This comprehensive book explores the many facets of measuring voice quality. Voice quality is a concept that is widely recognized and applied, yet very difficult to define in a way that is universally satisfactory. A number of experts consider such topics as perceptual assessment, instrumental (objective) assessment, and various voice states and disorders. Contributors with a wide scope of experience present perspectives and ideas on how voice quality can be assessed with improved validity and reliability.

Offers a new model of vocal tract articulation that explains laryngeal and oral voice quality, both auditorily and visually, through language examples and familiar voices.

Foundations of Voice and Speech Quality Perception starts out with the fundamental question of: "How do listeners perceive voice and speech quality and how can these processes be modeled?" Any quantitative answers require measurements. This is natural for physical quantities but harder to imagine for perceptual measurands. This book approaches the problem by actually identifying major perceptual dimensions of voice and speech quality perception, defining units wherever possible and offering paradigms to position these dimensions into a structural skeleton of perceptual speech and voice quality. The emphasis is placed on voice and speech quality assessment of systems in artificial scenarios. Many scientific fields are involved. This book bridges the gap between two quite diverse fields, engineering and humanities, and establishes the new research area of Voice and Speech Quality Perception.

A complete and systematic treatment of signal processing for VoIP voice and fax This book presents a consolidated view and basic approach to signal processing for VoIP voice and fax solutions. It provides readers with complete coverage of the topic, from how things work in voice and fax modules, to signal processing aspects, implementation, and testing. Beginning with an overview of VoIP infrastructure, interfaces, and signals, the book systematically covers: Voice compression Packet loss concealment techniques DTMF detection, generation, and rejection Wideband voice modules operation VoIP Voice-Network bit rate calculations VoIP voice testing Fax over IP and modem over IP Country deviations of PSTN mapped to VoIP VoIP on different processors and architectures Generic VAD-CNG for waveform codecs Echo cancellation Caller ID features in VoIP Packetization—RTP, RTCP, and jitter buffer Clock sources for VoIP applications Fax operation on PSTN, modulations, and fax messages Fax over IP payload formats and bit rate calculations Voice packets jitter with large data packets VoIP voice quality Over 100 questions and answers on voice and more than seventy questions and answers on fax are provided at the back of the book to reinforce the topics covered throughout the text. Additionally, several clarification, interpretation, and discussion sections are included in selected chapters to aide in readers' comprehension. VoIP Voice and Fax Signal Processing is an indispensable resource for professional electrical engineers, voice and fax solution developers, product and deployment support teams, quality assurance and test engineers, and computer engineers. It also serves as a valuable textbook for graduate-level students in electrical engineering and computer engineering courses.

Publisher description

Phonetics - the study and classification of speech sounds - is a major sub-discipline of linguistics. Bringing together a team of internationally renowned phoneticians, this handbook provides comprehensive coverage of the most recent, cutting-edge work in the field, and focuses on the most widely-debated contemporary issues. Chapters are divided into five thematic areas: segmental production, prosodic production, measuring speech, audition and perception, and applications of phonetics. Each chapter presents an historical overview of the area, along with critical issues, current research and advice on the best practice for teaching phonetics to undergraduates. It brings together global perspectives, and includes examples from a wide range of languages, allowing readers to extend their knowledge beyond English. By providing both state-of-the-art research information, and an appreciation of how it can be shared with students, this handbook is essential both for academic phoneticians, and anyone with an interest in this exciting, rapidly developing field.

The characteristic voice quality of a speaker conveys to listeners a wealth of information about his physical, psychological and social attributes. For this reason, voice quality is of interest to a wide range of disciplines, including linguistics, phonetics and speech science, speech pathology, sociology, psychology, medicine, and communication engineering. Literature on voice quality is, consequently, scattered through a correspondingly wide range of publications. While this bibliography is unlikely to be exhaustive, it aims to be comprehensive. Exceptions to this are purely medical literature and literature on speech pathology; also, although a number of different languages are represented, works in English received the principal coverage.

With the proliferation of mobile devices and hearing devices, including hearing aids and cochlear implants, there is a growing and pressing need to design algorithms that can improve speech intelligibility without sacrificing quality. Responding to this need, Speech Enhancement: Theory and Practice, Second Edition introduces readers to the basic pr

Measuring Voice, Speech, and Swallowing in the Clinic and Laboratory provides a definitive reference and text for methods of measurement of voice, speech, and swallowing functioning and disorders. It was developed for measurement courses in speech-language pathology graduate and doctoral programs and is also an essential reference for practitioners or anyone who needs to make quantitative assessments of the systems involved. The goal of this text is to provide basic information on the instruments and measures commonly used for assessing and treating persons with disorders of voice, speech, and swallowing for clinical practice, research studies, and conducting clinical trials. New developments in electrical and magnetic stimulation for noninvasive stimulation of nerves, muscles, and the brain are provided for augmenting treatment benefits for persons with voice, speech, and swallowing disorders. Other new techniques included are electromyography, articulography, transcranial magnetic stimulation, functional MRI, fNIRS, DTI, and transcranial direct current stimulation for treatment applications. The text includes methods for recording and analyzing speech, acoustics, imaging and kinematics of vocal tract motion, air pressure, airflow, respiration, clinical evaluation of voice and swallowing disorders, and functional and structural neuroimaging. Many of the methods are applicable for use in clinical practice and clinical research. Key Features: More than 250 full-color imagesSummary tables to guide selection of instruments and measures for various applicationsEach chapter begins and ends with an overview and conclusion for review of contentAppendices of measurement standards Clinical investigators and clinicians wanting to measure voice, speech, and swallowing functions for clinical documentation will benefit from this book, as will students and professors. Measuring Voice, Speech, and Swallowing in the Clinic and Laboratorypulls together the necessary information on methods of measurement from different disciplines and sources into one convenient resource. Information on measurement in the fields of voice, speech, and swallowing is now readily available for training doctoral students and guidance of clinicians incorporating instrumental assessment into their practice.