This work proposes a scheme for improving binaural reproduction of 5.1 channel surround sound using customized HRTFs within a frequency range from 6 to 12 kHz. Two-level wavelet decomposition is applied to analyze the similarity and cluster of individualized HRTFs in different frequency ranges. The results indicate that HRTFs of different subjects are highly similar within 0 to 6 kHz but demonstrate considerably individualized variation within 6 to 12 kHz and above. Moreover, for most subjects, HRTFs within 6 to 12 kHz can be classed into eight clusters. Considering that individualized features of HRTFs within 6 to 12 kHz are the most important to localization, the customized HRTFs are obtained by substituting the wavelet components of general HRTFs within 6 to 12 kHz with those of cluster center HRTFs. The proposed scheme may simplify the customization of HRTFs. Psychoacoustic experiment indicates that the scheme partly improves the localization performance in the binaural 5.1 channel reproduction.

Authors: Xie, Bosun; Tian, Zhaojun
Affiliation: South China University of Technology, Guangzhou, China
AES Conference: 55th International Conference: Spatial Audio (August 2014)
Paper Number: 2-1
Publication Date: August 26, 2014 Import into BibTeX
Subject: Spatial Sound
Permalink: https://www.aes.org/e-lib/browse.cfm?elib=17356

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