中国人群的同时掩蔽测量及其特性分析

基于心理声学听音实验,进行了中国人群的听觉同时掩蔽阈值测量,其中掩蔽声为第4~22临界带带宽粉红噪声,掩蔽声压级60 dB和80 dB,被掩蔽声为频率在临界带频率范围内及其附近的纯音信号。在此基础上,对同时掩蔽特性进行了分析和讨论,并与相关文献的结论进行了比较。结果显示掩蔽曲线随着掩蔽声压级增大非对称性增强,上升沿与下降沿斜率差异增大。不同临界带的掩蔽曲线的平均峰值呈现无规分布,并不如前人模型所描述,从低频到高频单调衰减。掩蔽增长率在被掩蔽声频率较高时,普遍有一定的下降趋势,与前人测量结果有所差异。     

空间掩蔽效应的实验研究

掩蔽和被掩蔽声源在水平面方向上空间分离的实验结果和分析表明:声源空间分离会使掩蔽阈值下降,产生空间去掩蔽现象。同时,空间去掩蔽与频率有关,频率越高,空间去掩蔽现象越明显,最大去掩蔽值为15 dB。其主要原因是掩蔽和被掩蔽声源在空间分离之后,由于头相关传输函数的影响,造成了单耳信掩比的提高。同时实验结果提示,高层听觉系统对双耳声信息综合处理也是空间去掩蔽的一个原因。     

耳机重发下延迟时间对空间分离前向掩蔽效应影响的研究

采用耳机虚拟声重发的方法,探讨了掩蔽信号和被掩蔽信号在水平面方向分离的情况下延迟时间对前向掩蔽效应的影响.结果表明,掩蔽阈值有随延迟时间增加而下降较多的总体趋势.而且,在水平面空间分离的情况下,掩蔽阈值存在差值,最大为15 dB左右.但在掩蔽声的声压级较大时(如70 dB),在延迟时间20～40 ms处出现掩蔽阈值差值的小幅度上升.通过对时间积分效应和基膜响应的分析,这一实验结果能得到合理的解释.     

基于光子相关光谱分析的声压量值复现方法

寻求不依赖于实验室标准传声器的灵敏度而直接溯源至国际单位制基本单位的声压量值复现技术是声学计量的长期目标,对声压量值摆脱实物基准具有重要意义,激光多普勒测速技术是实现这一目标的有效途径.以行波管内平面波声场为测量对象,建立无固定频移的激光多普勒测速系统,采用光子相关光谱分析法解调多普勒信号,获得声管内示踪粒子的振动速度,根据平面波声压与质点振动速度的线性关系,复现声管测量点处的声压.以工作标准传声器的测量结果为参考,评估测量方案的可行性和测量结果的准确性,分析影响测量准确性的主要因素.测量结果表明,声波频率为315Hz,声压级在100dB~110dB范围内间隔1dB变化时,测量偏差小于0.5dB;声压级为105dB,声波频率为315,400,500,800Hz时测量偏差小于0.3dB.     

高声压传声器校准器的校准

本文对高声压传声器校准器,腔内声压级受传声器前腔体积的影响进行了计算和测量,并叙述了校准方法。结果表明,保持校准器插入电压不变的条件下,在其工作频率范围内,传声器前腔体积变化,会使校准器腔内的声压级随频率产生不同程度的变化。若不对传声器前腔体积的影响进行修正,会带来多达几分贝的校准误差。本文采用前腔体积已知的标准传声器和激光测振仪测量腔体积,并采用激光测振仪测量活塞振幅的方法来校准高压传声器校准器.校准的声压级范围为124dB—164dB,校准精确度为±0.27dB。     

叶片出口角对离心泵流动诱导噪声的影响研究

文采用CFD与声学求解器耦合计算的方法,对一离心泵在不同叶片出口角下的内部流场及其外辐射声场进行了数值计算.通过对比不同出口角下离心泵模型的水力特性、流场内特性及压力脉动来分析叶片出口角对离心泵流场及流动诱导噪声的影响。流场计算结果表明,出口角从18°增加到39°,扬程升高6.48%而效率下降10.89%;出口角增加,导致基频处压力脉动强度降低而二阶谐频处脉动强度增加,脉动总强度增加。蜗壳外表面在二阶谐频处振速明显高于其它频率下的振速.外声场声压级的指向性曲线显示,出口角增大,声压级增大,出口角为39°时声压级比出口角为18°时声压级高出约8.6 dB.     

