Role of spectral cues in median plane localization

Abstract

The role of spectral cues in the sound source to ear transfer function in median plane sound localization is investigated in this paper. At first, transfer functions were measured and analyzed. Then, these transfer functions were used in experiments where sounds from a source on the median plane were simulated and presented to subjects through headphones. In these simulation experiments, the transfer functions were smoothed by ARMA models with different degrees of simplification to investigate the role of microscopic and macroscopic patterns in the transfer functions for median plane localization. The results of the study are summarized as follows: (1) For front-rear judgment, information derived from microscopic peaks and dips in the low-frequency region (below 2 kHz) and the macroscopic patterns in the high-frequency region seems to be utilized; (2) for judgment of elevation angle, major cues exist in the high-frequency region above 5 kHz. The information in macroscopic patterns is utilized instead of that in small peaks and dips.

Localization of virtual sound image generated by two sources located on the median plane.

“…4,5) In The results show that subjects tend to localize the virtual image at the middle of the two sources for the small separation angles.…”

Binaural Technique — Basic Methods for Recording, Synthesis, and Reproduction

“…The possible advantages of using alternative, possibly computationally more efficient filter representations, e. g., infinite-impulse-response filters, IIR filters, has also been investigated, e. g., [3,13,15,38,41,44,51,52,64,91,93,94]. None of the results points to a convincingly superior computational performance.…”

“…The HRIR can be implemented directly as an FIR filter with an order corresponding to the number of taps. The possibility of reducing the order for minimizing computational resources has repeatedly been investigated, e. g., [3,4,14,15,38,41,46,64,93,94] -for a review see [42]. Figure 15 shows the probability of detection in a three-alternative forced choice listening experiment, where finite-impulse-response filters, FIR filters, with reduced order were compared with the original HRIR, i. e. 256-point FIR.…”

“…Also others have studied the performance with non-individual binaural signals, see, e. g., [3,5,6,22,49,50,61,80,[105][106][107][108]112], and other philosophies have been put forward for the selection of "typical" or "optimal" heads. One suggestion is that the heads of persons who localize well themselves, "good localizers", will also provide the best cues for other listeners.…”

“…There have been numerous investigations testing or using binaural synthesis, e. g., [3,5,6,49,50,80,[105][106][107][108]112]. Most have been made in an-echoic chambers with the subjects in fixed positions, thus simulating a single sound wave with a given direction, i. e. static free-field simulation.…”