Effects of shaping of binaural room impulse responses on localization

This contribution describes effects on perceived direction, distance, and externalization of auditory events by changing or shaping two energy based parameters of recorded binaural room impulse responses using a binaural headphone synthesis. A controlled modification of the distance perception in non-individualized binaural headphone reproduction is presented and evaluated. The algorithms change systematically time and energy based distance-dependent properties of impulse responses. The new binaural room impulse responses (BRIRs) are shaped by an energy adaption based on the initial time delay gap. Listening tests show that measured BRIRs and the newly synthesized BRIRs cause similar distance perception. In a second experiment the direct-to-reverberant-ratio (DRR) is changed until the test person perceived congruence between the synthesized and the listening room. All of the presented tests also investigate perceptual effects of congruence and divergence between the synthesized room and the listening room.