Speech Intelligibility in Binaural Reproductions Compared to Real Life Listening

Abstract

A good reproduction of speech should allow the listener to suppress noise and reverberation as if the rounds were heard in real life. An experiment was designed where room properties and reproduction techniques were varied in a way that allowed evaluation of noise and reverberation suppression based on speech intelligibility measurements. Speech intelligibility was considerably better in real hie compared to artificial head recordings presented through headphones. The headphone reproductions did mat provide enough information to allow fee listener to suppress noise and reverberation as well as in real life. It was found that subjects were very consistent. This makes the metthod precise and it should be useable for making comparisons of different reproduction techniques