On the performance of acoustic crosstalk cancellation in a reverberant environment

Acoustic crosstalk cancellation systems create a virtual audio environment by using loudspeakers to deliver appropriate binaural signals to the listener. Typically, the system is designed to equalize the direct-path transfer functions between the loudspeakers and the ears. In this paper statistical room acoustics is used to derive a closed-form expression that predicts the performance of such a system when used in a reverberant environment, and the expression is verified through simulations. The results of this paper enable designers to undertake a preliminary analysis of how well a given crosstalk cancellation system will perform in a reverberant environment, without resorting to time-consuming measurements or image-model simulations.