Computer simulation of Binaural, Stereo-Dipole, B-format

The paper addresses the problem of deriving synthetic impulse responses for auralization and spatialization systems, starting from the results of room-acoustics simulation programs. As it is well known, usually these numerical models are based on geometrical acoustics, and produce as output octave-band energetic impulse responses. These impulse responses have to be converted in wide-band waveform for being used as FIR filters, which can be convolved with dry signals, obtaining synthetic surround sound in various formats. The authors already developed in the past a suitable wide-band conversion algorithm for mono (omnidirectional receiver) impulse response and for binaural impulse responses. In this paper, all the various possible “surround ” formats are taken into account:- Binaural, for headphone listening- Stereo Dipole, for transaural listening on one or two pairs of closely-spaced loudspeakers- B-format, for reproduction through a three-dimensional Ambisonics decoder and loudspeaker array (1st and 2nd order).- Ambiophonics, which couples a frontal Stereo-Dipole for the direct sound, and an Ambisonics-like surround array for the subsequent reflections and reverberant tail The paper explains the mathematics of the conversion from the energetic impulse response to the multichannel waveforms in each of the above formats