This paper describes an adaptive sound reproduction system for elderly listeners. We developed new audiometric equipment to gauge MAF (Minimum Audible Field) of listeners in the range from 125Hz to 16kHz. We found the average MAF by age for people from their twenties to eighties and investigated ways to adapt speech signals for elderly listeners based on their aural characteristics. The system adjusts the speech signal energy with reference to the partitioned frequency band below the average MAF. We have broadcasted the pilot programs for elderly listeners by using a simple method to reduce BGM (Back Ground Music) by 6dB from the original level. We evaluated subjectively that the proposed method is more effective than the simple method.

Authors: Komori, Tomoyasu; Takagi, Tohru
Affiliation: Japan Broadcasting Corporation
AES Convention: 121 (October 2006) Paper Number: 6976
Publication Date: October 1, 2006
Subject: Psychoacoustics and Perception

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