Psychoacoustics of 3D Sound Recording and Reproduction

3D multichannel audio aims to produce an immersive auditory experience by adding the height dimension to the reproduced sound field. In order to use the added height channels most effectively, it is necessary to understand the fundamental psychoacoustic mechanisms of vertical stereophonic perception. This tutorial/demo session will provide sound engineers and researchers with an overview of important psychoacoustic principles to consider for 3D audio recording and reproduction. The talk will first introduce recent research findings on topics such as 3D sound localization, phantom elevation, vertical image spread, and 3D listener envelopment. It will then show how the research has been used to develop new 3D/VR microphone array techniques, 2D–3D upmixing techniques and a new 3D panning technique without using height channels. The talk will be accompanied by 9.1 recording demos of various types of music, including orchestra, choir, organ, EDM, etc.