The role of early reflections for definition and source separation

Abstract

The density and spatial distribution of early reflections change the perception of individual instruments in an orchestral concert. Here, we present results of a listening test that aims to find the role of early reflections to perceptual phenomena related to source separation. The stimuli are anechoic symphony orchestra recordings convolved with different impulse responses that comprise of simulated direct sound and early reflection patterns combined with the late reverberation measured from a real hall. The differences between samples are investigated with various listening test methods, enabling the simultaneous comparison of samples. Quantitative data are also collected with the applied test methods. The results are expected to confirm our hypothesis that listeners can distinguish individual instruments better if the early reflection patterns in conjunction with individual sources differ more from each other.