Proceedings of the 4th International MESAQIN (Measurement of Speech and Audio Quality in Networks) Conference, Prague, Czech Republic, June 2005.

A Basic Experiment on Time-Varying Speech Quality

Stephen D. Voran

Abstract: We present a general formulation of a basic open question regarding the perception of time-varying speech quality. We then describe the design, implementation, conduct, and analysis of a practical experiment that addresses a small but fundamental part of that open question. In this experiment, listeners rate the overall speech quality of single sentence stimuli that contain two different levels of nominal speech quality and two transitions between these levels. We present several results including those related to human integration of speech quality and the recency effect. Finally, we discuss these results and suggest potential additional work that might build upon them.

For technical information concerning this report, contact:

Stephen D. Voran
Institute for Telecommunication Sciences
(303) 497-3839
svoran@ntia.gov

To request a reprint of this report, contact:

Lilli Segre, Publications Officer
Institute for Telecommunication Sciences
(303) 497-3572
LSegre@ntia.gov

Disclaimer: Certain commercial equipment, components, and software may be identified in this report to specify adequately the technical aspects of the reported results. In no case does such identification imply recommendation or endorsement by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, nor does it imply that the equipment or software identified is necessarily the best available for the particular application or uses.

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