Abstract:

In any medium the auditory system allows one to determine objects in our environment based on the sounds they produce. In a multisource acoustic environment the sounds produced by the sources arrive at the ears as a single sound field. The neural and perceptual processes of the auditory system parse this complex sound field into perceptions of the individual sound sources. There are several key properties of sound that allow the auditory system to determine the aspects of the complex sound field that are associated with each contributing sound source. In order for individual sound sources to be perceived in any medium, these properties must be well preserved in the sound reproduction. This talk will describe the parameters responsible for sound source determination and segregation and one's ability to perceive individual sound sources in a complex, multisource environment. [Work supported by NICDC, DC000290.]