Relative loudness of low- and high-frequency bands of speech-shaped babble, including the influence of bandwidth and input level (L)

In a balancing test, ten normal-hearing listeners adjusted filtered speech-shaped babble-noise to equally loud levels. On average, they selected about 10 dB less gain for bands below 1 kHz than for bands above and including 1 kHz. The findings applied to two bandwidths (octave and equivalent rectangular bandwidth) and two levels (65 and 85 dB SPL). The outcome suggests that hearing aid fitting procedures aiming to equalize loudness of speech bands should prescribe less low-frequency gain than procedures aiming to normalize loudness of speech bands. A significant interaction was found between bandwidth and input level for the high-frequency bands.