Application of psychoacoustics to audio signal processing

The application of psychoacoustics to audio signal processing has been successfully applied to bit-rate reduction coding schemes such as MPEG but has not seen significant implementations into other audio applications. Because of the nonlinear aspect of auditory perception, which includes peripheral mechanics and central cognitive abilities, algorithms derived to enhance one aspect of hearing may have a completely unexpected consequence on other hearing abilities. This paper discusses the use of basic psychoacoustics for both signal processing design and validation. Since the field of hearing aid technology has broadly applied basic psychoacoustics to hearing aid design, it is used to describe how these measures can be used in signal processing design and validation.