak with a lower loudness and therefore a reduced vocal effort and load. Discussion/Conclusion: We found similar speech performances between prelingual and postlingual deafness, both in the vowel /a/ phonation and in the reading, providing a further suggestion that prelingual adult patients may benefit from cochlear implantation in phonation as well, in addition to the known excellent hearing outcomes. Overall, these results highlight the ability of the CI to adjust in everyday speech certain phonatory aspects such as F₀ and loudness by restoring the auditory feedback.

Persistence of lower vocal intensity in vocal fold paralysis with cricothyroid impairment after hyaluronate injection.

Unilateral vocal fold paralysis (UVFP) affects the glottal gap, voice, and aerodynamics, whereas injection laryngoplasty (IL) using hyaluronate is an effective treatment for UVFP by decreasing the glottal gap to improve voice. Previous studies have shown that the involvement of cricothyroid (CT) muscle in UVFP patients further affects patients' aerodynamics, but it remains unclear whether the difference remains after IL. This study investigates whether the aerodynamic features observed in UVFP with CT involvement could still be observed after IL. This study recruited UVFP patients with dysphonia, and IL was performed within 6months of initial symptoms. All subjects received assessments including videolaryngoscopy, voice analysis, and aerodynamics at three time points: before IL, 1month after IL, and 6months after IL. The glottal gap, voice, and aerodynamics between patients with and without CT involvement (the CT+ and CT- groups) were compared, and the change (Δ) before and after IL and repeated-measures analysis of variance (ANOVA) were also compared between the two groups. A total of 71 patients with UVFP (22 in the CT+ group and 49 in the CT- group) were analyzed. After IL, the CT+ group showed a lower sound pressure level (SPL), higher Δair pressure, and smaller Δaerodynamic power than the CT- group. The CT+ group had a lower SPL, even after elevating air pressure to attempt to achieve a higher vocal intensity. The results suggest that although closure of the glottal gap was achieved by IL, the CT+ group still had a lower loudness and needed to sustain a higher peak air pressure when producing voice. Level 4.

Explaining smartphone-based acoustic data in bipolar disorder: Semi-supervised fuzzy clustering and relative linguistic summaries

Smartphones enable to collect large data streams about phone calls that, once combined with Computational Intelligence techniques, bring great potential for improving the monitoring of patients with mental illnesses. However, the acoustic data streams recorded in uncontrolled environments are dynamically changing due to various sources of uncertainty. In addition, such acoustic data are usually difficult to interpret by psychiatrists. Within this study, we propose an approach based on Linguistic Summaries with Fuzzy Clustering (LS-FC) aiming at the development of human-consistent and easily interpretable summaries about relations between acoustic data and mental state of a patient affected by Bipolar Disorder, e.g., Most calls in the state of hypomania have low loudness compared to the state of euthymia [T = 1]. To capture the dynamics of acoustic data streams, we apply a dynamic incremental semi-supervised fuzzy clustering that synthesizes data into clusters. These clusters are represented by prototypes which are used for the construction of the membership functions describing linguistic terms e.g., low loudness, and then, linguistic summaries. The main contribution of this paper is the incorporation of information about clusters’ prototypes in the generation of linguistic summaries. The primary goal of this research is explainability. The semi-supervised learning algorithm is used mainly for deriving clusters and building improved linguistic summaries. Numerical results indicate that linguistic summaries provide intuitive and clear information about voice features in a patient’s affective state and they are consistent with clinical observation. In particular, during most calls in hypomania/mania both the quality of the patient’s voice and the dynamics of change in the spectrum signal reflected in spectral flux are low compared to euthymia. The proposed approach enables to summarize large data streams into meaningful descriptions that, although relatively simple, offer information granules that are very intuitive for clinicians and are promising to support the smartphone-based monitoring of bipolar disorder patients to inform about the potential change of mental state.