声波作用下铜球传热特性实验*

针对频率为500 Hz～3000 Hz和声压级为110 d B～133 d B的声场作用对铜球在空气中自然冷却的传热特性的影响,通过热电偶测温的方法,分析铜球温度梯度的分布与声场声压级、频率以及铜球直径的关系。结果表面,当频率f一定时,随着声压级的增加,铜球的传热效果得到明显增强,对于直径为5 mm的铜球,在133 d B声场中传热系数最大增加了25%。当声压级一定时,在频率范围中存在某一频率,此时铜球的传热系数最大,此特殊频率随着声压级的增大而增大。当铜球的直径为5 mm时,可以在低频段观测到声流效应的影响,而当铜球的直径为10 mm、15mm时,很难在低频段辨别出声流效应的影响。所得结论为声波应用于电站锅炉中,强化煤颗粒燃烧提供了依据。     

高压下钼的声子色散的改进分析型嵌入原子法研究北大核心CSCD

应用改进分析型嵌入原子法模型计算了不同高压下金属钼的原子力常数和动力学矩阵,重现了压强下金属钼沿[00ζ]、[0ζζ]和[ζζζ]3个高对称方向上声子色散的实验结果,预测了钼在压强分别为60、80和100 GPa时的声子色散曲线。结果表明:压强分别为0.1 MPa、17 GPa和37 GPa时金属钼的声子色散曲线的模拟结果和实验值符合较好,特别在低频附近二者几乎一致,而在布里渊区的边界点附近,两者在数值上略有差异;在压强分别为60、80和100 GPa时所预测的声子色散曲线和常压下声子色散曲线的形状都非常相似;高压下所有振动支的振动频率均高于常压下的振动频率,且振动频率随压强的增大而增大。     

高压下钼的声子色散的改进分析型嵌入原子法研究

应用改进分析型嵌入原子法模型计算了不同高压下金属钼的原子力常数和动力学矩阵,重现了压强下金属钼沿[00ζ]、[0ζζ]和[ζζζ]3个高对称方向上声子色散的实验结果,预测了钼在压强分别为60、80和100 GPa时的声子色散曲线。结果表明:压强分别为0.1 MPa、17 GPa和37 GPa时金属钼的声子色散曲线的模拟结果和实验值符合较好,特别在低频附近二者几乎一致,而在布里渊区的边界点附近,两者在数值上略有差异;在压强分别为60、80和100 GPa时所预测的声子色散曲线和常压下声子色散曲线的形状都非常相似;高压下所有振动支的振动频率均高于常压下的振动频率,且振动频率随压强的增大而增大。     

兴奋模式下谐波复合音音高感知机制的研究

通过测量谐波复合音的基频辨别阈,探讨中等"高次谐波"的音高感知是否依赖于谐波的可分离性,以及掩蔽音对实验结果的影响。实验方法:在目标音单独存在或目标音与掩蔽音混合时,将刺激通过高、中、低三个带通滤波器以获得不同的谐波可分离度。实验刺激设计为5种基频差异和4种相位组合。五名被试均为年轻人,纯音听阈≤15 dB HL。研究结果发现:谐波复合音的基频辨别阈随着信号频段的上移而增大;目标音和掩蔽音的基频差异对基频辨别阈有显著影响;但相位影响不显著。结论:谐波的可分离性对基频辨别阈有显著影响,但中等"高次谐波"的音高感知不依赖于可分离性;混合音的大部分音高感知结果与兴奋模式的峰值大小密切相关。      

