45 results about "Binaural recording" patented technology

Binaural rendering a multi-channel audio signal into a binaural output signal is described. The multi-channel audio signal has a stereo downmix signal into which a plurality of audio signals are downmixed, and side information having a downmix information, as well as object level information of the plurality of audio signals and inter-object cross correlation information. Based on a first rendering prescription, a preliminary binaural signal is computed from the first and second channels of the stereo downmix signal. A decorrelated signal is generated as an perceptual equivalent to a mono downmix of the first and second channels of the stereo downmix signal being, however, decorrelated to the mono downmix. Depending on a second rendering prescription, a corrective binaural signal is computed from the decorrelated signal and the preliminary binaural signal is mixed with the corrective binaural signal to obtain the binaural output signal.

A wearable device for binaural audio is described. The wearable device includes a feedback mechanism, a microphone, an always on binaural recorder (AOBR), and a processor. The AOBR is to capture ambient noise via the microphone and interpret the ambient noise. An alert is issued by the processor to the feedback mechanism based on a notification detected via the microphone in the ambient noise.

The invention relates to simulation of sound fields in enclosures, for instance for application in listening tests, where test subjects assess the sound quality or other sound perception characteristics of the sound field. According to a specific embodiment, the system comprises a binaural synthesis portion which synthesises sound for instance from a sound-reproduction equipment based on measured impulse responses of an actual room stored in a data base (31) and a binaural recording portion comprising a data base 32 for storing binaural recordings of other sound signals made in the room. Data from these databases are mixed (41) and reproduced by means of a headphone (39) provided with a head tracker (42) for tracking the movements of the listener's head. The invention furthermore comprises the use of cross-fading functions (36, 37) to enable the dynamic listening conditions, where the movements of the listener's head are taken into account during the simulation process.

A binaural-recording earphone set is provided. It comprises two speaker units and two microphone units, the two speaker units are inserted into the auditory canal of two ears respectively. The two microphone units are coupled on the two speaker units and can be dismounted. Under a recording mode, the microphone units can be dismounted from the speaker units, and replace the speaker units to be inserted into the auditory canal of the two ears to record external sound. Under a play mode, the speaker units are inserted back into the auditory canal of the two ears to playback the sound recorded previously.

The present invention proposes a method for operating a binaural hearing system with two hearing devices (1, 1′) operationally interconnected by means of a bidirectional link (8) which improves hearing perception in windy listening situations. The method comprises determining the level of wind noise present at each of the two hearing devices (1, 1′) and sending the audio signal picked-up at the first hearing device (1) to the second hearing device (1′) via the link (8) and then providing an output signal derived from the received signal to the electrical-to-mechanical output converter (3′) of the second hearing device (1′) if the level of wind noise at the second hearing device (1′) exceeds the level of wind noise at the first hearing device (1) by a pre-set threshold value. Furthermore, a binaural hearing system capable of performing such a method is given.

A binaural sound reproduction apparatus includes a correction filter operable to filter an input sound signal that is recorded using a binaural recording microphone and to supply the filtered signal to a headphone, an adaptive filter to which the input sound signal is supplied, and a difference detector determining a difference between a sound signal that is obtained by collecting a sound reproduced by the headphone using a sound-collecting microphone that is the same as the binaural recording microphone, or that has a similar characteristic to that of the binaural recording microphone, and a sound signal output from the adaptive filter, and for transmitting the difference to the adaptive filter. The adaptive filter determines the inverse of a synthesis characteristic from the headphone to the sound-collecting microphone based on the input sound signal and the difference, and sets the determined characteristic as a characteristic of the correction filter.

The invention relates to simulation of sound fields in enclosures, for instance for application in listening tests, where test subjects assess the sound quality or other sound perception characteristics of the sound field. According to a specific embodiment, the system comprises a binaural synthesis portion which synthesizes sound for instance from a sound-reproduction equipment based on measured impulse responses of an actual room stored in a data base (31) and a binaural recording portion comprising a data base 32 for storing binaural recordings of other sound signals made in the room. Data from these databases are mixed (41) and reproduced by means of a headphone (39) provided with a head tracker (42) for tracking the movements of the listener's head. The invention furthermore comprises the use of cross-fading functions (36, 37) to enable the dynamic listening conditions, where the movements of the listener's head are taken into account during the simulation process.

