AES Europe 2026

This work presents the results of a perceptual study
investigating the influence on musicians of a virtual
acoustics system installed in the live room of a
professional recording studio. The study focused on
analyzing relationships between a selection of objective
acoustic parameters (T30, STLate, LJ); subjective
perceptions of 19 solo
musicians performing under 11 different acoustic
conditions. The experiment was conducted using the VAT
(Virtual Acoustic Technology) system; the VAT Suite
software developed at the Immersive Media Laboratory
(IMLab) in the Sound Recording Department at McGill
University. Correlations between quantitative;
qualitative analyses
show that musicians’ preferences converge on conditions
with T30 ≈ 1 s,; that late; lateral energy increases
the perception of spatiality, providing a positive balance
between clarity; acoustic support. However, longer
reverberation reduces comfort; executive control.

A “phantom image” is the illusion of an independent sound
source created by two or more loudspeakers. Most often
created by manipulating level differences between
stereophonic channels (aka, “panning”), the effect is used
to create a sense of auditory space between loudspeakers
; is largely taken for granted. In recent years,
surround; immersive audio systems have attempted to
utilize phantom image processing to render audio objects in
desired positions across multiple loudspeaker arrays. This
research examined the efficacy of phantom image perception
horizontally; vertically from an active listener
perspective. After listening to a target loudspeaker,
listeners (n = 442) were asked to move a phantom sound to a
position to match that of the target loudspeaker. The
listener’s phantom placement was then compared to the
target,; subjects were allowed “correct” their phantom
position. The horizontal experiment was based on a
standard stereophonic 60° loudspeaker array with the target
loudspeaker at 15° off center. The vertical experiment
utilized elevated loudspeakers in a 60° arc with the target
loudspeaker elevated 10° above the horizon (lower
loudspeaker). Results show nearly universal “undershoot” in
horizontal placement error on first attempts with gradual
improvement over trials that coalesced around the projected
target location. However, after repeated tries, final
perceptual image locations were spread over 2/3 of the
sound-field around the target loudspeaker. In the vertical
trials perceptual locations were spread across the entire
sound field in all three trials; failed to show any
patterns of coalescence around the target loudspeaker.

Target curves for the sound signature of headphones are a
helpful design target during the development process. While
a lot of attention has been made to fi nd target curves that
match the listening preference of consumers, equivalents
for studio headphones date back to the 90’s. In the context
of music production a mutual target or even standard is
essential as to make mixing; mastering more
gear-independent. This becomes even more important since
the main tool for sound engineers shifts from loudspeakers
in professional environments such as acoustically treated
studios to headphones, often additionally equipped with
virtualization algorithms. This enables them to be more fl
exible; to rely less on potentially expensive
loudspeaker setups. The diffuse fi eld target curve that is
currently still the only standardized target curve for
studio headphones is often reported to not match a real
loudspeaker-equivalent of studio environments. In this
paper, we approach to find a new standard target curve for
studio headphones emulating the frequency response of a
loudspeaker setup in modern studio environments.
For this, we give an overview of current target curves;
match them to their equivalent loudspeaker setups.
Based on that we propose a new methodology for a
measurement-based target curve incorporating typical
panning paradigms of music signals based on measurements
inside multiple control rooms. To verify the results, we
conduct listening tests with professionals in multiple
studio environments.

Deep learning has significantly improved speech enhancement
performance in controlled laboratory conditions, yet these
advances rarely translate into robust real-world benefit
for hearing aid users. Current algorithms are trained;
evaluated in simplified acoustic scenarios, neglecting
multimodal cues, user interaction, environmental dynamics,
; the strict latency; power constraints of embedded
devices. As a result, a persistent gap remains between
algorithmic performance; everyday listening experience.
This position paper reviews recent progress in speech
enhancement, embedded Artificial Intelligence hardware,;
hearing aid systems,; argues for a shift toward
ecologically valid evaluation; hardware-aware design. We
propose virtual reality as a reproducible, multisensory
benchmarking platform enabling joint assessment of human
perception; algorithmic processing. This perspective
outlines a research roadmap toward adaptive, context-aware,
; practically deployable hearing technologies.