Psychophysical tuning curves measured in simultaneous and forward masking

The level of a masker necessary to mask a probe fixed in frequency and level was determined as a function of masker frequency using a two-interval forced-choice technique. Both simultaneous- and forward- masking techniques were used. Parameters investigated include the level of the probe tone and the frequency of the probe tone. The general form of the psychophysical tuning curves obtained in this way is quite similar to that of single-neurone tuning curves, when low-level probe tones are used. However, the curves obtained to forward masking generally show sharper tips and steeper slopes than those found in simultaneous masking, and they are also generally sharper than neurophysiological tuning curves. For frequencies of the masker close to that of the probe a simultaneous masker was sometimes less effective than a forward masker. The results are discussed in relation to possible lateral suppression effects in simultaneous masking, and in relation to the observer's use of pitch cues in forward masking. It is concluded that neither the simultaneous-masking curves nor the forward-masking curves are likely to give an accurate representation of human neural tuning curves.     

A new procedure for measuring peripheral compression in normal-hearing and hearing-impaired listeners.

Forward-masking growth functions for on-frequency (6-kHz) and off-frequency (3-kHz) sinusoidal maskers were measured in quiet and in a high-pass noise just above the 6-kHz probe frequency. The data show that estimates of response-growth rates obtained from those functions in quiet, which have been used to infer cochlear compression, are strongly dependent on the spread of probe excitation toward higher frequency regions. Therefore, an alternative procedure for measuring response-growth rates was proposed, one that employs a fixed low-level probe and avoids level-dependent spread of probe excitation. Fixed-probe-level temporal masking curves (TMCs) were obtained from normal-hearing listeners at a test frequency of 1 kHz, where the short 1-kHz probe was fixed in level at about 10 dB SL. The level of the preceding forward masker was adjusted to obtain masked threshold as a function of the time delay between masker and probe. The TMCs were obtained for an on-frequency masker (1 kHz) and for other maskers with frequencies both below and above the probe frequency. From these measurements, input/output response-growth curves were derived for individual ears. Response-growth slopes varied from >1.0 at low masker levels to <0.2 at mid masker levels. In three subjects, response growth increased again at high masker levels (>80 dB SPL). For the fixed-level probe, the TMC slopes changed very little in the presence of a high-pass noise masking upward spread of probe excitation. A greater effect on the TMCs was observed when a high-frequency cueing tone was used with the masking tone. In both cases, however, the net effects on the estimated rate of response growth were minimal.     

A variant temporal-masking-curve method for inferring peripheral auditory compression

Recent studies have suggested that the degree of on-frequency peripheral auditory compression is similar for apical and basal cochlear sites and that compression extends to a wider range of frequencies in apical than in basal sites. These conclusions were drawn from the analysis of the slopes of temporal masking curves (TMCs) on the assumption that forward masking decays at the same rate for all probe and masker frequencies. The aim here was to verify this conclusion using a different assumption. TMCs for normal hearing listeners were measured for probe frequencies (f(P)) of 500 and 4000 Hz and for masker frequencies (f(M)) of 0.4, 0.55, and 1.0 times the probe frequency. TMCs were measured for probes of 9 and 15 dB sensation level. The assumption was that given a 6 dB increase in probe level, linear cochlear responses to the maskers should lead to a 6 dB vertical shift of the corresponding TMCs, while compressive responses should lead to bigger shifts. Results were consistent with the conclusions from earlier studies. It is argued that this supports the assumptions of the standard TMC method for inferring compression, at least in normal-hearing listeners.     

