Psychophysical investigation of binaural spatial-audio music perception with varying degrees of realism

Abstract

A psychoacoustic listening test is conducted to explore the influence of varying degrees of realism on binaural spatial-audio music perception. The specific factors that are varied in combination are: (1) whether or not head-tracking is used; (2) whether or not individualized Head-Related Impulse Response filters are used; (3) the number of sound-track channels: mono, stereo, and 5.2 surround; and (4) whether or not reverberation is used. Experiments are repeated a number of times with listeners requested to make judgement comparisons regarding: externalization, quality of the frontal image, timbre, and preference. Open headphones (AKG 1000) are used so that listeners can compare the various binaural spatial-audio rendering conditions with standard non-binaural headphone presentation and also loudspeaker presentation. The results indicate the impact of varying degreesof realism on various aspects of binaural spatial-audio music perception.