Personalized multi-channel headphone sound reproduction based on active noise cancellation

A system for headphone signal processing is discussed which gives a listener the same impression as listening to a multi-channel loudspeaker set-up. It is important that this processing is optimized for each individual listener. If this is not the case, large localization errors may occur. In the present work, a system is introduced that requires an initial procedure, which is carried out automatically, is convenient for the listener, and needs to be done only once. This system consists of conventional headphones into which small microphones have been mounted. An active noise cancellation method is used to achieve sound reproduction via headphones, which is as close as possible to a reference loudspeaker set-up. The active noise cancellation system is based on adaptive filters that are implemented in the frequency domain. The influence of various system parameters is discussed. Architectures for efficient implementation of the system are presented. From informal listening tests it appeared that listening to the proposed system is indistinguishable from listening to a true multi-channel loudspeaker set-up