3 ms·
Left/right sound localization is partially a function of "shadow" created by the head. However more important to localization is the pinna, the outer ear. Sound
by lebuffon 4y ago
Left/right sound localization is partially a function of "shadow" created by the head. However more important to localization is the pinna, the outer ear.
Sound enters the earhole directly AND reflects off the folds in the pinna.
This causes complex comb filtering. (cancellation) Our brain learns how to correlate sound direction with these complex filterings. It's quite amazing.
Some audio workstations (Logic) have "binaural" processing to try and emulate this effect. It can never be perfect because everyone's ears are shaped a little different.
- galangalalgol 4y agoRight, that is how we do it. But isn't all the phase information present in two channels of audio to know how to map all the signals to an arbitrary number of angles? You'd need to know the spacing of the mics, but that could be a standard. About the pinna, a fun way to demonstrate this is to have someone close their eyes, then you snap or jangle keys at various locations and have them point. Then tape their ears to their head and repeat. They will be way off in the vertical. We can do left right-ish (with coning error) without the outer ear. But up down is impossible.
- lebuffon 4y agoNo. The phase differences for FULL localization are not in the incident sound. (There are phase and amplitude differences for left/right only) 3D phase changes occur and create comb filters at you ear and your ear is unique to you. This is why Kunstkopf(dummy head) recordings were never as successful as anticipated.