Epidemiological investigation of tinnitus in Sichuan and Chongqing

Objectives: To investigate the prevalence and associated risk factors of tinnitus in Sichuan and Chongqing. Methods: We designed a tinnitus epidemiological questionnaire. The multi-stage stratified cluster random sampling methods was applied to obtain study subjects in six areas (Nanchong, Jiangjin, Fengdu, Yunyang, Suining and Ya'an), which were selected for epidemiological investigation. Home visit completion of epidemiological questionnaires was conducted. The trained investigators guided the respondents to fill in the tinnitus epidemiological questionnaires, and the epidemiological status of six areas on prevalence and risk factor was investigated. SPSS 22.0 software was used for statistical analysis. Results: Sampling population were 10 289, in which 9 273 were valid questionnaires. There were 4 281 males and 4 992 females, with an average age of 47.3 years, among which 34.83% (3 230/9 273) had tinnitus. 3.99% (370/9 273) were diagnosed with bothersome tinnitus. In a multivariable logistic regression mod, the following factors were associated with onsetting of tinnitus: sleep disorder [Odds Ratio(OR)=3.74] and noise exposure(OR=1.99). The risk of disease was lowest in the age of 30-40 years old, while the risk of disease was higher for people under 30 and over 40. In another multivariable logistic regression mode, the following factors were associated with having bothersome tinnitus: older people were more likely to suffer from tinnitus, sleep disorders (OR=4.68) and noise exposure (OR=1.56). Conclusions: The prevalence of tinnitus in Sichuan and Chongqing is about 34.83%, but most of the tinnitus is short-lived and has low loudness, which will not affect the patients. Only a small number of patients with tinnitus (3.99%) persist and affect their health and need treatment. The occurrence and exacerbation of tinnitus may be related to sleep, age, and noise exposure.

How to say? Voice analytics of debt collection strategies

Since limit attention has been paid on debt collection calls and collectors' voice metrics, this study explores how collectors' voice metrics influence borrowers' delinquent behavior in debt collection calls. Results of survival analysis show that collectors' voice with higher pitch, higher speed, lower loudness, and lower entropy of energy prolongs borrowers' delinquent time. Mediation analysis indicates that borrowers' voice energy and call duration mediate the effects of collectors' voice metrics on delinquent time. Additional analysis on heterogeneity suggests that short‐term and long‐term repayment borrowers respond to collectors' voice metrics differently.

Prediction of loudness metrics at very high sampling frequencies using digital filters

Numerical solution of the augmented Burgers equation is generally the widely used process to predict sonic boom signatures on the ground starting from disturbances generated by an aircraft flying at supersonic speeds. Once the ground waveforms are predicted, loudness metrics are calculated as a means to quantify the impact associated with the underlying sonic booms. This work uses sBOOM, an augmented Burgers equation solver. Within sBOOM, loudness metrics are determined using time-domain digital filters rather than relying on Fast-Fourier Transforms (FFT) and their inverse counterparts to transform back and forth from the frequency-domain. For propagating signals from aircraft concepts that produce extremely low loudness levels, large sampling frequencies may be needed to achieve loudness metric convergence. This work discusses digital filters used within sBOOM, how their accuracy deteriorates at large sampling frequencies, and the enhancements to the digital filter implementation. Additionally, this work will also discuss loudness metric gradients (helpful in aircraft design exercises) obtained using the digital filtering enhancements. Finally, results with and without these modifications, both in terms of loudness metrics and their gradients, will be discussed and presented for cases which may include shaped low-boom as well as strong shock signatures.

Typewriter tinnitus: An investigative comparison with middle ear myoclonic tinnitus and its long-term therapeutic response to carbamazepine

ObjectivesDue to its rarity and similar sound, typewriter tinnitus (TT) can be misdiagnosed as middle ear myoclonic tinnitus (MEMT). We aim to clarify the characteristics of TT compared to MEMT, and the long-term therapeutic response to carbamazepine. MethodsFourteen patients with TT and 28 patients with MEMT were enrolled. ResultsTT patients were older than MEMT patients, and their tinnitus symptoms were mostly unilateral. Tinnitus symptoms, which is associated with dizziness, facial spasm, and head motion, were more common in TT, whereas MEMT were more related to noise. Acoustic reflex decay perturbation and low loudness discomfort level were diagnostic signs in MEMT patients, while decreased level of wave II in ABR was the most reliable sign in TT patients. All TT patients exhibited partial or complete response to carbamazepine, but there was a relapse rate after withdrawal of the drug was 60%. Increase in age and longer duration of symptoms were the risk factors of relapse of TT. ConclusionThe different characteristics observed in this study will be helpful to diagnose TT and MENT. Duration of tinnitus was the most important long-term prognostic factor of the carbamazepine trial, which indicates the importance of its earlier diagnosis.

