Stereo Headphone Psychoacoustic Filtering for 3D Sound Localization
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional stereo headphones lack the ability to provide a three-dimensional sound experience similar to surround sound systems, with sound sources limited to the listener's head, failing to deliver the same level of psychoacoustic effects.
Innovation Solution
A sound-processing apparatus that decomposes audio signals into multiple components, applies modified psychoacoustic filters, and uses a neural network to generate perceptual features, enabling the perception of sound sources outside the listener's head and allowing dynamic changes in sound locations.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If conventional stereo headphone signal processing is used, then the system remains simple and faithful to the original stereo signal, but the sound sources are limited to the listener's head and lack three-dimensional psychoacoustic effects
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the stereo signal into multiple components (left channel, right channel, and perceptual feature components) and processes each separately through different psychoacoustic filters. This allows independent manipulation of different signal aspects to create three-dimensional sound localization while maintaining manageable processing complexity through modular organization.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent transforms conventional two-channel stereo processing into multi-dimensional psychoacoustic processing by adding perceptual feature components and applying modified psychoacoustic filters that operate in additional signal dimensions. This enables sound sources to be localized outside the listener's head by introducing new processing dimensions beyond traditional left-right stereo channels.
2Adaptability or versatility
If modified psychoacoustic filters and neural networks are applied to decompose audio signals, then sound sources can be perceived outside the listener's head, but the processing complexity and computational requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent performs preliminary decomposition of the audio signal into distinct components (left, right, and perceptual feature components) before applying psychoacoustic filters. This preliminary segmentation simplifies subsequent processing by organizing the signal structure in advance, making the complex psychoacoustic filtering more manageable and enabling flexible sound source localization.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces perceptual feature components as intermediary elements between the conventional stereo channels and the final output. These intermediaries carry psychoacoustic information that enables sound localization outside the head while distributing the processing complexity across multiple intermediate stages rather than requiring a single complex transformation.
3Adaptability or versatility
If additional discrete sound sources are inserted for movie sound tracks and music, then the surround sound experience is enhanced, but the device complexity and processing requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent designs a universal processing architecture that handles multiple audio content types (conventional stereo, movie sound tracks, music, video games) through the same psychoacoustic filter bank and signal decomposition framework. This multi-functional system enhances surround sound experience across different content types without requiring separate processing paths, thereby limiting the increase in device complexity.
Data Source
AI summary
A sound-processing apparatus for processing a sound-bearing signal. The apparatus has a signal decomposition module for separating the sound-bearing signal into a plurality of signal components comprising a plurality of perceptual feature components, a spectrum modification module and a phase adjustment module for modifying the spectrum and time delay of each of the plurality of signal components, a psychoacoustical signal processing module having a plurality of psychoacoustic filters for filtering the plurality of signal components into a group of left (L) signals and a group of right (L) signals which are combined for outputting a L output signal and a R output signal for sound generation.