SPARTA & COMPASS: Real-Time Implementations of Linear and Parametric Spatial Audio Reproduction and Processing Methods

Abstract

This paper summarises recent developments at the Acoustics Lab, Aalto University, Finland, regarding real-time implementations of both fundamental and advanced methods for spatialisation, production, visualisation, and manipulation of spatial sound scenes. The implementations can be roughly categorised into panning tools, for both binaural and arbitrary loudspeaker setups, and linear processing tools based on the Ambisonics framework; the latter of which includes: decoders for loudspeakers or headphones and sound scene activity visualisers, which are based on either non-parametric beamforming or parametric high-resolution methods. Additionally, more advanced reproduction and spatial editing tools are detailed, which are based on the parametric COMPASS framework.