Spaciousness judgments of binaurally reproduced sound fields

Abstract

Spaciousness is known to be a key subjective parameter in determining the acoustical quality of a concert hall. Spaciousness is described as the sense of being enveloped by the sound, or as an increase in the apparent width of the soundstage. Inter-aural cross correlations (IACC) and lateral energy fractions (LF) are two objective measures used to describe the relative spaciousness of concert halls. However, the two measures often do not correlate well with each other. In this study binaurally simulated sound fields were presented to listeners in paired comparison tests. Listeners were asked to identify the more spacious of the two sound fields. Binaural simulations of various North American concert halls were produced by convolving source material with impulse responses measured using a dummy head. The measured LF and IACC values are compared with the judged spaciousness. [Binaural impulse response data were obtained from a measurement tour partially supported by the Concert Hall Research Group.]