Subjective and objective verifications of the inverse functions of binaural room impulse responses

Abstract The binaural room impulse responses (BRIRs) can be applied to 3-D sound field reconstruction, virtual reality, noise control, et al. Because the BRIRs are non-minimum phase functions, it is difficult to find the exact inverse functions of the BRIRs, especially when there are two or more sources in a reverberant space. In this work, a method was proposed to find the inverse functions of BRIRs with two sound sources in a reverberant space. The concept of time delays and the method of weighted least squares were used to find the causal, however, approximate inverse functions. The accuracy of the inverse functions was first evaluated objectively by a dummy head system. The result shows that the distortion due to crosstalk and room reverberation can be improved by 16∼18 dB. The inverse functions were also verified subjectively by 20 students. The result of subjective evaluation also shows that the inverse functions can be used successfully to reduce the crosstalk effect and the room reverberation.