Discrimination of auditory spatial diffuseness facilitated by head rolling while listening to 'with-height' versus 'without-height' multichannel loudspeaker reproduction

摘要

Listeners were asked to compare auditory spatial diffuseness between multichannel programs that were presented via three loudspeaker configurations, two of which included 'height channels' and one that was 'without-height' (the 'without-height' array employed loudspeakers located only on a single plane that was level with the listener's ears). In a double-blind, two-alternative forced choice (2AFC) task, it was found that listeners could discriminate a 'without-height' decrease in auditory spatial diffuseness to a significant extent when they rolled their heads from side to side. Those same listeners were unsuccessful in discriminating auditory spatial diffuseness when their heads were held stationary. Furthermore, when listeners pitched their heads up and down, no clear evidence for elevation-related diffuseness discrimination could be found.