On the ability of human listeners to distinguish between front and back

Zhang, Peter Xinya; Hartmann, William M.

doi:10.1016/j.heares.2009.11.001

Cited by 29 publications

(22 citation statements)

References 40 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…This study therefore does not provide strong evidence in favor of the dominance of either spectral feature; sound localization appears to be somewhat robust to mild degradation of either peaks or notches, but sensitive to larger modifications of either type of feature. Our result is contrary to the findings of Zhang and Hartmann (2010), who performed DTF notch filling and peak levelling at a single common floor and ceiling value and found notch filling to be more detrimental to accurate front/rear localization, but it is consistent with studies using artificial DTFs with reduced numbers of spectral features that have concluded that a mixture of peaks and notches is necessary for accurate vertical-plane localization (e.g. Langendijk, 2002; Iida et al, 2007).…”

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 56%

“…In that technique, the differences between HRTFs with common lateral angles were expanded in an attempt to improve vertical-polar localization. The expansion is also similar to the spectral sharpening employed by Zhang and Hartmann (2010), in which the DTF spectrum was convolved on a linear scale with a “Mexican-hat” function 525 Hz wide, and to the squaring of the HRTF magnitude spectrum described by Wightman and Kistler (1997), which corresponds directly to our 200-% contrast expansion condition.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 93%

“…Our notch-filling and peak-levelling manipulations are similar to those used by Zhang and Hartmann (2010), but differ in that we used multiple floor and ceiling values to vary the strength of the manipulation, whereas those authors used a single common value equal to the RMS level of the spectrum. The contrast expansion of the DTFs, followed by attempted preservation of natural binaural difference cues and then restoration of the diffuse-field response, is similar in effect to the HRTF enhancement explored by Brungart and Romigh (2009) and Brungart et al (2009).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Vertical-plane sound localization with distorted spectral cues

Macpherson

Sabin

2013

Hearing Research

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

For human listeners, the primary cues for localization in the vertical plane are provided by the direction-dependent filtering of the pinnae, head, and upper body. Vertical-plane localization generally is accurate for broadband sounds, but when such sounds are presented at near-threshold levels or at high levels with short durations (<20 ms), the apparent location is biased toward the horizontal plane (i.e., elevation gain <1). We tested the hypothesis that these effects result in part from distorted peripheral representations of sound spectra. Human listeners indicated the apparent position of 100-ms, 50–60dB SPL, wideband noise-burst targets by orienting their heads. The targets were synthesized in virtual auditory space and presented over headphones. Faithfully synthesized targets were interleaved with targets for which the directional transfer function spectral notches were filled in, peaks were levelled off, or the spectral contrast of the entire profile was reduced or expanded. As notches were filled in progressively or peaks levelled progressively, elevation gain decreased in a graded manner similar to that observed as sensation level is reduced below 30dB or, for brief sounds, increased above 45dB. As spectral contrast was reduced, gain dropped only at the most extreme reduction (25% of normal). Spectral contrast expansion had little effect. The results are consistent with the hypothesis that loss of representation of spectral features contributes to reduced elevation gain at low and high sound levels. The results also suggest that perceived location depends on a correlation-like spectral matching process that is sensitive to the relative, rather than absolute, across-frequency shape of the spectral profile.

show abstract

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 56%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 93%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Vertical-plane sound localization with distorted spectral cues

Macpherson

Sabin

2013

Hearing Research

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…The use of binaural rendering is popular in a number of audio applications-from hearing research [1][2][3] to entertainment [4,5]. In each application, the specific requirements for the performance of a binaural system will be slightly different although generally, the aim is to induce the perception of intended auditory events as accurately as possible.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Influence of Headphones on the Localization of External Loudspeaker Sources