Binaural recording stored in a reproducing-use sound source portion (4) is recorded by giving an ultrasonic modulated sound from a recording-use ultrasonic wave speaker (6) to a dummy head (1). A cross talk is suppressed; thus, the binaural recording is obtained with clear sonic localization information while localization of pronunciation orientation can be improved. Further, the sounds generated by ultrasonic modulating the binaural recording in the reproducing-use sound source portion are given towards left and right ears of a driver from left and right reproducing-use ultrasonic wave speaker units (7L, 7R), respectively, arranged at positions distant from the head of the driver. Sonic 3D information relative to the localization of pronunciation orientation is given accurately to the ears of the driver. Even in a vehicle compartment tending to provide reflected sounds or muffled sounds, an accurate sonic localization can be achieved without a headphone.

An exemplary system for facilitating binaural hearing by a cochlear implant patient includes 1) a spectral analysis facility configured to divide a first audio signal presented to a first ear of the patient and a second audio signal presented to a second ear of the patient into first and second sets of analysis channels, respectively, and 2) a processing facility configured to process acoustic content contained in a first analysis channel included in the first set of analysis channels and acoustic content contained in a second analysis channel included in the second set of analysis channels, mix the processed acoustic content contained in the first and second analysis channels, and direct a cochlear implant to apply electrical stimulation representative of the mixed acoustic content to the first ear by way of a stimulation channel that corresponds to the first analysis channel.

A binaural sound reproduction apparatus includes a correction filter operable to filter an input sound signal that is recorded using a binaural recording microphone and to supply the filtered signal to a headphone, an adaptive filter to which the input sound signal is supplied, and a difference detector determining a difference between a sound signal that is obtained by collecting a sound reproduced by the headphone using a sound-collecting microphone that is the same as the binaural recording microphone, or that has a similar characteristic to that of the binaural recording microphone, and a sound signal output from the adaptive filter, and for transmitting the difference to the adaptive filter. The adaptive filter determines the inverse of a synthesis characteristic from the headphone to the sound-collecting microphone based on the input sound signal and the difference, and sets the determined characteristic as a characteristic of the correction filter.

A device for audio reproduction comprising a rest element for the head of a user, made of a deformable material; a right lateral support element and a left lateral support element located respectively at the two respective right and left of the rest element, the rest and left lateral support elements being connected to each other by the rest element, the right and left support elements defining between each other a listening space and a longitudinal direction parallel to the lateral support elements; a right loudspeaker and a left loudspeaker mounted respectively to the right and left lateral support elements have respective sound emission faces that face towards a listening space defined between the right and left support elements. The rest element provides a housing for a portion of the head configured to arrange the user with right and left ears oriented towards the right and left loudspeakers, the right and left ears creating a listening axis. The loudspeakers have each a woofer and a tweeter, the tweeters having an axis of symmetry oriented with a predetermined angle of elevation (α) with respect to the listening axis between a first elevation value (α) substantially equal to zero, where the tweeters have the axes of symmetry aligned to each other and parallel to the listening axis, and a second elevation value (α), substantially equal to 45°, where the tweeters have the axes of symmetry converging towards a point that is located higher than the listening axis. A system of binaural recording and a system for playing multi-dimensional effects are also included.

A method for operating a binaural hearing system including first and second hearing devices, each including an input transducer, a signal processing unit, an output transducer and a link unit for exchanging information between the devices. Operating the first hearing device according to a first processing scheme, operating the second hearing device according to a second processing scheme, monitoring an acoustic situation by the hearing devices, generating a request for coordinating the two hearing devices if one hearing device detects an acoustic situation asking for coordinating the two processing schemes of the hearing devices, the hearing device detecting such an acoustic situation being an ipsi-lateral hearing device the other being a contra-lateral hearing device, activating a link between the devices for transmitting the request to the contra-lateral hearing device, and changing the processing scheme in at least one of the devices in accordance with the request.

A portable binaural recording and playback accessory for a multimedia device includes headphones with embedded outside facing microphones, a protective mobile electronic device case with embedded stereo microphone preamplifier or audio video codec containing a microphone preamplifier, analog to digital converter / digital to analog converter (or digital signal processor), and a battery, allowing for the recording and playback of high quality binaural audio, while at the same time acting as a protective case and as an additional power supply.

