On the Use of Additional Microphones in Binaural Cue Adaptation

Binaural recording using artificial heads or microphones on or near the ears of a person, e.g., on modern headphones and hearables, is a well-established technology for spatial audio capture. Our previously presented Binaural Cue Adaptation method improves the reproduction of binaural recordings by adapting the signals recorded for a fixed head orientation to a listener’s dynamic head movements. In the present work, we exploit the fact that many binaural recording devices, such as hearables, are equipped with more than two microphones and generalize the method to use more than two microphone signals. Information from the additional microphone signals can be used to remove limitations on possible positions of sound sources in the recorded scene, and to improve the performance of the method in the presence of diffuse ambient signals and for larger head movements.