Directional Dependency of Subjective Sound Pressure Perception on Three-Dimensional Sound

Abstract

Sony launched 360 Reality Audio in 2019 that provides a new music experience using object-based spatial audio technology. In this music experience, sounds arrive from various directions. The direction from which the sound arrives affects the subjective sound pressure sensitivity [1, 2, 3]. Sivonen measured the subjective sound pressure sensitivity in seven directions on the left half of the horizontal plane and on the upper front quarter in the median plane [1]. In this e-brief, the number of directions is increased to 31, which includes a whole horizontal plane and the elevations lower than the front center for measurements with three band-limited signals (i.e., 93 conditions in total). As a result, 74 conditions are observed with statistically significant differences.