Investigation into the Impact of 3D Surround Systems on Envelopment

This investigation assessed a number of 2D and 3D surround systems focusing on the attribute „envelopment‟ to determine if surround systems with height significantly enhance the perception of envelopment over current 2D systems. To assess each of the systems an objective and subjective method was used. The objective method consisted of measuring the IACC (Inter-aural Cross Correlation) of each reproduction system by reproducing three different types of sound scenes over each system. In addition, a subjective listening test was also carried out to evaluate the perceived envelopment. The objective measure showed that the introduction of height channels did lower the IACC. Further, subjective listening test results showed that there were significant differences between the height and horizontal surround systems in terms of envelopment, however this was dependent on the audio stimulus used. Finally, a correlation between the objective and subjective measures showed a strong negative correlation.