The Role of Reverberation and Magnitude Spectra of Direct Parts in Contralateral and Ipsilateral Ear Signals on Perceived Externalization

Several studies show that the reverberation and spectral details in direct sounds are two essential cues for perceived externalization of virtual sound sources in reverberant environments. The present study investigated the role of these two cues in contralateral and ipsilateral ear signals on perceived externalization of headphone-reproduced binaural sound images at different azimuth angles. For this purpose, seven pairs of non-individual binaural room impulse responses (BRIRs) were measured at azimuth angles of −90°, −60°, −30°, 0°, 30°, 60°, and 90° in a listening room. The magnitude spectra of direct parts were smoothed, and the reverberation was removed, either in left or right ear BRIRs. Such modified BRIRs were convolved with a speech signal, and the resulting binaural sounds were presented over headphones. Subjects were asked to assess the degree of perceived externalization for the presented stimuli. The result of the subjective listening experiment revealed that the magnitude spectra of direct parts in ipsilateral ear signals and the reverberation in contralateral ear signals are important for perceived externalization of virtual lateral sound sources.