Effects of Varying Reverberation on Music Perception for Young Normal-Hearing and Old Hearing-Impaired Listeners

Abstract

Reverberation enhances music perception and is one of the most important acoustic factors in auditorium design. However, previous research on reverberant music perception has focused on young normal-hearing (YNH) listeners. Old hearing-impaired (OHI) listeners have degraded spatial auditory processing; therefore, they may perceive reverberant music differently. Two experiments were conducted examining the effects of varying reverberation on music perception for YNH and OHI listeners. Experiment 1 examined whether YNH listeners and OHI listeners prefer different amounts of reverberation for classical music listening. Symphonic excerpts were processed at a range of reverberation times using a point-source simulation. Listeners performed a paired-comparisons task in which they heard two excerpts with different reverberation times, and they indicated which they preferred. The YNH group preferred a reverberation time of 2.5 s; however, the OHI group did not demonstrate any significant preference. Experiment 2 examined whether OHI listeners are less sensitive to (e, less able to discriminate) differences in reverberation time than YNH listeners. YNH and OHI participants listened to pairs of music excerpts and indicated whether they perceived the same or different amount of reverberation. Results indicated that the ability of both groups to detect differences in reverberation time improved with increasing reverberation time difference. However, discrimination was poorer for the OHI group than for the YNH group. This suggests that OHI listeners are less sensitive to differences in reverberation when listening to music than YNH listeners, which might explain the lack of group reverberation time preferences of the OHI group.

Evaluating a Hearing Loop Implementation for Live Orchestral Music

“…In speech contexts, listeners with hearing loss tend to prefer lower reverberation, though the literature on music is less clear in this regard (Reinhart et al, 2016;Reinhart & Souza, 2018). Another possible explanation is that setting the delay through the mixing board based on the distance from the stage to the loop failed to account for the distance from the stage to the balcony mics, which was likely around 40 ms.…”

“…Both hearing loss and HA signal processing present challenges for music listeners. Individuals with hearing loss have deficits in pitch and timbre discrimination, as well as atypical reverberation preferences for speech and music (Kirchberger & Russo, 2015;Reinhart & Souza, 2018). The causes of these deficits relate to impaired frequency selectivity, loudness recruitment, and audibility thresholds, only the lattermost of which can be addressed by amplification (Moore, 2016).…”

Muddy, muddled, or muffled? Understanding the perception of audio quality in music by hearing aid users

“…Finally, in work involving normal-hearing listeners, Moore and Tan (2003) linked various spectral filters to ratings of naturalness of audio; for example, increased spectral ripple depth, rate and range resulted in lower ratings of naturalness, with comparable results found for wider range spectral tilt. Beyond these signal processing strategies, research on sound quality involving music has also focused on other variables, including different prescription fittings for hearing aids ( Moore and Sek, 2013 , 2016 ; Moore et al, 2016 ), frequency compression strategies ( Parsa et al, 2013 ; Uys and Latzel, 2015 ; Kirchberger and Russo, 2016 ), and reverberation ( Reinhart and Souza, 2018 ). Given the heterogeneity of music signal properties compared to speech, many of the above findings are likely sensitive to variations across music styles or genres ( Arehart et al, 2011 ; Higgins et al, 2012 ); however, most work in this field utilizes a small corpus of music excerpts that does not encapsulate the diversity of style and genre.…”

Hearing deficits and adaptation for those with unilateral hearing loss under reverberation

“…Optimal reverberation enhances the sound of music [23]. However, old listeners with HL perceived reverberant music differently from young listeners with NH owing to degraded spatial auditory processing [24]. These findings suggest that listeners with UHL, who have degraded spatial auditory processing, would perceive reverberant music differently from those with NH, which may explain the ''indistinct'' sound of music.…”