Experiments on the loudness-transfer of headphone-based virtual acoustics

Binaural synthesis is a virtual-acoustics technology based on the convolution of sound signals with impulse responses modeling the propagation paths between sources and listener. The convolution products are typically presented by headphones. The frequency-dependent correction level necessary for a binauralsynthesis system to elicit the reference-scene loudness is referred to as loudnesstransfer function. An ideal binaural-synthesis system provides frequency-independent loudness-transfer functions for every listener. The frequency dependence of a binaural-synthesis system’s inter-individually averaged loudness-transfer function has been shown to depend on the hardware, the implementation, and the degree of individualization. In this contribution, perceptually acquired loudness-transfer functions of binaural-synthesis systems are discussed from an auditory-adapted perspective with regard to listening experiments, especially sound-quality judgments. The results provide quantitative estimates of the accuracy of sound-quality judgments and noise ratings achievable with different headphone-based binaural-synthesis implementations.