Few studies exist on the perception; measurement of
nonlinear distortion in headphones. This paper reports the
detection thresholds; perceived sound quality from real
distortion in headphones. Five different distortion
measurements were made on the headphones to determine how
well they predict audibility; quality. Music samples
were binaurally recorded on six headphones at playback
levels ranging from 85 to +110 dBA at 3 dB increments. The
recordings were reproduced at a normal playback level (83
dBA) through a reference headphone with low distortion. The
headphone recordings were post-processed to remove both
level; frequency response differences so only nonlinear
distortions; residual noise remained. In a second test,
listeners rated the similarity in quality of headphones
relative to an undistorted reference; a hidden version
of it. The results provide evidence audible distortion in
headphones with music occurs at significantly higher
playback levels (104 to 112 dBA SPL) than what is
considered typical; safe. The percentage of measured THD
in the headphone had the highest correlation with the
detection thresholds while the non-coherent distortion with
music best predicted the similarity ratings. We discuss the
results; the practical implications they might have on
future headphone design, testing; measurement.

This work presents a perceptual model based on a complex
IIR filterbank. The filterbank with a frequency resolution
of 4 bands per Bark consists of 104 filters whose slopes
are designed to take spectral masking effects into account.
The filter outputs are used to obtain masking thresholds
with the following post processing. To obtain resonable
masking thresholds from the spreading outputs, a post
masking stage is required. Here, we propose a comodulation
dependent adaptation of the postmasking decay to model
Comodulation Masking Release (CMR) effects. This approach
explicitely considers the dip-listening effect known from
literature. The final masking thresholds are obtained by
weighting the postmasking outputs by a tonality dependent
gain, controlled using spectral flatness estimation. A
listening test compares the proposed method to an already
known approach using direct CMR based modification of the
masking threshold gains.

EMORSION is an exploratory study examining how film audio
design shapes audience emotion; immersion. It was
conducted using scenes from four films in the horror (2)
; drama (2) genres, with two mainstream; two
independent productions. For each scene, multiple
alternative audio mixes were created by systematically
manipulating three core aspects of audio design; frequency
(pitch), dynamics (loudness),; directionality (spatial
placement). Three audience groups were exposed to the
scenes in a cinema setting, with each group experiencing
either one manipulated audio mix; a control mix.
Audience responses were assessed through a multimodal
framework combining self-reported emotion; immersion via
a questionnaire,; physiological measures, including
heart rate monitoring; video-based motion tracking.
Results show that subtle changes in audio design
significantly affect emotional perception; immersion.
Unconventional mixes produced greater variability in
interpretation, while conventional immersive mixes led to
stronger agreement across audiences. Notably, participants
often reported perceived visual changes despite no
alterations to the visual content.

Identifying robust headphone target curves is challenging
when preference data from untrained listeners are
interpreted without explicit perceptual structure. This
work presents a methodological framework in which deep-
learning-driven sensory-profile analysis serves as the
primary interpretive layer for listening data.
Candidate target curves are generated using an Interactive
Differential Evolution (IDE) listening experiment that
combines paired comparisons with a second- stage
absolute-rating task, enabling continuous exploration of the
perceptually relevant tuning space while reducing cognitive
load. Converged gain sets are analyzed using a Virtual
Listener Panel (VLP), a Deep Learning (DL) model trained on
large-scale expert evaluations to predict perceptual
attributes from rendered musical material. Predicted
attributes are reported as relative scores along key sensory
dimensions, including bass strength, timbral balance,;
brilliance, enabling exploration of sensory clusters,
perceptual trade-offs,; potential families of target
tunings.
Adaptive listening data from three culturally distinct
listener panels (Denmark, Japan,; Colombia; 20
participants
per site) support the DL-based interpretation. Convergence
is quantified as a reduction in population variance,
; cross-site analyses assess the similarity of clustering
structures; the consistency of relationships between
preference; sensory attributes. Overall, the framework
provides a scalable, perceptually grounded approach to
interpreting listener-preference data when developing
headphone target curves.