Producing a virtual sound field may include receiving an audio signal associated with a remote sound source within a remote environment. The audio signal may be defined or recorded as a binaural recording and recorded from a remote set of binaural microphones. The audio signal may be indicative of a position of the remote sound source relative to the remote set of binaural microphones within the remote environment. Producing the virtual sound field may include determining a virtual position relative to the position of the remote sound source within the remote environment, generating a virtual sound field audio signal which simulates audio representing the remote sound source perceived from the virtual position within the remote environment relative to the position of the remote sound source within the remote environment, and playing back the virtual sound field to simulate the remote sound source as perceived from the virtual position.

The invention provides a binaural recording device. The binaural recording device is characterized by comprising a sphere structure (1) used for simulating a human head contour; left and right simulation auricula structures (21, 22) are installed on left and right sides of the sphere structure (1); left and right microphones (31, 32) are installed in auricula inlets or auditory meatuses for collecting holographic sound field signals; a circuit board (5) is further packaged in the sphere structure (1), is provided with a signal processing circuit for processing the signals picked up by the left and right microphones (31, 32), and is further provided with a Bluetooth wireless transceiver module used for sending microphone signals to an external terminal or receiving a Bluetooth audio signal from the external terminal; a rechargeable battery (6) is further packaged for supplying power to the components; and a button (4) is further arranged on the sphere structure (1) for operating and controlling the recording device. Binaural signals can be conveniently collected by the device, and the signal transmission fidelity is greatly enhanced in cooperation with a high-definition Bluetooth audio transmission scheme.

The application discloses a method for predicting the intelligibility of noisy and / or enhanced speech and a binaural hearing system. The application further discloses an intrusive binaural speech intelligibility predictor system that includes a binaural speech intelligibility predictor unit. The binaural speech intelligibility predictor unit includes: first, second, third and fourth input units for providing time-frequency representations of said left and right noise-free and noisy / processed versions of the target signal, respectively; first and second Equalization-Cancellation stages adapted to provide resulting noise-free and noisy / processed signals, respectively; and a monaural speech intelligibility predictor unit for providing final binaural speech intelligibility predictor value SI-Measure. The Equalization-Cancellation stages are adapted to optimize the SI-Measure to indicate a maximum intelligibility of said noisy / processed versions of the target signal by said listener.

A hearing system is provided that includes a left device that supplies an electrical sound signal for supplying the left ear of the user, and a right device that supplies an electrical sound signal for supplying the right ear of the user. A perceptive model for binaural hearing is implemented at least in one of the two devices or a further device belonging to the hearing system, with which a left setting value for the left device and / or a right setting value for the right device can be determined on the basis of the two sound signals. The left device can then be set with the left setting value and / or the right device with the right setting value. The entire process of the binaural hearing and not only the monaural hearing is thus taken into consideration for the setting of the hearing system.

Systems, methods, and sets for capturing and reproducing a binaural recording are provided. In one embodiment, the binaural recording is captured using an earpiece set that includes a pair of earpieces each including a frame, a microphone, and a transducer. The frame is adapted to be worn on an ear, and defines an ear-insertion end and a posterior end opposite the ear-insertion end. The ear-insertion end is adapted to be positioned within an ear canal. The microphone is coupled to the frame for capturing ambient sound, and adapted to be positioned outside the ear canal and substantially coplanar with a tragus of the ear.

Synthetically generated signals are reproduced via a binaural hearing system, which includes two hearing devices. After reproducing a first signal via the first hearing device a reproduction of a second signal via the second hearing device is also carried out delayed by a defined time interval. The additional time delay is to be quantified such that the impression of a sound amplification is produced with a hearing system wearer.

The present invention proposes a method for operating a binaural hearing system with two hearing devices (1, 1′) operationally interconnected by means of a bidirectional link (8) which improves hearing perception in windy listening situations. The method comprises determining the level of wind noise present at each of the two hearing devices (1, 1′) and sending the audio signal picked-up at the first hearing device (1) to the second hearing device (1′) via the link (8) and then providing an output signal derived from the received signal to the electrical-to-mechanical output converter (3′) of the second hearing device (1′) if the level of wind noise at the second hearing device (1′) exceeds the level of wind noise at the first hearing device (1) by a pre-set threshold value. Furthermore, a binaural hearing system capable of performing such a method is given.

