Perceived amount of reverberation consistent with binaural summation model

Abstract

Although perceived amount of reverberation (PAR) is known to be dependent on the physical amount of reverberation present at the two ears, the extent to which this information may be combined across the ears is not well understood. Previous work using virtual auditory space techniques has demonstrated that when physical reverberation is reduced in the ear nearest a sound source while the contralateral ear is left unchanged, listeners do not report a change in PAR. Reducing physical reverberation equally in both ears, however, elicits a decrease in PAR. To better understand this phenomenon, the present study examines how PAR is affected by three additional listening conditions: scaling the contralateral ear while leaving ipsilateral fixed, scaling the contralateral ear only with no ipsilateral signal (monaural), and scaling the ipsilateral ear only with no contralateral signal (monaural). This study also examines how PAR is affected by an increase in physical reverberation present at the ears in the two li...