National Centre for Audiology, Western University, London, Ontario, Canada.
Graduate Program in Health & Rehabilitation Sciences (Hearing Science), Faculty of Health Sciences, Western University, London, Ontario, Canada.
Trends Hear. 2021 Jan-Dec;25:2331216521989900. doi: 10.1177/2331216521989900.
Hearing aids are typically fitted using speech-based prescriptive formulae to make speech more intelligible. Individual preferences may vary from these prescriptions and may also vary with signal type. It is important to consider what motivates listener preferences and how those preferences can inform hearing aid processing so that assistive listening devices can best be tailored for hearing aid users. Therefore, this study explored preferred frequency-gain shaping relative to prescribed gain for speech and music samples. Preferred gain was determined for 22 listeners with mild sloping to moderately severe hearing loss relative to individually prescribed amplification while listening to samples of male speech, female speech, pop music, and classical music across low-, mid-, and high-frequency bands. Samples were amplified using a fast-acting compression hearing aid simulator. Preferences were determined using an adaptive paired comparison procedure. Listeners then rated speech and music samples processed using prescribed and preferred shaping across different sound quality descriptors. On average, low-frequency gain was significantly increased relative to the prescription for all stimuli and most substantially for pop and classical music. High-frequency gain was decreased significantly for pop music and male speech. Gain adjustments, particularly in the mid- and high-frequency bands, varied considerably between listeners. Music preferences were driven by changes in perceived fullness and sharpness, whereas speech preferences were driven by changes in perceived intelligibility and loudness. The results generally support the use of prescribed amplification to optimize speech intelligibility and alternative amplification for music listening for most listeners.
助听器通常使用基于语音的规定公式进行适配，以提高语音的可理解性。个人偏好可能与这些处方不同，也可能因信号类型而异。重要的是要考虑是什么激发了听众的偏好，以及这些偏好如何为助听器处理提供信息，以便为助听器用户最好地定制助听设备。因此，本研究探讨了相对于言语和音乐样本的规定增益，对频率增益的偏好。对于 22 名轻度到中度听力损失的听力损失患者，相对于个体规定的放大，在低频、中频和高频范围内听男性言语、女性言语、流行音乐和古典音乐样本时，确定了相对于个体规定的增益的偏好增益。使用快速作用的压缩助听器模拟器对样本进行放大。使用自适应配对比较程序确定偏好。然后，听众根据不同的音质描述符对使用规定和偏好塑形处理的言语和音乐样本进行评分。平均而言，与所有刺激相比，低频增益相对于处方显著增加，对于流行音乐和古典音乐则增加最多。对于流行音乐和男性言语，高频增益显著降低。增益调整，特别是在中频和高频带之间，在听众之间有很大差异。音乐偏好受感知丰满度和锐度变化的驱动，而言语偏好受感知清晰度和响度变化的驱动。结果普遍支持使用规定的放大来优化言语清晰度，并为大多数听众提供音乐聆听的替代放大。
