Optimised virtual loudspeaker reproduction

In this paper we present a method for spatial audio reproduction over headphones using Head-Related Impulse Response (HRIR) simplification and Ambisonic decoding. The method is shown to significantly reduce computational complexity for real-time audio based rendering by decomposing the directional component of HRIRs into spherical harmonic basis functions. Localisation distortion due to reduced filter lengths is assessed through psychoacoustic evaluation criteria and a minimum phase approach is shown to be optimal.