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Design of Ambisonic Decoders for Irregular Arrays of Loudspeakers by Non-Linear Optimization

In previous papers, the present authors described techniques for design, implementation, and evaluation of Ambi-sonic decoders for regular loudspeaker arrays. However, to accommodate domestic listening rooms, irregular arrays are often required. Because the figures of merit used to predict decoder performance are non-linear functions of speaker positions, non-linear optimization techniques are needed. In this paper we discuss the implementation of an open-source application based on the NLopt non-linear optimization software library that derives decoders for arbi-trary arrays of loudspeakers, as well as providing a prediction of their performance using psychoacoustic criteria, such as Gerzon’s velocity and energy localization vectors. We describe the implementation and optimization crite-ria, and report on listening tests comparing the decoders produced.

Authors: Benjamin, Eric; Heller, Aaron; Lee, Richard
Affiliations: Surround Research, Pacifica, CA, USA; Pandit Littoral, Cooktown, QLD, Australia; SRI International, Menlo Park, CA, USA(See document for exact affiliation information.)
AES Convention:129 (November 2010) Paper Number:8243 Import into BibTeX
Subject:Multichannel Audio Playback

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