Parametric Time-Frequency Domain Spatial Audio

Preface

A plethora of methods for capturing, storing, and reproducing monophonic sound signals has been developed in the history of audio, starting from early mechanical devices, and progressing via analog electronic devices to faithful digital representation. In recent decades there has also been considerable effort to capture and recreate the spatial characteristics of sound scenes to a listener. When reproducing a sound scene, the locations of sound sources and responses of listening spaces should be perceived as in the original conditions, in either faithful replication or with deliberate modification. A vast number of research articles have been published suggesting methods to capture, store, and recreate spatial sound over headphone or loudspeaker listening setups. However, one cannot say that the field has matured yet, as new techniques and paradigms are still actively being published.

Another important task in spatial sound reproduction is the directional filtering of sound, where unwanted sound coming from other directions is attenuated when compared to the sound arriving from the direction of the desired sound source. Such techniques have applications in surround sound, teleconferencing, and head-mounted virtual reality displays.

This book covers a number of techniques that utilize signal-dependent time–frequency domain processing of spatial audio for both tasks: spatial sound reproduction and directional filtering. The application of time–frequency domain techniques ...