Role of spectral cues in median plane localization

Abstract

The role of spectral cues in the sound source to ear transfer function in median plane sound localization is investigated in this paper. At first, transfer functions were measured and analyzed. Then, these transfer functions were used in experiments where sounds from a source on the median plane were simulated and presented to subjects through headphones. In these simulation experiments, the transfer functions were smoothed by ARMA models with different degrees of simplification to investigate the role of microscopic and macroscopic patterns in the transfer functions for median plane localization. The results of the study are summarized as follows: (1) For front-rear judgment, information derived from microscopic peaks and dips in the low-frequency region (below 2 kHz) and the macroscopic patterns in the high-frequency region seems to be utilized; (2) for judgment of elevation angle, major cues exist in the high-frequency region above 5 kHz. The information in macroscopic patterns is utilized instead of that in small peaks and dips.