A Quantitative Evaluation Of Media Device Orchestration For Immersive Spatial Audio Reproduction

Media device orchestration (MDO) is the concept of using an ad hoc array of devices to deliver or augment a media experience. This paper describes a multiple stimulus rating experiment designed to evaluate the overall quality of listening experience (QoLE) of a range of common home audio systems (mono, two-channel, and five-channel) and two audio MDO systems. Twenty-six experienced listeners performed the experiment in two listening positions (on and off sweet spot) for three program items. Kruskal-Wallis tests revealed significant differences in QoLE between the evaluated systems. Post-hoc Wilcoxon signed-rank tests suggested that MDO can perform similarly to two- and five-channel systems in the on sweet spot listening position, and improve the QoLE off sweet spot.