Comparisons of frequency selectivity in simultaneous and forward masking for subjects with unilateral cochlear impairments

Two experiments are described in which frequency selectivity was estimated, in simultaneous and forward masking, for each ear of subjects with moderate (25-60 dB HL) unilateral cochlear hearing losses. In both experiments, the signal level was fixed for a given ear and type of masking (simultaneous or forward), and the masker level was varied to determine threshold, using an adaptive, two-alternative forced-choice procedure. In experiment I, the masker was a noise with a spectral notch centered at the signal frequency (either 1.0 or 1.5 kHz); threshold was determined as a function of notch width. Signal levels were chosen so that the noise level required at threshold for a notch width of zero was similar for the normal and impaired ear of each subject in both simultaneous and forward masking. The function relating threshold to notch width had a steeper slope for the normal ear than for the impaired ear of each subject. For the normal ears, these functions were steeper in forward masking than in simultaneous masking. This difference was interpreted as resulting from suppression. For the impaired ears, significant differences in the same direction were observed for three of the five subjects, but the differences were smaller. In experiment II, psychophysical tuning curves (PTCs) were determined in the presence of a fixed notched noise centered at the signal frequency (1.0 kHz). For the normal ears, the PTCs were sharper in forward masking than in simultaneous masking. For the impaired ears, the PTCs were similar in simultaneous and forward masking, but those in forward masking tended to be sharper at masker frequencies far removed from the signal frequency. Overall, the results suggest that suppression is reduced, but not completely absent in cases of moderate cochlear hearing loss.     

The effect of masker spectral asymmetry on overshoot in simultaneous masking

"Overshoot" is a simultaneous masking phenomenon: Thresholds for short high-frequency tone bursts presented shortly after the onset of a broadband masker are raised compared to thresholds in the presence of a continuous masker. Overshoot for 2-ms bursts of a 5000-Hz test tone is described for four subjects as a function of the spectral composition and level of the masker. First, it was verified that overshoot is largely independent of masker duration. Second, overshoot was determined for a variety of 10-ms masker bursts composed of differently filtered uniform masking noise with an overall level of 60 dB SPL: unfiltered, high-pass (cutoff at 3700 Hz), low-pass (cutoff at 5700 Hz), and third-octave-band-(centered at 5000 Hz) filtered uniform masking noises presented separately or combined with different bandpass maskers (5700-16000 Hz, 5700-9500 Hz, 8400-16000 Hz) were used. Third, masked thresholds were measured for maskers composed of an upper or lower octave band adjacent to the third-octave-band masker as a function of the level of the octave band. All maskers containing components above the critical band of the test tone led to overshoot; no additional overshoot was produced by masker components below it. Typical values of overshoot were on the order of 12 dB. Overshoot saturated when masker levels were above 60 dB SPL for the upper octave-band masker. The standard neurophysiological explanation of overshoot accounts only partially for these data. Details that must be accommodated by any full explanation of overshoot are discussed.     

Offset AP masker tuning curve and the FFT of the stimulus

In previous experiments, it was noted that a cochlear compound action potential (CAP) can be produced by the offset of a tone, provided that the amplitude of the tone is modulated by a trapezoid with slopes that are typically much steeper than required to produce onset responses. Subsequently, such trapezoidal tone bursts with steep slopes were used as probe stimuli in simultaneous and forward masking experiments that were designed to evaluate the tuning characteristics of these offset CAPs. Masker tuning curves (MTCs) were generated by plotting the masker frequency necessary to reduce the amplitude of the offset CAP by 50%. Simultaneous masking of the offset CAP generated a W-shaped MTC, with two sharply tuned tips and one sharply tuned peak. Forward masking generated a sharply tuned V-shaped offset MTC. By contrast, for onset CAPs, both simultaneous and forward masking generated V-shaped MTCs. The very steep stimulus slopes required to produce an offset CAP are likely to generate much more acoustic splatter than the more gradual slopes required to produce an onset CAP, and this may be related to the different shapes of the onset and offset simultaneous MTCs. To explore this possibility, the relationship of the spectral characteristics (determined by fast Fourier transform, or FFT) to the shape of the MTC was studied.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

