Multichannel loudspeaker systems are generally designed with a particular listening position in mind. With this position being denoted as the sweet spot, an area around it may be defined to be a sweet area in which the reproduced sound fields properties are judged to be similar according to physical or perceptual criteria to what is observed in the sweet spot itself. In this study, we aim to quantify this sweet area with respect to physical sound field features associated with the psychological construct of immersive musical experience namely, inter-aural cross-correlation, diffuseness and inter-aural level difference. Binaural and spherical impulse responses are measured in a grid around the sweet spot in a listening room and the sweet area resulting from the joint effects of various loudspeaker setups and playback signals is evaluated. Dependencies on the loudspeaker configuration as well as the inter-channel cross-correlation structure of the audio material are analyzed and the roles of the individual sound field features in delimiting the sweet area are discussed. Notably, we substantiate the notion that a benefit in sweet area size due to a greater number of loudspeakers is only achieved if the channels are sufficiently uncorrelated.
(See document for exact affiliation information.)
Click to purchase paper as a non-member or login as an AES member. If your company or school subscribes to the E-Library then switch to the institutional version. If you are not an AES member Join the AES. If you need to check your member status, login to the Member Portal.
