Extraction of pinna spectral notches in the median plane of a virtual spherical microphone array

In this paper, a fast method for the extraction of pinna spectral notches (PSN) in the median plane of a virtual spherical microphone array is discussed. In general, PSN can be extracted from the Head Related Impulse Response (HRIR) measured by a spherical array of microphones. However, the PSN extracted herein are computationally complex and also not accurate at lower elevation angles. This work proposes a novel approach to reconstruct the HRIR using microphones over the median plane of a virtual spherical array. The virtual spherical array itself is simulated using the Fourier Bessel series (FBS). Subsequently, these HRIRs are used to extract the PSN. This method is computationally efficient since it is done over the median plane rather than over the complete sphere. On the other hand, it is also accurate due to the utilization of the Fourier Bessel series in the extraction of the PSN. Experimental results obtained on the CIPIC database indicate a high degree of resemblance to the actual pinna walls, even at the lower elevation angles. The results are motivating enough for the method to be considered for resolving elevation ambiguity in 3D audio.