Temporal resolution in sensorineural hearing-impaired listeners

Temporal masking curves were obtained from 12 normal-hearing and 16 hearing-impaired listeners using 200-ms, 1000-Hz pure-tone maskers and 20-ms, 1000-Hz fixed-level probe tones. For the delay times used here (greater than 40 ms), temporal masking curves obtained from both groups can be well described by an exponential function with a single level-independent time constant for each listener. Normal-hearing listeners demonstrated time constants that ranged between 37 and 67 ms, with a mean of 50 ms. Most hearing-impaired listeners, with significant hearing loss at the probe frequency, demonstrated longer time constants (range 58-114 ms) than those obtained from normal-hearing listeners. Time constants were found to grow exponentially with hearing loss according to the function tau = 52e0.011(HL), when the slope of the growth of masking is unity. The longest individual time constant was larger than normal by a factor of 2.3 for a hearing loss of 52 dB. The steep slopes of the growth of masking functions typically observed at long delay times in hearing-impaired listeners' data appear to be a direct result of longer time constants. When iterative fitting procedures included a slope parameter, the slopes of the growth of masking from normal-hearing listeners varied around unity, while those from hearing-impaired listeners tended to be less (flatter) than normal. Predictions from the results of these fixed-probe-level experiments are consistent with the results of previous fixed-masker-level experiments, and they indicate that deficiencies in the ability to detect sequential stimuli should be considerable in hearing-impaired listeners, partially because of extended time constants, but mostly because forward masking involves a recovery process that depends upon the sensory response evoked by the masking stimulus. Large sensitivity losses reduce the sensory response to high SPL maskers so that the recovery process is slower, much like the recovery process for low-level stimuli in normal-hearing listeners.     

Temporal masking functions for listeners with real and simulated hearing loss

A functional simulation of hearing loss was evaluated in its ability to reproduce the temporal masking functions for eight listeners with mild to severe sensorineural hearing loss. Each audiometric loss was simulated in a group of age-matched normal-hearing listeners through a combination of spectrally-shaped masking noise and multi-band expansion. Temporal-masking functions were obtained in both groups of listeners using a forward-masking paradigm in which the level of a 110-ms masker required to just mask a 10-ms fixed-level probe (5-10 dB SL) was measured as a function of the time delay between the masker offset and probe onset. At each of four probe frequencies (500, 1000, 2000, and 4000 Hz), temporal-masking functions were obtained using maskers that were 0.55, 1.0, and 1.15 times the probe frequency. The slopes and y-intercepts of the masking functions were not significantly different for listeners with real and simulated hearing loss. The y-intercepts were positively correlated with level of hearing loss while the slopes were negatively correlated. The ratio of the slopes obtained with the low-frequency maskers relative to the on-frequency maskers was similar for both groups of listeners and indicated a smaller compressive effect than that observed in normal-hearing listeners.     

Temporal effects in masking and their influence on psychophysical tuning curves

Psychophysical tuning curves (PTCs) were obtained in simultaneous and forward masking for a 20-ms, 1000-Hz signal presented at 10 dB SL. The signal was presented at the beginning of, at the temporal center of, at the end of, or immediately following a 400-ms masker. The first experiment was done in quiet; the second experiment was done in the presence of two bands of noise on either side of 1000 Hz. The results were similar in quiet and in noise. In simultaneous masking, the PTCs were broadest for the signal at masker onset, and generally sharpest for the signal at temporal center; the differences were largest on the high-frequency side. In most cases, there was virtually no difference in Q10 between the forward-masking PTC and the simultaneous-masking PTC with the signal temporally centered, although the high-frequency slope was always steeper in forward masking. These results indicate that, at least for brief signals, frequency selectivity measured with simultaneous-masking PTCs and the degree of sharpening revealed in forward-masking PTCs depend upon the temporal position of the signal within the simultaneous masker.     

Individual and level-dependent differences in masking for adults with normal and impaired hearing

Simultaneous, on-frequency masking is commonly assumed to be linear with increasing noise intensity. However, some evidence suggests that, expressed in terms of signal-to-noise ratio changes with background level changes, masking slopes can vary from 0 dB/dB. These results and evidence from a large sample of subjects with normal and impaired hearing demonstrate level-dependent changes in masking, large individual differences in masking among subjects with similar thresholds in quiet, and significant correlations of masking slope with other estimates of auditory function measured in the same backgrounds.