Predicting localization accuracy for stereophonic downmixes in Wave Field Synthesis

H Wierstorf, S Spors, "Predicting localization accuracy for stereophonic downmixes in Wave Field Synthesis," in FORUM ACUSTICUM, (2014). [ paper ] [ presentation ]

Bibtex

@inproceedings{Wierstorf2014d,
    title     = {Predicting localization accuracy for stereophonic downmixes in
                 Wave Field Synthesis},
    author    = {Wierstorf, Hagen and Spors, Sascha},
    booktitle = {Forum Acusticum},
    address   = {Krakow, Poland},
    month     = {September},
    year      = {2014}
}

Abstract

Wave Field Synthesis enables the creation of a correct spatial impression in an extended audience area. However, the synthesized sound scenes are most often created with a model-based rendering approach. This enables, beside other advantages, interactivity of the listener with the sound scene. On the downside it requires anechoic recordings of every direct sound event of the sound scene, a requirement that most often does not hold for music recordings and productions. In this study we investigate downmixing methods of reproducing two-channel stereophonic recordings with Wave Field Synthesis. Thereby different virtual loudspeaker layouts, like point sources and plane waves are arranged. It is further investigated how they interact with different geometries of the underlying loudspeaker array for Wave Field Synthesis. A linear, circular and box shaped geometry is employed. A common feature of stereophonic reproduction is the sweet-spot for localization. Outside of the sweet-spot the listener start to localize the reproduced sources towards the single loudspeakers. Recent advantages in predicting the localization for Wave Field Synthesis setups with a binaural model will be utilized in this study. Applying the binaural model the influences of the downmixing method and the underlying geometry are investigated. Especially the number of active loudspeakers and the usage of plane waves for stereophonic presentation differ from a typical stereophonic setup and allow to increase the possible sweet-spot size.