Design and Development of Intelligent Wearable Biofeedback Fuzzy Logic-based Device for Monitoring and Treatment of Voice Loudness

Development of medical devices are expanding rapidly. This is occurring as results of development of high tech electronics, information technology and wireless communication technology. Integrating these technologies helps to provide good, less cost and more effective healthcare services. In this paper a novel intelligent medical biofeedback device is developed for accurate monitoring of the voice loudness using fuzzy logic compared with proportional control. This accurate biofeedback monitoring device then enhanced treatment of people who are unable to control excessive or low loudness due to intellectual disability or aggressive behavior causing loudness levels rejected by others. These people with this behavior may often be unaware of their problems and hence an intelligent biofeedback device is necessary to be used by the patients outside the clinic for self-controlling excessive or low loudness without the need to follow-up in speech pathology clinic for the continuous therapeutic. The use of the intelligent wearable biofeedback device proved to be an effective due to its enhanced features. The design considerations, enhanced features, simulation and evaluation of the device will be presented.

A Vigilance Explanation of Musical Chills? Effects of Loudness and Brightness Manipulations

Recent research has suggested that low-level psychoacoustic parameters such as loudness and spectral brightness are correlated with musical chills, a subjective emotional experience accompanied by goosebumps, shivers, and tingling sensations. These relationships may be explained by a vigilance theory of chills, through the process of auditory looming; however, these correlations or theories have never been causally tested. In the current study, participants ( N = 40) listened to five variations (original, low loudness, high loudness, low brightness, high brightness) of an experimental and control piece of chills music, characterized by a crescendo and guitar solo respectively; this qualitative distinction was made based on whether the underlying musical structure of the pieces was or was not capable of engaging auditory looming processes. It was predicted that increases in loudness would result in increased chills frequency across participants, indicated by button presses; brightness was included as an exploratory parameter. Results show that for the experimental piece, increases in loudness resulted in significantly more frequent chills experiences, and increases in brightness significantly reduced the frequency of chills, whereas no effects were found for the control piece. Findings are discussed in terms of vigilance and social bonding theories of chills, and the complex interactions between low-level psychoacoustic properties and higher-level musical structures.

Dynamic current focusing for loudness encoding in cochlear implants: a take-home trial

Objective: This study aimed to evaluate a more energy-efficient dynamic current focussing (DCF) speech-processing strategy after long-term listening experience. In DCF, tripolar stimulation is used near the threshold and loudness is controlled by the compensation coefficient σ. A recent acute pilot study showed improved spectral-temporally modulated ripple test (SMRT) scores at low loudness levels, but battery life was reduced to 1.5–4 hours.Design: Within-subject comparisons were made for the clinical versus. DCF strategy after 5 weeks of at-home usage. Speech intelligibility in noise, spectral ripple discrimination, temporal modulation detection, loudness growth, and subjective ratings were assessed.Study sample: Twenty HiRes90K (Advanced Bionics, Valencia, USA) cochlear implant (CI) users.Results: Average battery life was 9 hours with the newly implemented DCF compared to 13.4 hours with the clinical strategy. Compared with measurements made at the beginning of the study, SMRT-scores and speech intelligibility in noise were significantly improved with DCF. However, both measures suffered from unexpected learning effects over time. The improvement disappeared and speech intelligibility in noise declined significantly relative to the final control measurement with the clinical strategy.Conclusion: Most CI users can adapt to the DCF strategy in a take-home setting. Although DCF has the potential to improve performance on the SMRT test, learning effects complicate the interpretation of the current results.

