Adaptive Binaural Cue-Based Amplitude Panning in Irregular Loudspeaker Configurations

Abstract

The amplitude panning method is a prevalent technique for controlling sound image directions in stereophonic and multichannel surround systems. However, conventional methods typically achieve accurate localization only with standardized loudspeaker configurations, limiting their applicability in diverse scenarios. This paper presents an adaptive binaural cue-based amplitude panning algorithm based on binaural cues tailored for accurate azimuthal sound image localization in irregular loudspeaker configurations. Our two-stage approach first employs inverse filtering to equalize loudspeaker magnitude responses. Subsequently, gains and inter-loudspeaker time delay are optimized based on interaural time difference and interaural cross-correlation values, derived from the measured binaural room impulse responses using a dummy head. Objective and subjective evaluations on a stereo system demonstrate that the proposed method significantly improves azimuth localization accuracy compared to existing techniques.

Keywords

• amplitude panning
• irregular loudspeaker configuration
• binaural cue
• spatial audio
• inverse filtering