The Journal of the Audio Engineering Society — the official publication of the AES — is the only peer-reviewed journal devoted exclusively to audio technology. Published 10 times each year, it is available to all AES members and subscribers.
The Journal contains state-of-the-art technical papers and engineering reports; feature articles covering timely topics; pre and post reports of AES conventions and other society activities; news from AES sections around the world; Standards and Education Committee work membership news, new products, and newsworthy developments in the field of audio.
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Authors: Eurich, Bernhard; Ewert, Stephan D.; Dietz, Mathias; Biberger, Thomas
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Audio quality is an important aspect of hearing aids, hearables, and sound reproduction systems because the signal processing of such devices might alter the spectral composition or interaural differences of the original sound and thus might degrade the perceived audio quality. Consequently, an audio quality model applicable to such devices requires accounting for monaural and binaural aspects of audio quality. Fleßner et al. successfully predicted overall audio quality by combining a monaural and binaural audio quality model, which is computationally expensive and thus limits the scope of application. In order to also cover time critical applications, such as real-time control of algorithms in audio and hearing technology, the authors present a computationally efficient model for overall audio quality in listeners with normal hearing. The suggested model was evaluated with six databases including quality ratings for music and speech signals processed by loudspeakers and algorithms typically applied in modern hearing devices (e.g., acoustic transparency, feedback cancellation or binaural beamforming). The presented model achieved a high prediction performance, indicated by the mean Pearson correlation of 0.9 similar to the more complex model of Fleßner et al., while its calculation time is substantially lower.
Authors: Porysek Moreta, Pia Nancy; Bech, Søren; Francombe, Jon; Østergaard, Jan; van de Par, Steven
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Despite the significant advances in spatial audio technologies, there is a lack of knowledge regarding the impact of spatially dynamic program material on known descriptive attributes of basic audio quality (BAQ). This paper presents an exploratory study that investigates the perception of sound quality in reproduced sound using spatially dynamic program material in comparison with stationary program material. Three reproduction systems (stereo, surround, and surround with height) were compared across two different spatial variations of the same complex audio scene. Using a paired comparison approach combined with the check-all-that-apply (CATA) method, differences in BAQ ratings were collected alongside attributes contributing to the decision of BAQ rating. The study reveals that audio quality and its underlying attributes are primarily impacted by differences in reproduction systems, with spatially dynamic program material showing no direct influence. However, there is slight evidence indicating that the use of spatially dynamic program material may influence the selection of attributes for comparisons of different reproduction systems, leading to less clarity in results. Furthermore, this study can serve as a practical guide as it lists attributes for various loudspeaker comparisons and contextualizes their impact on quality ratings.
Authors: Seiça, Mariana; Roque, Licínio; Martins, Pedro; Cardoso, F. Amílcar
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Systemic sonification is a recent proposal for sonification design that offers interactive sonic fields. Inspired by living systems theory, it is formed by a community of sound beings that, as perceived sonic entities, respond to and evolve through human interaction. However, this abstract conceptualization lacked a design model for exploring its design space. The authors present a six-stage design model for envisioning interactive sonic fields, which emerge from the interplay between sound beings and human participants. This model is grounded on eight key concepts (Listener, Translator, Signifier Generator, Composer, Performer, Emitter and Collector), modeling agencies that define a design space for structured yet malleable sonic explorations. Two proofs-of-concept illustrate this model in practice to generate interactive system designs, ranging from objective mappings to subjective perceptions. A Pluralistic Walkthrough was conducted with two data domain specialists, aiming to gain insights on the prototype and discuss design variations based on the model. The authors reflect on the systemic model as a design tool, discussing 1) its generativity to create novel design spaces for sonification and 2) the interaction opportunities that emerge to explore subjective action perception with sound beings.
Authors: Lindborg, PerMagnus; Caiola, Valentina; Ciuccarelli, Paolo; Chen, Manni; Lenzi, Sara
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This study focuses on a corpus of 445 sonification projects currently available in the Data Sonification Archive (DSA). The DSA develops in a collaborative process that involves researchers and creative communities and has been online since early 2021. Projects are heuristically classified according to several aspects, in particular their intended purpose, targeted users, subject matter, sonification method, and combination of media. In the present study, the authors analyze six curatorial classification strategies, labelled Goal, Method, User, Macro Topic, Micro Topic, and MediaMix, and discuss their definitions and usefulness for the archive. They then introduce two computational classification strategies, respectively based on clustering of music information retrieval of sonification audio and topic modeling of the descriptive texts that accompany DSA projects. Correlation analysis between curatorial and computational classifications, correspondingly sized, showed that the text-based method was more powerful than the audio-based methods. The authors then explored predictive modeling, tentatively achieving results for Goal, Method, and Macro Topic. This points toward the potential for automatic classification to assist in the curatorial management of the archive, as well as for similar repositories. The discussion focuses on how analysis of classification strategies supports a broadening of the definition of sonification, both as theoretical construct and as practice, where the communicative intention of the author, the aesthetic quality of the listening experience, a more explicit focus on narrative patterns, and other emerging aspects within sonification design, are all contributing factors to transitioning the field toward a mass medium for data representation, communication, and meaning-making.
Authors: Shalabi, Ahmed; McGregor, Iain
Cinema being a controlled medium can offer stakeholders reassurance and a certain level of predictability in terms of soundtrack reproduction. The television and streaming suite of standards and delivery specifications have been developed in order to provide a consistent sonic experience for viewers, as well as predictability for content creators. However, current delivery specifications and standards do not fully address the plethora of playback hardware, inclusive of the reproduction environment, and they fail to consider variance in playback levels and the wider audience demographic. This paper describes the approach developed to identify re-recording mixers’ workflows and monitoring layout, inclusive of speaker types and mixing environments. The findings indicate that mixers adopt varying approaches toward certain stems when creating mixes tailored for TV and streaming platforms, particularly with regard to the dialogue stem compared with other components in a film sound mix. Additionally, it is evident that some mixers adjust their monitoring levels and configurations for TV and streaming platform mixes, although these adjustments may only yield minimal to no discernible outcomes at all. Lastly, the results highlighted that mixers expressed a desire for improvements in current workflows, especially addressing constraints related to shrinking budgets and tight schedules.
Authors: Munroe, Oliver; Camberlein, Lionel; Polet, Frédéric; Gaviot, Etienne; Novak, Antonin
A new application of a thin-film resistance temperature detector is presented. Such a sensor is built into a prototype drive unit where it is used to measure the temperature rise of the voice coil excited by a multitone signal, and the results are compared by way of the pilot tone method. A sensor is made using 18-μm–thick rolled annealed copper, equivalent to that used in flexible printed circuit boards. The sensor is then used in an experiment to assess the influence of the thermal conductivity of the surrounding medium on the voice coil temperature, by performing the thermal measurements inside a volume of helium. The accuracy of the results is discussed and compared with the requirements of an application for loudspeaker drive units.
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