Tutorial on Critical Listening of Multichannel Audio Codec Performance

Metadata

Publisher: SMPTE — White Plains, NY, USA
Doc Type: Journal Article
Content Type: Original Research
Abbreviated Title: SMPTE Mot. Imag. J
Volume: 121, No. 8, pp. 30–45
Abstract: Listening for impairments introduced by multichannel audio codecs is an important task. Classical objective methods are not adequate in assessing audio coding schemes. Accordingly, International Telecommunications Union Recommendations Section (ITU-R) Recommendations BS.1116 and BS.1534-1 provide guidelines for subjective evaluation of codecs. This paper provides a tutorial on the proper conditions for reliable codec testing. Several key components covered are properly designing the experiment; selecting the listening panel and training listeners; developing the test methodology; selecting balanced program material, loudspeaker or room, and sound-field requirements; listening for artifacts; and analyzing statistics. This paper addresses these various components, including the sound-field requirements, because per the ITU, “The characteristics of the reference sound field at the listening area are most important for the subjective perception of, or the quality assessment of, auditory events and their reproducibility at other listening places or rooms. These characteristics result from the interaction of the loudspeaker(s) and the listening room.”
Publication Date: 2012-11-01
DOI: 10.5594/j18246XY
ISSN: Print: 1545-0279
Link: https://doi.org/10.5594/j18246XY
Author(s): Sunil Bharitkar
bio
Sunil Bharitkar received a PhD degree in electrical engineering from the University of Southern California (USC) in 2004 and is presently the director of technology strategy at Dolby Laboratories. He co-founded the company Audyssey Laboratories at USC with Tomlinson Holman in 2002 and was the vice president of research until 2010. He also taught in the Department of Electrical Engineering at USC. Bharitkar has published more than 50 technical papers and has more than 10 patents in the area of signal processing applied to audio and acoustics, as well as a textbook, Immersive Audio Signal Processing, from Springer Verlag. He is a frequent reviewer for various journals and conferences of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), the Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, Signal Processing from European Association for Signal and Image Processing (EURASIP), and the Journal of the Audio Engineering Society. Bharitkar is the recipient of of an IEEE Best Paper Award at the Asilomar Conf. on Signals, Systems, and Computers. He is a member of the IEEE, the Acoustical Society of America (ASA), EURASIP, and the Audio Engineering Society (AES).
Grant Davidson
bio
Grant Davidson received a BS degree in physics from the California Polytechnic State University in 1980, and MS and PhD degrees in electrical engineering from the University of California, Santa Barbara, in 1984 and 1987, respectively. Since 1987, Davidson has been a member of the Sound Technology Research Group at Dolby Laboratories. He is currently a principal staff engineer, with research interests including digital audio and speech processing and an emphasis on perceptual audio coding algorithms. More recently, his research activities also include signal enhancement and spatial audio rendering technologies for mobile devices. Davidson is co-developer of the Dolby Digital (AC-3), MPEG-2 Advanced Audio Coding (AAC), and Dolby E compression standards, and is a recipient of two Emmy Awards for this work. Davidson is a senior member of the IEEE, and has served on the IEEE Audio and Acoustic Signal Processing Technical Committee since 1999.
Louis Fielder
bio
Louis Fielder received a BS degree in electrical engineering from the Caltech in 1974 and an MS degree in acoustics from the UCLA in 1976. He worked on electronic design at Paul Veneklasen and Associates between 1976–1978. From 1978–1984 he was involved in digital-audio and magnetic recording research at the Ampex Corp. Since 1984, he has worked at Dolby Laboratories on psychoacoustics for audio design and audio coders for music distribution, transmission, and storage applications, i.e., AC-1, AC-2, AC-3, Enhanced AC-3, AAC, and Dolby E. Additionally, he has investigated perceptually derived limits for the performance for digital-audio conversion, low-frequency loudspeaker systems, and loudspeaker-room equalization. Currently, he is working on cinema equalization and acoustics. Fielder is a fellow of the AES, a senior member of the IEEE, a member of SMPTE and the ASA. He was on the AES Board of Governors during 1990–1992, president during 1994–1995, and treasurer 2005–2009.
Poppy Crum
bio
Poppy Crum is a senior scientist at Dolby Laboratories in San Francisco and a consulting professor at Stanford University, CCRMA. At Dolby, Crum serves as an internal science expert for integrating psychophysical and neuroscience knowledge into algorithm design, human assessment, and basic science discovery. She also represents Dolby's science interests externally, including serving as one of the U.S. representatives to the International Telecommunications Union-Radiocommunication. — Prior to joining Dolby, Crum was research faculty in the Department of Biomedical Engineering at Johns Hopkins Medical School. Her work investigated neural circuits in the auditory cortex involved in hearing in complex acoustic environments. Crum completed her PhD at the University of California, Berkeley, with an emphasis in neuroscience and psychoacoustics and a Masters degree at McGill University with an emphasis in auditory scene analysis. She also holds a degree in violin performance through studies at the University of Iowa and McGill University.
Copyright: © 2012 Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers, Inc.

