AES Europe Spring 2022

We know from experience that we are startled by impulsive sounds coming from behind unexpectedly; neuroscience speaks of the startle reflex in this context. However, the same sound has no frightening effect when reproduced from the front. This means that the direction from which sound arrives plays a role in perception and can lead to a strong emotional reaction.

Other directions of sound also lead to clearly categorizable auditory phenomena. For example, one-sided lateral sound from exactly 90° is very unpleasant. On the other hand, listeners find two-sided lateral reproduction with room sound from sensational-sounding recording rooms extremely attractive. Accordingly, hearing also clearly distinguishes between the direction of a sound source and auditory connections between two loudspeakers.

A 3D audio speaker setup offers the possibility to reproduce sound around the audience: from the front, back, below and above. In a large speaker setup such as Dolby Atmos 9.1.6, the speakers are closely spaced around the audience in the horizontal plane; this means sound engineers can use all relevant directions in the mix and create clear added value compared to 2CH stereo and Surround Sound 5.1.

During his workshop, Lasse Nipkow explains how the different directions can be used for sound sources and auditory connections. He does this using psychoacoustic phenomena and impressive sound examples.