Voiced High-frequency Oscillation and LaxVox: Analysis of Their Immediate Effects in Subjects With Healthy Voice

The aim of this study was to analyze the immediate effects of voiced high-frequency oscillation (VHFO) and LaxVox exercises in vocally healthy subjects. Thirty adult subjects (15 women, 15 men) with no history of dysphonia or vocal complaints participated in the study. The subjects performed VHFO and LaxVox techniques for 3 minutes in a random order, with a washout period of 7 days. They answered a questionnaire for vocal/laryngeal intensity symptoms, and had maximum phonation time (MPT) /a/, /s/, /z/, and number counting measured. The vowel /a/ was also recorded before and after both techniques for acoustic analysis. After both techniques, the subjects answered a questionnaire about vocal, laryngeal, respiratory, and articulatory sensations. Data were analyzed using the Wilcoxon, and paired t and chi-square tests were used (P < 0.05), as required. There was an increase in high loudness symptom after LaxVox in women, whereas there was a decrease in painful throat, irritated throat, and low loudness symptoms after VHFO in men. After LaxVox, the MPT of /z/ increased in women and after VHFO, the MPT of /s/, /z/, and number counting increased in men. The fundamental frequency variability increased in women after VHFO. The sensations remained unchanged in both groups following the two exercises in women and men. VHFO and LaxVox techniques had similar effects on vocal and laryngeal symptoms, as a matter of fact, in terms of phonatory and acoustic measures. With regard to vocal symptoms, VHFO showed better immediate effects in men than in women. As a result, the hypothesis H0 is partially refuted.

Speech processor data logging helps in predicting early linguistic outcomes in implanted children

ObjectiveTo analyse the value of listening-data logged in the speech processor on the prediction of the early auditory and linguistic skills in children who received a cochlear implant in their first 2 years of life. Study designProspective observational non-randomized study. MethodsTen children with profound congenital sensorineural hearing loss were included in the study. The mean age at CI activation was 16.9 months (SD ± 7.2; range 10–24). The auditory skills were evaluated with the Infant Toddler Meaningful Inventory Scale and the Category of Auditory Performance. Lexical level was assessed with the MacArthur-Bates Communicative Development Inventory.The overall data of average daily use and acoustic scene-analyses were extracted from Data Logging system.The effect of the one-year cumulative listening time to speech (in quiet) and speech-in-noise on the auditory and lexical scores was analysed. ResultsA significant positive correlation was found between speech in quiet exposure time at low loudness level (<70 dB) and lexical quotient after one year of CI use. Infant Toddler Meaningful Inventory Scale was negatively correlated with the highest speech-in-noise loudness levels (>80 dB). The Category of Auditory Performance was not related to the logged data. ConclusionThe listening environment can influence the early functional outcomes in younger implanted children. In this perspective, the data logging system is a promising tool in predicting early linguistic and auditory outcomes.

Effects of Interaural Differences on the Loudness of Low-Frequency Pure Tones

The loudness related to a sound may vary according to the localization of its source. This phenomenon is described as directional loudness and has been mainly observed for high-frequency sounds and for sources located in the horizontal plane. Because of the acoustic shadow of the head, the left and right ear pressures are modified depending on the source azimuth and the global loudness resulting from a summation process may vary accordingly. But directional loudness has also been reported to occur at 400 Hz, where shadowing effects are usually rather small. It might therefore be suspected that directional loudness effects could be influenced by other parameters involved in the localization process. In a previous study, a small but significant increase of loudness with increasing interaural time difference (ITD) was shown for low-frequency pure tones (200 and 400 Hz) at a low loudness level (40 phon). The present study aimed at getting insight into the potential cause and extent of this effect by assessing the loudness of similar pure tones lateralized with headphones by applying an interaural level difference (ILD) in addition to an ITD and by measuring the effect of ITD at the hearing threshold. It showed significant effects of both ILD and ITD on loudness, and no interaction between these factors. As the effects added even when the factors were contradictory, it supports the hypothesis that the effect is caused by the ITD itself and is not related to the localization process. However, the ITD effect was not significant at the hearing threshold.

Reflections on the spatial-sound imagination of great composers.