Bibliographic Reference(s)

1. ITU-R Recommendation BS.1116 , “Methods for the Subjective Assessment of Small Impairments in Audio Systems Including Multichannel Sound Systems,” International Telecommunication Union Recommendations Section , Geneva , 1994 . EXTERNAL
2. ITU-R Recommendation BS.1534-1 , “Method for the Subjective Assessment of Intermediate Quality Level of Coding Systems,” International Telecommunication Union Recommendations Section , Geneva , 2001 . EXTERNAL
3. ITU-R Recommendation BS.1284 , “General Method for the Subjective Assessment of Sound Quality,” International Telecommunication Union Recommendations Section , Geneva , 1997 . EXTERNAL
4. Erne M. , “Perceptual Audio Coders: What to Listen For,” Proc. 111th Audio Eng. Society Convention ‘01 , preprint 5489, 2001. Also a resource CD publication from the Audio Engineering Society Technical Council. EXTERNAL
5. Rumsey F. Zieli&nacute;ski S. Kassier R. , “On the Relative Importance of Spatial and Timbral Fidelities in Judgments of Degraded Multichannel Audio Quality,” J. Acoust. Soc. Am. , 118 ( 2 ): 968 – 976 , Aug. 2005 . EXTERNAL
6. ITU-R Recommendation BS.708 , “Determination of the Electro-acoustical Properties of Studio Monitor Headphones,” International Telecommunication Union Recommendations Section , Geneva , 1990 . EXTERNAL
7. Vanderkooy J. Lipshitz S. P. , “Can One Perform Quasi-anechoic Loudspeaker Measurements in Normal Rooms?” Proc. 125th Audio Eng. Society Convention ‘08 , preprint 7525, 2008 . EXTERNAL
8. IEC Standard 268-1c , “Sound System Equipment: Part 1: General,” International Electrotechnical Commission , Geneva , 1985 . EXTERNAL
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12. ISO 11690-1:1996 , “Recommended Practice for the Design of Low-Noise Workplaces Containing Machinery—Part 2: Noise Control Measures,” International Standards Organization , Geneva , Oct. 1996 . EXTERNAL
13. ITU-R Recommendation BS.645 , “Test Signals and Metering To Be Used on International Sound Programme,” International Telecommunication Union Recommendations Section , Geneva , 1992 . EXTERNAL
14. Moore B. C. J. Glasberg B. R. , “Suggested Formulae for Calculating Auditory-Filter Bandwidths and Excitation Patterns,” J. Acoust. Soc. Am. , 74 : 750 – 753 , Sept. 1983 . EXTERNAL
15. Fielder L. D. , “Analysis of Traditional and Reverberation-Reducing Methods of Room Equalization,” J. Audio Eng. Soc. , 51 ( 1/2 ), 26 , Feb. 2003 . EXTERNAL
16. Bharitkar S. Kyriakakis C. , Immersive Audio Signal Processing , Springer Verlag , 2006 . EXTERNAL
17. Stan G.-B. Embrechts J. J. Archambeau D. , “Comparison of Different Impulse Response Measurement Techniques,” J. Audio Eng. Soc. , pp. 249 – 262 , Apr. 2002 . EXTERNAL
18. Good Phillip , Permutation, Parametric, and Bootstrap Tests of Hypotheses , 3rd ed. , Springer : NY , 2005 . EXTERNAL
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21. EBU Tech 3339 , “EBU Evaluations of Multichannel Audio Codecs,” Phase 3, European Broadcasting Union , Geneva , 2010 . EXTERNAL

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Sunil Bharitkar, Grant Davidson, Louis Fielder, and Poppy Crum; Tutorial on Critical Listening of Multichannel Audio Codec Performance, SMPTE Motion Imaging Journal ( Volume: 121, Issue: 8, 2012); SMPTE, 2012. Available at https://doi.org/10.5594/j18246XY

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Sunil Bharitkar, Grant Davidson, Louis Fielder, and Poppy Crum; Tutorial on Critical Listening of Multichannel Audio Codec Performance, SMPTE Motion Imaging Journal ( Volume: 121, Issue: 8, 2012); SMPTE, 2012. Available at https://doi.org/10.5594/j18246XY

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<span class="citation">Sunil Bharitkar, Grant Davidson, Louis Fielder, and Poppy Crum; <cite>Tutorial on Critical Listening of Multichannel Audio Codec Performance</cite>, SMPTE Motion Imaging Journal ( Volume: 121, Issue: 8, 2012); SMPTE, 2012. Available at <a href="https://doi.org/10.5594/j18246XY" target="_blank" rel="noopener">https://doi.org/10.5594/j18246XY</a></span>

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Sunil Bharitkar, Grant Davidson, Louis Fielder, and Poppy Crum; <cite id="bib-10-5594-j18246xy">Tutorial on Critical Listening of Multichannel Audio Codec Performance</cite>, SMPTE Motion Imaging Journal ( Volume: 121, Issue: 8, 2012); SMPTE, 2012
<span class="doi">10.5594/j18246XY</span>
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