Considerations for enhancing the perception of frequency-lowered speech
Joshua M. Alexander · The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America · 2020
Some frequency transposition and all frequency compression methods in today's hearing aids adhere to an untested assumption that spectral features of high-frequency speech cues, namely frication, need to be preserved or replicated after being lowered in frequency. Consequently, recommendations for optimizing the selection of parameters that control this signal-processing feature have focused on maximizing the amount of high-frequency energy moved into the aided audiogram or on maximizing the frequency separation between key speech contrasts after lowering. I will present evidence that suggests that preserving temporal modulation from the original speech at the auditory periphery should be a key consideration for the perception of frequency-lowered speech.