Binaural listening improves source audibility by 0–8 dB in multi-source scenes

Evidence

In complex acoustical environments, the auditory system makes use of various cues to group sound components from one particular sound source. These cues, sometimes referred to as object binding cues, are often associated with characteristics of the sound such as coherent level fluctuations in different frequency regions (as, e.g., observed in speech), or the location of the sources in space. Differences in location result, among others, in interaural differences. Psychoacousticians developed experiments to study how the human auditory system makes use of the information. For example, the ability to use interaural disparities is shown in experiments on binaural masking level differences (BMLD). The BMLD is a well investigated phenomenon that signifies the reduction in masked thresholds when a tonal signal and masker have disparate interaural cues. For a diotic narrowband masker, a tonal target can be detected at a 25 dB lower level when the interaural target phase is changed from 0 to ∏ (e.g. van de Par and Kohlrausch 1999 ). — Dijk, Pim van, Physiology, Psychoacoustics and…, 3465 (#corroborates, via linked claim)

Categorization

Category: Factual Claims

Related

• Binaural hearing yields up to 18 dB detection advantage for low-frequency signals (similarity 0.95)
• Binaural phase disparities improve tone detection by up to 25 dB. (similarity 0.92)
• Interaural phase disparities lower masked thresholds by up to 25 dB for overlapping targets (similarity 0.90)
• Binaural listening yields only 5–7 dB advantage over monaural spatially-separated sources (similarity 0.88)
• The BMLD arises from subjects using channels where the masker’s interaural effect is reduced (similarity 0.87)
• Loudspeaker level differences become inter-ear phase differences via cross talk (similarity 0.87)
• Spatially separated sources reveal speech components audible only via binaural processing (similarity 0.87)
• Binaural listening yields a 5-7 dB intelligibility advantage over monaural (similarity 0.86)
• Binaural listening gives 0 to 8 dB advantage in multi-talker conditions (similarity 0.84)
• Binaural masking level differences reach 25 dB only for overlapping masker and target (similarity 0.84)
• Anti-phase signals vs diotic noise yield 18 dB binaural detection advantage around 200-300 Hz (similarity 0.84)
• Out-of-phase binaural tones can double perceived loudness (similarity 0.84)
• Binaural detection advantages do not drive the spatial speech benefit in multitalker settings (similarity 0.84)
• Head-related pressure reflections and binaural hearing boost sensitivity by about 6-12 dB (similarity 0.83)
• Interaural noise correlation inversely drives the magnitude of binaural release from masking. (similarity 0.83)

Broader Connections

• Binaural phase disparities improve tone detection by up to 25 dB. #corroborates (0.80) — Dijk, Pim van, Physiology, Psychoacoustics and…, 3465
• Binaural detection advantages act on small spectro-temporal units, not whole frequency bands #expands (0.78)