Subjective Evaluation of Stereo Width Shrinkage Method Using Semantic Differential Method and Scheffé’s Paired Comparison

Matsumoto A, Mizumachi M. Subjective Evaluation of Stereo Width Shrinkage Method Using Semantic Differential Method and Scheffé’s Paired Comparison. In: Express Paper. Audio Engineering Society; 2026. Paper 439. Available from: https://aes.org/publications/elibrary-page/?id=23260

@inproceedings{Matsumoto2026_23260,
  author = {Matsumoto, Arisa and Mizumachi, Mitsunori},
  title = {{Subjective Evaluation of Stereo Width Shrinkage Method Using Semantic Differential Method and Scheffé’s Paired Comparison}},
  note = {Paper 439},
  year = {2026},
  month = may,
  publisher = {Audio Engineering Society},
  url = {https://aes.org/publications/elibrary-page/?id=23260}
}

TY  - CPAPER
TI  - Subjective Evaluation of Stereo Width Shrinkage Method Using Semantic Differential Method and Scheffé’s Paired Comparison
AU  - Matsumoto, Arisa
AU  - Mizumachi, Mitsunori
M1  - Paper 439
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/05/28
UR  - https://aes.org/publications/elibrary-page/?id=23260
PB  - Audio Engineering Society
LA  - en
AB  - The authors proposed a stereo-width shrinkage method for headphone reproduction, in which crosstalk from loudspeaker reproduction is added to the original stereo sources. In this study, we investigate the sound quality of stereo-width-shrunken sources under different parameter settings. To quantify subjective characteristics, we use the Semantic Differential method, in which listeners rate sources using five predefined adjective pairs. A detailed evaluation of the perceived naturalness and unnaturalness of the stereo width shrunk sources is conducted using Scheffs paired comparison method, in which listeners compare pairs of audio samples to indicate which is more natural or unnatural. Results from the Semantic Differential method provide a comprehensive ranking of the sound sources. Notably, the paired comparison does not show a reversal between natural and unnatural evaluations, and negative evaluations yield consistent outcomes. These results offer valuable insights for practical sound-quality evaluation.
ER  -