Assessment of sound spatialisation algorithms for sonic rendering with headphones

Abstract

Given an input sound signal and a target virtual sound source, sound spatialisation algorithms manipulate the signal so that a listener perceives it as though it were emitted from the target source. There exist several established spatialisation approaches that deliver satisfactory results when loudspeakers are used to playback the manipulated signal. As headphones have a number of desirable characteristics over loudspeakers, such as portability, isolation from the surrounding environment, cost and ease of use, it is interesting to explore how a sense of acoustic space can be conveyed through them. This article first surveys traditional spatialisation approaches intended for loudspeakers, and then reviews them with regard to their adaptability to headphones.

Keywords:

• Headphones
• algorithms
• ambisonics
• HRTF
• spatialisation

Acknowledgements

Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) is gratefully acknowledged for making this research possible.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1 $a=R/20\cdot {\log }_{10}2$ with $R=6\mathtt{d}\mathtt{B}$ in the free field. In closed environments, R is around $3\mathtt{d}\mathtt{B}-5\mathtt{d}\mathtt{B}$.

2 Unlike closed headphones, open (or ‘open back’) headphones do not isolate the user's ears from the environment, but allow them to hear both sounds produced by the headphones and sounds coming from the environment at the same time.

Additional information

Funding

Financial support from the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) through grant GSC 111.