Satongar¹,

Pike²,

Lam³

et al. 2015

J. Audio Eng. Soc.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

When validating systems that use headphones to synthesize virtual sound sources, a direct comparison between virtual and real sources is sometimes needed. This paper considers the passive influence of headphones on the sound transmission and perception of external loudspeaker sources, for which physical measurements and behavioral data have been obtained. Physical measurements of the effect of a number of headphone models are given and analyzed using an auditory filter bank and binaural cue extraction. These highlighted that all of the headphones had an effect on localization cues and repositioning had a measurable effect. A localization test was undertaken using one of the best performing headphones from the measurements. It was found that the presence of the headphones caused a small increase in localization error and that the process of judging source location was different, highlighting a possible increase in the complexity of the localization task. INTRODUCTIONThe use of binaural rendering is popular in a number of audio applications-from hearing research [1-3] to entertainment [4,5]. In each application, the specific requirements for the performance of a binaural system will be slightly different although generally, the aim is to induce the perception of intended auditory events as accurately as possible. Designing an assessment methodology that validates a binaural system within its intended application is often a difficult task. A common metric for a binaural system is the ability to produce a virtual sound source that is indistinguishable from a real sound source. Indirect comparisons have been investigated, for example, by Minnaar et al. [6] and Møller et al. [7,8] in which non-dynamic binaural simulation and real loudspeaker localization tasks were considered in separated experiments. However, for direct comparisons where real and virtual loudspeakers are presented simultaneously, the validation of headphone-based binaural systems against a real loudspeaker reference can be problematic. The listener must wear the headphones throughout the experiment, which will affect the sound transmission from the external loudspeakers. A number of discrimination studies have involved direct comparison of real sources with headphone-delivered virtual sources [9-13] as well as some recent localization tests [14,15] and loudness equalization studies [16,17]. The passive use of headphones may have a significant effect on the perception of the external loudspeaker and therefore cause an unknown and possibly directionally dependent bias. Hartmann and Wittenberg [10] noted that wearing headphones appeared to affect the listeners' ability to distinguish between front and back, although they also state that they were not aware of its effect on experiments in the azimuthal plane. To highlight the importance of the problem, Erbes et al.[18] presented work on the development of an advanced headphone system specifically for the field of binaural reproduction.This study investigates whether headphones mounted on a listener will ...

show abstract

“…A first exploration of the participants' answers reveals that several front-back confusions [26,27] occur. For this reason, an evaluation of the amount of front-back confusions was performed for each of the headphones simulated.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Influence of the Quality of Consumer Headphones in the Perception of Spatial Audio

Gutierrez-Parera

Lopez

2016

Applied Sciences

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

High quality headphones can generate a realistic sound immersion reproducing binaural recordings. However, most people commonly use consumer headphones of inferior quality, as the ones provided with smartphones or music players. Factors, such as weak frequency response, distortion and the sensitivity disparity between the left and right transducers could be some of the degrading factors. In this work, we are studying how these factors affect spatial perception. To this purpose, a series or perceptual tests have been carried out with a virtual headphone listening test methodology. The first experiment focuses on the analysis of how the disparity of sensitivity between the two transducers affects the final result. The second test studies the influence of the frequency response relating quality and spatial impression. The third test analyzes the effects of distortion using a Volterra kernels scheme for the simulation of the distortion using convolutions. Finally, the fourth tries to relate the quality of the frequency response with the accuracy on azimuth localization. The conclusions of the experiments are: the disparity between both transducers can affect the localization of the source; the perception of quality and spatial impression has a high correlation; the distortion produced by the range of headphones tested at a fixed level does not affect the perception of binaural sound; and that some frequency bands have an important role in the front-back confusions.

show abstract

On the ability of human listeners to distinguish between front and back

Cited by 29 publications

References 40 publications

Vertical-plane sound localization with distorted spectral cues

Vertical-plane sound localization with distorted spectral cues

The Influence of Headphones on the Localization of External Loudspeaker Sources

Influence of the Quality of Consumer Headphones in the Perception of Spatial Audio

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About