In the past few years, head-tracked binaural music has become increasingly available to consumers. This research investigated the merits of mixes implementing varying degrees of head-tracked audio sources in the context of jazz fusion, an intersectional subgenre that sits between the more naturally produced world of jazz, and the more heavily produced worlds of rock and funk. A perceptual study was designed to collect data on preference, immersion, localization, naturalness, and engagement in a three degrees of freedom controlled environment. Three saxophone solo excerpts were prepared, each approximately 60 seconds in length, and each with three different versions: no stems head-tracked, all stems head-tracked, and some stems head-tracked. A repeated measures one-way analysis of variance was conducted on the data to test for statistical significance. The study concluded that spatial impression increased with the amount of head-tracking implemented, but had minimal bearing on listener preference. Preference was program dependent, but the most preferred mix always implemented some amount of head-tracking. Future studies will explore different genres of music, different implementations of the hybrid mix approach, and a six degrees of freedom uncontrolled environment with participants of different backgrounds.
https://www.aes.org/e-lib/browse.cfm?elib=22339
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