Since the that W. C. Sabine (1900) defined the reverberation time as an objective quantity for the acoustic behavior of a room, acousticians have been interested in describing the quality of concert halls and opera houses through physical measurements and then finding connections between these measurements and the subjective impression of listeners and musicians. In the following decades, many additional criteria have been developed for describing the effects of direct sound, reverberation, and particularly the early reflections. It is of great merit that in the 1960s, Leo L. Beranek collected and published measurement data and comments from a multitude of concert halls which stimulated an international discussion (Beranek, 1962). Since that he has continuously updated this collection along with a special ranking system for the quality of concert halls based on the best current knowledge (Beranek, 2004).These contributions have enabled his international colleagues to compare existing and newly built halls and to draw conclusions for the design of their own projects. It is therefore not surprising that during the decades between 1960 and 2010, the fundamental concepts and particularly the shapes of the new-designed halls shifted from the hexagonal and fan-shaped halls with a rather low ceiling height of the 1960s and 1970s to more shoe-box halls or halls with surrounding audience which have been preferred from the 1980s onward (Meyer, 2011). This trend may been seen as a logical consequence of Beranek's suggestion that the initial-time-delay gap, the delay between the direct sound and the first arriving reflection, should be delayed not more than 30 ms from any direction (Beranek, 1962), in combination with later suggestions from others that the first lateral reflection should arrive before the first medial reflection from the ceiling (Barron, 1971; Marshall, 1967).Furthermore one should not ignore the fact that the preferences of listeners can vary with time. It has been found that most listeners fall into two distinct groups who disagree when judging the sensation of strength and expansion of the sound source. One group prefers a powerful sound (even if it is connected with a decrease of clarity in forte passages), and the other group always prefers high clarity- even if it is connected with lower loudness in higher dynamic ranges (Wilkens, 1975). From today's point of view, this two-part division might be explained by the possibility that the sound expectations of the first group was formed by the spatial sound impression of live concerts, and that the second group predominantly listened to records.Recent more detailed studies with a loudspeaker orchestra confirm this division of the audience into two groups based on their preferences. Using a method of sensory evaluation, the single attributes named by individual listeners have been compiled into clusters through multiple-factor analysis. The result revealed that one group of listeners liked a relatively intimate sound, in which it is quite easy to hear individual instruments and melody lines. The other group preferred a louder and more reverberant sound with good envelopment and strong bass (Lokki, Patynen, Kuusinen, & Tervo, 2012, p. 3148). Remarkably, for all listeners, subjective proximity was the attribute most highly correlated with average preference ratings.During the past decades, an additional differentiation between the two groups of listeners can be found by asking them for their motivation to attend concerts: it can be based on the program, that is, the attraction of the performed compositions, or on the desire for meeting great stars. The latter includes not only the performers, but-in the of festival tourism-attractive concert halls too. For many of these people, I believe that the architectural extravagance of the halls seems to be more important than excellent acoustics.It is an essential part of today's knowledge of the acoustical demands for good halls that the performing orchestral musicians need good conditions for mutual hearing (Dammerud, 2009), and that the conductors should be able to control the tonal1 balance of the instrumental sections as well as to get an impression of the spaciousness in the hall (Meyer, 2008). …

Loudness of low-frequency pure tones lateralized by interaural time differences.

Directional loudness is that phenomenon by which the loudness of a sound may vary according to the localization of its source. This phenomenon has been mainly observed for high-frequency sounds, for sources located in the horizontal plane. Because of the acoustic shadow of the head, the left and right ear pressures are modified depending on the source azimuth and the global loudness resulting from a summation process may vary accordingly. Directional loudness has also been reported to occur at 400 Hz, where shadowing effects are usually rather small. It might therefore be suspected that directional loudness effects could be influenced by other parameters involved in the localization process. This study assessed the loudness of low-frequency pure tones (200 and 400 Hz) lateralized with headphones by applying an interaural time difference (ITD) but no interaural level difference. It showed small but significant variations of loudness with respect to ITD at a low loudness level (40 phon): ITD values associated with virtual azimuths of ±60° and ±90° led to a small but significant increase in loudness (up to 1.25 dB). However, there was no such effect at a moderate loudness level (70 phon).

