Towards a Mass-Customized, Full Surround Simulation of Concept-Theater Effects When Listening to Music Presented on a Pair of Earphones

Music played on a theater stage provides listeners with a sense of auditory spatial presence as well as a clear perceivable incident angle of where the music is coming from (Ando, 1985). On other words, listeners inside a theater can close their eyes and feel that they are inside a spacious building as well as being able to hear where the stage is. On the contrary, listening to music presented through a pair of earphones lacks both the auditory spacious feeling and, very often, listeners would perceive that the music is coming from the center of their heads (Blauert, 1997). Using personalized head-related transfer function (HRTF) filtering technology, it is possible to simulate the acoustics effects of a concert-theater for music presented on a pair of earphones. However, such a personalized solution can cost over US $2000.00 and may not be feasible for consumer products. Non-personalized solutions, on the other hands, do not work well. This paper discusses the problems associated with the non-personalized solutions and challenges and opportunities of mass-customized solutions. Progress in tackling various challenges is also reported. Potential industrial applications include high-end surround sound solutions for iPods and MP3 players