• The Journal of the Acoustical Society of Korea
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• v.28 no.7
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• pp.610-617
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• 2009

An overview of various modes and tools of MPEG Surround is provided Because the binaural mode of MPEG Surround supports the virtual 5.1-channel playback based on HRTFs, it can be played via headphones and earphones for portable audio devices. MPEG Surround also supports the enhanced matrix mode which converts stereo signals to 5.1-channel signals without side information, the 3D stereo mode which deals with 3D-coded signals, the low power version which greatly reduces the computational load in the decoding process. Besides, MPEG Surround provides the arbitrary downmix gains (ADGs) tool which is applied to artistic downmix signals, the matrix compatibility tool which is applied to downmix signals by conventional matrix-based methods, the residual coding tool -which can be used at high bit rates, and the GES tool which is applied to specific sound such as applause. The listening test results by various companies and organizations are also presented for important modes and tools.

• The Journal of Korean Institute of Communications and Information Sciences
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• v.42 no.2
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• pp.432-443
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• 2017

The primary goal of the MPEG-H 3D Audio standard is to provide immersive audio environments for high-resolution broadcasting services such as UHDTV. This standard incorporates a wide range of technologies such as encoding/decoding technology for multi-channel/object/scene-based signal, rendering technology for providing 3D audio in various playback environments, and post-processing technology. The reference software decoder of this standard is a structure combining several modules and can operate in various modes. Each module is composed of independent executable files and executed sequentially, real time decoding is impossible. In this paper, we make DLL library of the core decoder, format converter, object renderer, and binaural renderer of the standard and integrate them to enable frame-based decoding. In addition, by measuring the computation complexity of each mode of the MPEG-H 3D-Audio decoder, this paper also provides a reference for selecting the appropriate decoding mode for various hardware platforms. As a result of the computational complexity measurement, the low complexity profiles included in Korean broadcasting standard has a computation complexity of 2.8 times to 12.4 times that of the QMF synthesis operation in case of rendering as a channel signals, and it has a computation complexity of 4.1 times to 15.3 times of the QMF synthesis operation in case of rendering as a binaural signals.

• Journal of Audiology & Otology
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.65-71
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• 2021

Background and Objectives: In masking level difference (MLD), the masked detection threshold for a signal is determined as a function of the relative interaural differences between the signal and the masker. Study 1 analyzed the results of school-aged children with good school performance in the MLD test, and study 2 compared their results with those of a group of children with poor academic performance. Subjects and Methods: Study 1 was conducted with 47 school-aged children with good academic performance (GI) and study 2 was carried out with 32 school-aged children with poor academic performance (GII). The inclusion criteria adopted for both studies were hearing thresholds within normal limits in basic audiological evaluation. Study 1 also considered normal performance in the central auditory processing test battery and absence of auditory complaints and/or of attention, language or speech issues. The MLD test was administered with a pure pulsatile tone of 500 Hz, in a binaural mode and intensity of 50 dBSL, using a CD player and audiometer. Results: In study 1, no significant correlation was observed, considering the influence of the variables age and sex in relation to the results obtained in homophase (SoNo), antiphase (SπNo) and MLD threshold conditions. The final mean MLD threshold was 13.66 dB. In study 2, the variables did not influence the test performance either. There was a significant difference between test results in SπNo conditions of the two groups, while no differences were found both in SoNo conditions and the final result of MLD. Conclusions: In study 1, the cut-off criterion of school-aged children in the MLD test was 9.3 dB. The variables (sex and age) did not interfere with the MLD results. In study 2, school performance did not differ in the MLD results. GII group showed inferior results than GI group, only in SπNo condition.

• Korean Journal of Audiology
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.65-71
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• 2021

Background and Objectives: In masking level difference (MLD), the masked detection threshold for a signal is determined as a function of the relative interaural differences between the signal and the masker. Study 1 analyzed the results of school-aged children with good school performance in the MLD test, and study 2 compared their results with those of a group of children with poor academic performance. Subjects and Methods: Study 1 was conducted with 47 school-aged children with good academic performance (GI) and study 2 was carried out with 32 school-aged children with poor academic performance (GII). The inclusion criteria adopted for both studies were hearing thresholds within normal limits in basic audiological evaluation. Study 1 also considered normal performance in the central auditory processing test battery and absence of auditory complaints and/or of attention, language or speech issues. The MLD test was administered with a pure pulsatile tone of 500 Hz, in a binaural mode and intensity of 50 dBSL, using a CD player and audiometer. Results: In study 1, no significant correlation was observed, considering the influence of the variables age and sex in relation to the results obtained in homophase (SoNo), antiphase (SπNo) and MLD threshold conditions. The final mean MLD threshold was 13.66 dB. In study 2, the variables did not influence the test performance either. There was a significant difference between test results in SπNo conditions of the two groups, while no differences were found both in SoNo conditions and the final result of MLD. Conclusions: In study 1, the cut-off criterion of school-aged children in the MLD test was 9.3 dB. The variables (sex and age) did not interfere with the MLD results. In study 2, school performance did not differ in the MLD results. GII group showed inferior results than GI group, only in SπNo condition.

• The Journal of the Acoustical Society of Korea
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• v.28 no.7
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• pp.599-609
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• 2009

An overview of the recently finalized multi-channel audio coding standard MPEG Surround is provided. This audio coding standard downmixes multi-channel signals to mono or stereo signals and, simultaneously, extracts spatial parameters for its encoding process. In its decoding process, it reconstructs multi-channel signals based on the downmix signals and spatial parameters. Since the downmix signals are coded in conventional audio coding format such as AAC and MP3 and the spatial parameters require a small amount of information MPEG Surround guarantees high sound quality multi-channel audio at low bit rates. Besides, it is backward-compatible to conventional audio coding techniques because the downmix signals can be played on portable audio devices ignoring the spatial parameter information. In this paper, Part 1 presents an overview of the basic structure of MPEG Surround and Part 2 describes various modes and tools including the binaural mode which supports the virtual 5.1-channel playback via headphones or earphones. The listening test results by various companies and organizations are also presented.