TY - JOUR

T1 - The Role of Reverberation and Magnitude Spectra of Direct Parts in Contralateral and Ipsilateral Ear Signals on Perceived Externalization

AU - Li, Song

AU - Schlieper, Roman

AU - Peissig, Jürgen

N1 - Funding information: This work is supported by the Huawei Innovation Research Program FLAGSHIP (HIRP FLAGSHIP) project.

PY - 2019/2/1

Y1 - 2019/2/1

N2 - Several studies show that the reverberation and spectral details in direct sounds are two essential cues for perceived externalization of virtual sound sources in reverberant environments. The present study investigated the role of these two cues in contralateral and ipsilateral ear signals on perceived externalization of headphone-reproduced binaural sound images at different azimuth angles. For this purpose, seven pairs of non-individual binaural room impulse responses (BRIRs) were measured at azimuth angles of -90°, -60°, -30°, 0°, 30°, 60°, and 90° in a listening room. The magnitude spectra of direct parts were smoothed, and the reverberation was removed, either in left or right ear BRIRs. Such modified BRIRs were convolved with a speech signal, and the resulting binaural sounds were presented over headphones. Subjects were asked to assess the degree of perceived externalization for the presented stimuli. The result of the subjective listening experiment revealed that the magnitude spectra of direct parts in ipsilateral ear signals and the reverberation in contralateral ear signals are important for perceived externalization of virtual lateral sound sources.

AB - Several studies show that the reverberation and spectral details in direct sounds are two essential cues for perceived externalization of virtual sound sources in reverberant environments. The present study investigated the role of these two cues in contralateral and ipsilateral ear signals on perceived externalization of headphone-reproduced binaural sound images at different azimuth angles. For this purpose, seven pairs of non-individual binaural room impulse responses (BRIRs) were measured at azimuth angles of -90°, -60°, -30°, 0°, 30°, 60°, and 90° in a listening room. The magnitude spectra of direct parts were smoothed, and the reverberation was removed, either in left or right ear BRIRs. Such modified BRIRs were convolved with a speech signal, and the resulting binaural sounds were presented over headphones. Subjects were asked to assess the degree of perceived externalization for the presented stimuli. The result of the subjective listening experiment revealed that the magnitude spectra of direct parts in ipsilateral ear signals and the reverberation in contralateral ear signals are important for perceived externalization of virtual lateral sound sources.

KW - Binaural reproduction

KW - Binaural room impulse response

KW - Contralateral ear

KW - Head-related transfer function

KW - Headphone-reproduced virtual sound images

KW - Ipsilateral ear

KW - Magnitude spectra

KW - Perceived externalization

KW - Reverberation

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85061033779&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.3390/app9030460

DO - 10.3390/app9030460

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:85061033779

VL - 9

JO - Applied Sciences (Switzerland)

JF - Applied Sciences (Switzerland)

SN - 2076-3417

IS - 3

M1 - 460

ER -