Abstract
Ambisonics is a series of flexible spatial sound reproduction systems based on spatial harmonics decomposition of sound field. Traditional horizontal and spatial Ambisonics reconstruct horizontal and spatial sound field with certain order of spatial harmonics, respectively. Both the Shannon-Nyquist spatial sampling frequency limit for accurately reconstructing sound field and the complexity of system increase with the increasing order of Ambisonics. Based on the fact that the horizontal localization resolution of human hearing is higher than vertical resolution, mixed-order Ambisonics (MOA) reconstructs horizontal sound field with higher order spatial harmonics, while reconstructs vertical sound field with lower order spatial harmonics, and thereby reaches a compromise between the perceptual performance and the complexity of system. For a given order horizontal Ambisoncis or MOA reproduction, the number of horizontal loudspeakers is flexible, providing that it exceeds some low limit. By using Moore’s revised loudness model, the present work analyzes the influence of the number of horizontal loudspeakers on timbre both in horizontal Ambisonics and MOA reproduction. The binaural loudness level spectra (BLLS) of Ambisoncis reproduction are calculated and then compared with those of target sound field. The results indicate that below the Shannon-Nyquist limit of spatial sampling, increasing the number of horizontal loudspeakers influence little on BLLS then timbre. Above the limit, however, the BLLS for Ambisoncis reproduction deviate from those of target sound field. The extent of deviation depends on both the direction of target sound field and the number of loudspeakers. Increasing the number of horizontal loudspeakers may increase the change of BLLS then timbre in some cases, but reduce the change in some other cases. For MOA, the influence of the number of horizontal loudspeakers on BLLS and timbre reduces when virtual source departs from horizontal plane to the high or low elevation. The subjective evaluation experiment also validates the analysis.
Highlights
Ambisonics is a series of spatial sound systems based on spatial harmonics decomposition and each order approximation of sound field [1]
It is observed that below the frequency of about 25 equivalent rectangular bandwidth (ERBN), the binaural loudness level spectra (BLLS) for Ambisonics reproduction with various numbers of loudspeakers match well with those of target plane wave, and the BLLSD is less than the just noticeable difference (JND) of 1 Phon/equivalent rectangular bandwidth (ERB)
Above the frequency of 25 ERBN, the BLLS for Ambisonics reproduction with various numbers of loudspeakers deviate from those of target plane wave, and the BLLSD is large than the JND, resulting in perceivable timbre change
Summary
Ambisonics is a series of spatial sound systems based on spatial harmonics decomposition and each order approximation of sound field [1]. The region size and high-frequency limit of accurate sound field reconstruction increases with the increasing order of Ambisonics, while the complexity of system increases with order. Ambisoncis was first developed in 1970s [2,3,4]. Since 1990’s, more attention has been paying to the high-order Ambisonics due to its performance and flexibility in loudspeaker configuration. In 2015, Ambisoncis has been incorporated into the MPEG-H 3D audio, the new generation standard of spatial audio by the International Organization for Standardization and the International Electrotechnical Commission [5]
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