Subjective Evaluation on Three-dimensional VBAP and Ambisonics in an Immersive Concert Setting

Xu C, Kate GA, Bosen K, Andersen. Jesper, Serafin S. Subjective Evaluation on Three-dimensional VBAP and Ambisonics in an Immersive Concert Setting. In: Express Paper. Audio Engineering Society; 2025.pp. 321:1-. Available from: https://aes.org/publications/elibrary-page/?id=22872

@inproceedings{Xu2025_22872,
  author = {Xu, Chenyu and Kate, Giacomo Ascari and Bosen, Kate and {Andersen. Jesper} and Serafin, Stefanie},
  title = {{Subjective Evaluation on Three-dimensional VBAP and Ambisonics in an Immersive Concert Setting}},
  pages = {321:1-},
  year = {2025},
  month = may,
  publisher = {Audio Engineering Society},
  url = {https://aes.org/publications/elibrary-page/?id=22872}
}

TY  - CPAPER
TI  - Subjective Evaluation on Three-dimensional VBAP and Ambisonics in an Immersive Concert Setting
AU  - Xu, Chenyu
AU  - Kate, Giacomo Ascari
AU  - Bosen, Kate
AU  - Andersen. Jesper
AU  - Serafin, Stefanie
SP  - 1
M1  - Paper 321
PY  - 2025
DA  - 2025/05/12
UR  - https://aes.org/publications/elibrary-page/?id=22872
PB  - Audio Engineering Society
LA  - en
AB  - This study investigates the subjective evaluation of two prominent three-dimensional sound spatialization techniquesVector Base Amplitude Panning (VBAP) and High-Order Ambisonics (HOA)in an immersive concert setting. The listening test was conducted in the New Hall at the Royal Danish Academy of Music (RDAM), which features a 44-speaker immersive audio system. The musical stimuli comprised John Chownings electronic compositions and recordings of contemporary orchestral pieces. Participants included experienced listeners (Tonmeisters) and non-experienced listeners (Musicians), who were seated in off-center positions to simulate real-world audience conditions. This study presents an ecologically valid methodology for subjective evaluation. The results indicated that VBAP outperformed HOA in terms of Spatial Clarity and Sound Quality, while HOA demonstrated better Envelopment performance. The perceptual differences between the two techniques were small, which may have been influenced by room acoustics and off-center listening positions. Additionally, the results revealed that music genre had no significant impact on evaluation results. Regarding participant group, experienced listeners exhibited greater evaluation consistency compared to their counterparts. Furthermore, experienced listeners generally preferred VBAP.
ER  -