Assessment of the role of the cochlear latency effect in lateralization of click sounds in humans

Interaural time and intensity disparities (ITD and IID) are the two cues to sound lateralization. "Time-only" hypothesis claims that an IID is first converted to an interaural afferent delay (Delta t), and is then processed by the central ITD mechanism, rendering a separate IID processor unnecessary. We tested this hypothesis by assessing the contribution of the cochlear latency effect to the psychophysical ITD/IID trading ratio. Auditory brainstem responses (ABRs) were used to measure the interaural afferent delays (Delta ts) that developed with a 20/sec dichotic click train used in the trading experiment. Except for small IIDs at low loudness levels, the physiological Delta t delay produced by an IID was significantly smaller than the ITD psychophysically traded for the same IID. We concluded that the cochlear latency effect alone cannot explain the psychophysical ITD/IID trading ratios and a separate IID mechanism must be involved.

Does a single session of theta-burst transcranial magnetic stimulation of inferior temporal cortex affect tinnitus perception?

BackgroundCortical excitability changes as well as imbalances in excitatory and inhibitory circuits play a distinct pathophysiological role in chronic tinnitus. Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) over the temporoparietal cortex was recently introduced to modulate tinnitus perception. In the current study, the effect of theta-burst stimulation (TBS), a novel rTMS paradigm was investigated in chronic tinnitus. Twenty patients with chronic tinnitus completed the study. Tinnitus severity and loudness were monitored using a tinnitus questionnaire (TQ) and a visual analogue scale (VAS) before each session. Patients received 600 pulses of continuous TBS (cTBS), intermittent TBS (iTBS) and intermediate TBS (imTBS) over left inferior temporal cortex with an intensity of 80% of the individual active or resting motor threshold. Changes in subjective tinnitus perception were measured with a numerical rating scale (NRS).ResultsTBS applied to inferior temporal cortex appeared to be safe. Although half of the patients reported a slight attenuation of tinnitus perception, group analysis resulted in no significant difference when comparing the three specific types of TBS. Converting the NRS into the VAS allowed us to compare the time-course of aftereffects. Only cTBS resulted in a significant short-lasting improvement of the symptoms. In addition there was no significant difference when comparing the responder and non-responder groups regarding their anamnestic and audiological data. The TQ score correlated significantly with the VAS, lower loudness indicating less tinnitus distress.ConclusionTBS does not offer a promising outcome for patients with tinnitus in the presented study.

Specification of component sound quality applied to automobile power windows

As cars become quieter the sound quality of components with electric motors becomes more important in the customer perception of vehicle quality. This has created a need to develop methods for the specification of component sounds. The objectives of this study were to identify perceptually important aspects, link them to acoustic metrics and, based on this, develop guidelines for the determination of requirements for power window sound. Seven prominent attributes were identified: dull, loud, annoying, steady, powerful, overall product quality and under-dimensioned. Effects of auditory stream segregation influenced the results. Power window sounds mainly consist of two sources: motor and window seal scratching. Subjects tended to judge only motor sound. Prediction models developed on isolated motor sound correlated well with judgements. Low loudness, sharpness and motor speed fluctuations led to perceived high product quality. The results emphasise the importance of handling auditory stream segregation and temporal variations in the sound design process.

Relationship between loudness growth function and auditory steady-state response in normal-hearing subjects

The present study investigates the relationship between auditory steady-state responses (ASSRs) and loudness growth function. ASSR amplitudes were compared to the perceived loudness level at frequencies of 500 and 2000 Hz in 11 normal-hearing subjects. As a first step, loudness growth function was estimated for the two test frequencies. Then ASSR amplitude was recorded for each of the two frequencies at different stimulus intensities, each corresponding to a loudness level as given by the first part of the study. Normalized results show that the ASSR amplitude correlates well with the loudness function ( R 2 = 0.81). A stepwise multiple linear regression confirmed these results with loudness explaining almost all the ASSR amplitude (loudness R 2 = 0.81, p < 0.001, f = 562 and for intensity f = 1.1, p = 0.29). The non-linearity of the ASSR amplitude for low loudness levels can be explained by both the active amplification in the cochlea and the noise in the recording. The results suggest that ASSRs can be used for “objective” loudness measurement.