Listeners' F0 preferences in quiet and stationary noise

Talkers - and increasingly speech output technology - typically alter speech characteristics when faced with challenging communicative conditions, but the impact of these changes on interlocutors is not fully understood. One such characteristic is fundamental frequency (F0), whose mean and range tend to increase when talking in noise or when communicating with inexperienced listeners. However, speech perception experiments have yet to demonstrate any intelligibility advantage for F0 modifications. The current study asked listeners to alter mean F0 or F0 variation with real-time feedback, in order to maximise comprehensibility in quiet and noise. Listeners chose a lower mean F0 than that of the original, and F0 variation similar to the original. Masker level had no effect on preference, suggesting that while listeners express clear choices, adjustment of F0 has no impact on intelligibility, and may instead reflect considerations such as naturalness or listening effort.