Perceived audio quality of sounds degraded by
non-linear distortions and single-ended
assessment using HASQI

Kendrick, P; Jackson, IR; Li, FF; Fazenda, BM; Cox, TJ

Abstract

For field recordings and user generated content recorded on phones, tablets, and other mobile
devices nonlinear distortions caused by clipping and limiting at pre-amplification stages, and
dynamic range control (DRC) are common causes of poor audio quality. A single-ended
method to detect these distortions and predict perceived degradation in speech, music, and
soundscapes has been developed. This was done by training an ensemble of decision trees.
During training, both clean and distorted audio was available and so the perceived quality
could be gauged using HASQI (Hearing Aid Sound Quality Index). The new single-ended
method can correctly predict HASQI from distorted samples to an accuracy of ±0.19 (95%
confidence interval) using a quality range between 0.0 and 1.0. The method also has potential
for estimating HASQI when other types of degradations are present. Subsequent perceptual
tests validated the method for music and soundscapes. For the average mean opinion score
for perceived audio quality on a scale from 0 to 1, the single ended method could estimate it
within ±0.33.

Citation

assessment using HASQI. Journal of the Audio Engineering Society, 63(9), 698-712. https://doi.org/10.17743/jaes.2015.0068

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Aug 1, 2015
• Publication Date: Oct 6, 2015
• Deposit Date: Oct 19, 2015
• Publicly Available Date: Apr 5, 2016
• Journal: Journal of the Audio Engineering Society
• Print ISSN: 1549-4950
• Publisher: Audio Engineering Society
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 63
• Issue: 9
• Pages: 698-712
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.17743/jaes.2015.0068
• Publisher URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.17743/jaes.2015.0068
• Related Public URLs: http://www.aes.org/e-lib/browse.cfm?elib=17873