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      Adapting Hearing Devices to the Individual Ear Acoustics: Database and Target Response Correction Functions for Various Device Styles

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          Abstract

          To achieve a natural sound quality when listening through hearing devices, the sound pressure at the eardrum should replicate that of the open ear, modified only by an insertion gain if desired. A target approximating this reference condition can be computed by applying an appropriate correction function to the pressure observed at the device microphone. Such Target Response Correction Functions (TRCF) can be defined based on the directionally dependent relative transfer function between the location of the hearing device microphone and the eardrum of the open ear. However, it is unclear how exactly the TRCF should be derived, and how large the benefit of individual, versus generic, correction is. We present measurements of Head-Related Transfer Functions (HRTF) at the eardrum and at 9 microphone locations of a comprehensive set of 5 hearing device styles, including 91 incidence directions, and recorded in 16 subjects and 2 dummy heads. Based on these HRTFs, individualized and generic TRCF were computed for frontal (referred to as free-field) and diffuse-field sound incidence. Spectral deviations between the computed target and listening with the open ear were evaluated using an auditory model and virtual acoustic scenes. Results indicate that a correction for diffuse-field incidence should be preferred over the free field, and individual correction functions result in notably reduced spectral deviations to open-ear listening, as compared with generic correction functions. These outcomes depend substantially on the specific device style. The HRTF database and derived TRCFs are publicly available.

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          Most cited references33

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          Database of Multichannel In-Ear and Behind-the-Ear Head-Related and Binaural Room Impulse Responses

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            Auditory localization of nearby sources. Head-related transfer functions.

            Although researchers have long recognized the unique properties of the head-related transfer function (HRTF) for nearby sources (within 1 m of the listener's head), virtually all of the HRTF measurements described in the literature have focused on source locations 1 m or farther from the listener. In this study, HRTFs for sources at distances from 0.12 to 1 m were calculated using a rigid-sphere model of the head and measured using a Knowles Electronic Manikin for Acoustic Research (KEMAR) and an acoustic point source. Both the calculations and the measurements indicate that the interaural level difference (ILD) increases substantially for lateral sources as distance decreases below 1 m, even at low frequencies where the ILD is small for distant sources. In contrast, the interaural time delay (ITD) is roughly independent of distance even when the source is close. The KEMAR measurements indicate that the direction of the source relative to the outer ear plays an important role in determining the high-frequency response of the HRTF in the horizontal plane. However, the elevation-dependent characteristics of the HRTFs are not strongly dependent on distance, and the contribution of the pinna to the HRTF is independent of distance beyond a few centimeters from the ear. Overall, the results suggest that binaural cues play an important role in auditory distance perception for nearby sources.
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              Transformation of sound pressure level from the free field to the eardrum in the horizontal plane.

              C. E. Shaw (1974)
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                Author and article information

                Journal
                Trends Hear
                Trends Hear
                TIA
                sptia
                Trends in Hearing
                SAGE Publications (Sage CA: Los Angeles, CA )
                2331-2165
                07 June 2018
                Jan-Dec 2018
                : 22
                : 2331216518779313
                Affiliations
                [1 ]Medizinische Physik and Cluster of Excellence Hearing4all, University of Oldenburg, Oldenburg, Germany
                [2 ]ENT Clinic, University Hospital of Gießen and Marburg, Gießen, Germany
                Author notes
                [*]Florian Denk, Medizinische Physik and Cluster of Excellence Hearing4all, Universität Oldenburg, Küpkersweg 74, 26129 Oldenburg, Germany. Email: florian.denk@ 123456uni-oldenburg.de
                Author information
                http://orcid.org/0000-0003-3490-123X
                Article
                10.1177_2331216518779313
                10.1177/2331216518779313
                5992802
                29877161
                587cfb32-59b9-465f-9f2e-e593693d499a
                © The Author(s) 2018

                Creative Commons Non Commercial CC BY-NC: This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 License ( http://www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/) which permits non-commercial use, reproduction and distribution of the work without further permission provided the original work is attributed as specified on the SAGE and Open Access pages ( https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/open-access-at-sage).

                History
                : 24 November 2017
                : 24 April 2018
                : 26 April 2018
                Funding
                Funded by: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, FundRef https://doi.org/10.13039/501100001659;
                Award ID: Cluster of Excellence 1077 Hearing4all
                Funded by: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, FundRef https://doi.org/10.13039/501100001659;
                Award ID: Research Unit 1732 Individualized Hearing Acoustic
                Categories
                Original Article
                Custom metadata
                January-December 2018

                hearing aids,assistive listening devices,individualization,external ear acoustics,head-related transfer functions

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