Directional Loudness of Low-Frequency Noises Actually Presented Over Loudspeakers And Virtually Presented Over Headphones
Abstract
Previous studies have revealed that the loudness of low-frequency pure tones increased with the interaural time difference (ITD). This effect accounts for the directional loudness phenomenon at low frequencies where ITD is the main localization cue. So far, this effect has only been studied for sounds generated and presented directly over headphones, which are not natural listening conditions. The present study aims at investigating this effect on low-frequency noises stemming from real sources. Twenty subjects assessed the loudness of stimuli that were actually displayed by loudspeakers arranged at various locations within a listening room or that were recorded with a dummy head and virtually reproduced through headphones. Results show that the directional loudness sensitivity (DLS) is in agreement with the previously revealed ITD effect. Moreover, the DLS was higher when stimuli were reproduced over headphones than over loudspeakers, specifically when frontal sources were located at a short distance from the listeners. One hypothesis on this effect relies on visual cues that were available to the listeners only when sounds were reproduced over loudspeakers, providing information about the source distance. Listeners were also aware that sounds were reproduced on loudspeakers or headphones, possibly involving different loudness processings, leading to DLS differences.
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