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“Speech Intelligibility Meter”, sound optimization, and AES67 on DSP presented at NAMM 2026
In film, television, streaming, or live productions, ensuring good speech intelligibility is one of the biggest challenges for professional sound engineers. Algorithms developed by Fraunhofer IDMT in Oldenburg, Germany analyze listening effort in real time and provide recommendations for adjustments. In addition, the digital assistant ”YourSound” enables users of audio devices and infotainment systems to playfully adapt audio to their personal preferences. But the researchers not only focus on software: Fraunhofer IDMT brings AES67 to DSP hardware for audio over IP.
Visit us at The NAMM Show in Anaheim, USA, from January 22-24, 2026, at our booth 14916/5 (German Pavilion) or at www.idmt.fraunhofer.de/hsa.
Unclear dialogue in a television series, too loud background music in reality TV, or a sports interview overlaid with cheering from the audience can impair the media experience for viewers. Technical measuring devices are used during media production to check levels and volume. An objective measurement of speech intelligibility has yet to be established.
Production professionals in the fields of radio, television, and streaming should be able to use a tool to ensure that dialogues are consistently clearly understandable to the audience. Therefore, the Fraunhofer IDMT´s Oldenburg Branch for Hearing, Speech and Audio Technology HSA has developed the Listening Effort Meter (LE-Meter) for the objective assessment of speech intelligibility. These technologies are available through licensing and are being applied by various market players.
The speech intelligibility measurement has already been integrated into post-production software and realized as a plug-in. For that, Fraunhofer IDMT-HSA also teamed up with a leading streaming platform to bring the most useful solution for post-production professionals into the market. Technically, the measurement is based on AI-algorithms and has undergone numerous evaluation tests in the last years. Beyond speech intelligibility measurement, additional functionalities are possible, such as automatically marking critical sections in the timeline or automatically improving speech intelligibility.
YourSound: A virtual assistant that allows listeners to adjust sound to their preferences
Researchers from Fraunhofer IDMT-HSA have come up with a simple and elegant way to personalize sound and dynamics in a wide variety of applications. The “YourSound” technology is already implemented in headphone software and a car multimedia system. The developed audio software allows individual sound settings without having to deal with complex sub-menus or parameters. Users of audio devices, e.g. multimedia platforms or smartphones, can adjust the audio to their personal needs and preferences - in a playful way.
The technology relies on the presentation of music samples, which users can adjust to their preference with a simple user interface. Once set, the individual presets have a positive effect on the overall sound. This can result in a better listening experience, no matter at which sound volume, for example. Thus, thanks to the new algorithms of Fraunhofer IDMT-HSA, the sound of music and films is adapted to individual hearing preferences.
Audio over IP: Fraunhofer IDMT brings AES67 to DSP hardware
The Fraunhofer IDMT’s headphone amplifier demo “Minikraken” lets you route, distribute, and record multi-channel audio using regular network switches instead of traditional audio cabling. Based on cost-efficient DSP hardware, Fraunhofer IDMT-HSA developed a fully functional software stack based on the AES67 standard to be used in various audio applications. AES67 is an open interoperability standard from the Audio Engineering Society (AES) for professional audio over IP (AoIP) intended to connect various proprietary audio network systems (such as Dante, RAVENNA, Livewire) with each other. The DSP is capable of processing at least 16 channels in/out. Additional signal processing on the DSP can be added. Depending on the configuration and network architecture, latency ranges from 0.75 to 5 ms. A minimalist web application and discovery implementation allows users to find and connect to other devices on the network or make some configurations.
Hearing, Speech and Audio Technology HSA at Fraunhofer IDMT in Oldenburg
Founded in 2008 by Prof. Dr. Dr. Birger Kollmeier and Dr. Jens-E. Appell, the Fraunhofer Institute for Digital Media Technology IDMT’s Branch for Hearing, Speech and Audio Technology HSA stands for market-oriented research and development with a focus on the following areas:
• Speech and event recognition
• Sound quality and speech intelligibility
• Mobile neurotechnology and systems for networked healthcare
With in-house expertise in the development of hardware and software systems for audio system technology and signal enhancement, the employees at the Oldenburg site are responsible for transferring scientific findings into practical, customer-oriented solutions.
Through scientific cooperation, the institute is closely linked to the Carl von Ossietzky University, Jade University of Applied Sciences, and the University of Applied Sciences Emden/Leer. Fraunhofer IDMT is a partner in the “Hearing4all” cluster of excellence and in the Collaborative Research Centre “Hearing Acoustics”.
Further information on www.idmt.fraunhofer.de/hsa
Contact for the media:
Christian Colmer
Head of Marketing and Communication
Fraunhofer-Institute for Digital Media Technology IDMT
Oldenburg Branch for Hearing, Speech and Audio Technology HSA
Marie-Curie-Str. 2
26129 Oldenburg
Phone +49 441 80097-312 | christian.colmer@idmt.fraunhofer.de
http://www.idmt.fraunhofer.de/hsa
The “LE-Meter”, developed by Fraunhofer IDMT, integrated into NUGEN's plug-in “DialogCheck”, enables ...
Copyright: NUGEN Audio limited
The “Speech Intelligibility Meter”, featuring algorithms developed by Fraunhofer IDMT in Oldenburg, ...
Copyright: RTW
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