Spherical microphones arrays are commonly utilized for recording, analyzing and reproducing sound-fields. In the context of higher-order Ambisonics, the spatial resolution depends on the number and distribution of sensors over the surface of a sphere. Commercially available arrays have set configurations that cannot be changed, which limits their usability for experimental and educational spatial audio applications. Therefore, an open-source modular design using MEMS microphones and 3D printing is proposed for selectively capturing frequency-dependent spatial components of sound-fields. Following a modular paradigm, the presented device is low cost and decomposes the array into smaller units (a matrix, connectors and microphones), which can be easily rearranged to capture up to third-order spherical harmonic signals with various physical configurations.

Authors: González, Raimundo; Pearce, Joshua; Lokki, Tapio
Affiliations: Aalto University, Aalto, Finland; Michigan Technological University, Houghton, MI, USA(See document for exact affiliation information.)
AES Conference: 2018 AES International Conference on Audio for Virtual and Augmented Reality (August 2018)
Paper Number: P3-10
Publication Date: August 11, 2018 Import into BibTeX
Permalink: https://www.aes.org/e-lib/browse.cfm?elib=19701

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