A backwards compatible passive audio headset compatible with binaural recording and off-headset noise cancellation is provided. The audio headset comprises: a first microphone; a second microphone; a first speaker; a second speaker; a ground line; and, an audio plug comprising: a barrel portion and a tip portion, the barrel portion comprising a sleeve connector, a first ring connector and a second ring connector, the tip portion comprising a tip connector and a second connector located between the tip connector and the barrel portion, each connector of the audio plug connected to one of, the first microphone; the second microphone; the first speaker; the second speaker; and a ground line, in a one-to-one relationship.

The present disclosure regards a binaural hearing system and method. The hearing system comprises two hearing instruments. Each hearing instrument comprises input convertors for receiving sound signals from the environment and generating electrical signals, and singal processing units. One of the singal processing units comprises a frequency filter unit which comprises a frequency filter for generating a high-frequency portion and a low-frequency portion of one of the electrical signals, and the other one of the signal processing unit comprises a frequency filter unit which comprises a frequency filter for generating a low-frequency portion of another electrical signal. One of the hearing instrument comprises an emitter unit configured to transmit the high-freuqency portion, and the other one of the hearing instruments comprises a receiver unit configured to receive the high-frequency portion. One of the signal processing units comprises a processing unit for processing the high-frequency portion before emission or processing the high-frequency portion after the high-frequency portion is received, and the other one of the signal processing units is configured to generate electrical signals after processing from a combination of the low-frequency portion and the high-frequency portion or a combination of the low-frequency portion and the high-frequency portion after the processing.

A system and method of fitting an Electric Acoustic Stimulation (EAS) system of a patient that has binaural hearing is provided. The patient has an ipsilateral ear and a contralateral ear opposite the ipsilateral ear, with the EAS system associated with the ipsilateral ear of the patient. Stimulation parameters of the EAS system are developed unilaterally while taking into account hearing abilities of the contralateral ear. The EAS system is configured based on the developed stimulation parameters.

A portable binaural recording and playback accessory for a multimedia device includes headphones with embedded outside facing microphones, a protective mobile electronic device case with embedded stereo microphone preamplifier or audio video codec containing a microphone preamplifier, analog to digital converter / digital to analog converter (or digital signal processor), and a battery, allowing for the recording and playback of high quality binaural audio, while at the same time acting as a protective case and as an additional power supply.

A wearable device for binaural audio is described. The wearable device includes a feedback mechanism, a microphone, an always on binaural recorder (AOBR), and a processor. The AOBR is to capture ambient noise via the microphone and interpret the ambient noise. An alert is issued by the processor to the feedback mechanism based on a notification detected via the microphone in the ambient noise.

An improved earphone which has stereophonic microphones and which is better suited for connection to such a multimedia device includes two ear units to be worn in or on the ear, which each include at least one sound generator and a microphone for binaural recording of ambient sound, a microphone unit which includes at least one further microphone, an operating unit which is connected via cable to the two ear units and the microphone unit, and a connection unit as interface, which is suitable for connecting the earphone to the multimedia device. For easy handling the earphone has at least two different function modes between which switching can take place both automatically and manually.

An exemplary system for facilitating binaural hearing by a cochlear implant patient includes 1) a spectral analysis facility configured to divide a first audio signal presented to a first ear of the patient and a second audio signal presented to a second ear of the patient into first and second sets of analysis channels, respectively, and 2) a processing facility configured to process acoustic content contained in a first analysis channel included in the first set of analysis channels and acoustic content contained in a second analysis channel included in the second set of analysis channels, mix the processed acoustic content contained in the first and second analysis channels, and direct a cochlear implant to apply electrical stimulation representative of the mixed acoustic content to the first ear by way of a stimulation channel that corresponds to the first analysis channel.

Disclosed is an audio signal processing device for performing binaural rendering on an input audio signal. The audio signal processing device includes a reception unit configured to receive the input audio signal, a binaural renderer configured to generate a 2-channel audio by performing binaural rendering on the input audio signal, and an output unit configured to output the 2-channel audio. The binaural renderer performs binaural rendering on the input audio signal based on a distance from a listener to a sound source corresponding to the input audio signal and a size of an object simulated by the sound source.