Sa quintina is a distinctive emergent vocal phenomenon
almost exclusively associated with the sacred polyphonic
singing tradition of Castelsardo, perceived as an
autonomous “fifth voice” arising during collective
performance by four male singers. Although widely
acknowledged in ethnomusicological literature, its
formation mechanisms remain only partially explored within
audio engineering; acoustical research.
This paper presents an early-stage, descriptive sonological
case study proposing new hypotheses on the formation;
spatial reinforcement of sa quintina. The phenomenon is
interpreted as a physically grounded, measurable outcome of
harmonic fusion; spatial interference, observable
through spectral energy distribution; coherence. It is
hypothesized to emerge from a converging set of
conditions—including non-tempered harmonic textures,
differentiated vocal emission techniques, intentional
formant tuning,; circular spatial configuration—none of
which is assumed to be strictly sufficient in isolation.
Building upon previous spectral coherence analyses, the
study introduces a Quintina Directionality Index (QDI) to
quantify the spatial dimension of the phenomenon. QDI is
defined as the ratio between spectral energy in two
frequency bands associated with sa quintina (600–750 Hz;
1200–1400 Hz); total spectral energy. The index is
evaluated as a function of direction using ambisonic
recordings in an anechoic chamber; as a function of
microphone position in a controlled field setting.
Preliminary observations suggest that sa quintina
corresponds to localized regions of enhanced spectral
coherence; energy reinforcement, supporting its
interpretation as an emergent physical phenomenon that
precedes; enables its perceptual salience, rather than a
purely auditory illusion.

Live music environments can be simulated; evaluated
through spatial audio; augmented reality (AR)
technology. However, conducting perceptual studies on AR
environments can be challenging, as multiple design
considerations; uncontrolled variables come into play.
Hence, we developed Naviqual, a tool to create a spatial
audio quality map for a virtual live music environment. We
generated objective quality contour; polar maps to
predict the quality of experience (QoE) across listener
locations; directions respectively. We found that these
maps strongly aligned with perceptual evaluations by
normal-hearing listeners through listening tests. We also
found that binaural objective metrics; signal-to-noise
ratio both strongly predict QoE across listener
translations, with the former outperforming the latter in
predicting QoE across listener directions. Overall,
Naviqual provides a QoE map for virtual live music
environments robust across various listener locations;
directions, noise locations, music content,; room
acoustics.

The phenomenon in which listeners’ impressions of music are
unintentionally altered even when the same sound source is
played back remains an important issue. Previous research
has shown that the state; combination of audio equipment
affect the characteristics of nonlinear distortion in music
playback. Hence, we conducted a subjective evaluation of
auditory; musical impressions using sound sources with
various nonlinear distortions. However, the subjective
evaluation was unstable; difficult to assess. The reason
was that the sound change was perceived emotionally as a
slight change in sound image; musicality,; the
interpretation of evaluation terms varies widely among
subjects due to the difficulty of verbalizing the
impression. Therefore, we evaluated the change in
listeners’ stress caused by nonlinear distortion in music
playback using the photoplethysmography (PPG). In this
study, we conducted a follow-up experiment with improved
accuracy.
In the experiment, 41 subjects listened to sound sources
with even-order harmonic distortion at 2.69% THD, odd-order
harmonic distortion at 2.69% THD,; no distortion. The
musical piece of sound sources is an original to eliminate
familiarity; bias toward existing music.
We evaluated changes in subjects’ stress states using the
mean pulse-pulse interval (PPI); the root mean square of
successive differences (RMSSD), computed from the PPG
signal, as indicators of stress.
These results reconfirm that nonlinear distortion in music
playback affects listeners’ vital responses, as evidenced
by significant differences in both mean PPI; RMSSD, as
assessed by Cochran's Q test at the 5% significance level.

This paper presents Part 2 of our study on personalized
timbre optimization for stereophonic sound reproduction via
earphones, following our previous work presented at the AES
International Conference on Headphone Technology in 2025.
While Part 1 established a novel auditory-model-based
framework for reproducing a listener’s natural timbre
reference; demonstrated its perceptual validity under
controlled conditions, the present study focuses on the
practical implementation; validation of this approach
for real-world use with consumer True Wireless Stereo (TWS)
earphones.

Conventional headphone; earphone personalization
techniques primarily target spatial audio reproduction or
rely on preference-based equalization, often overlooking
the accurate reproduction of natural timbre in stereophonic
content. Our approach explicitly addresses this limitation
by isolating; optimizing perceptually relevant timbral
cues while excluding spatial encoding components, thereby
improving timbral fidelity without degrading stereo imaging.

The proposed method originally consists of four stages:
high-resolution anatomical scanning of the listener’s upper
body, including the pinnae, individualized HRTF computation
using the boundary element method, selective removal of
spatial encoding components to derive a personalized
reference target response curve (PR-TRC),; perceptual
optimization using a listener-specific weighting
coefficient grounded in auditory reference fidelity rather
than preference. In this paper, each stage is simplified
; automated using smartphone-based scanning;
AI-assisted processing, enabling end users to complete the
entire personalization process via a smartphone connected
to a cloud-based server. The resulting personalized target
response curve is implemented within the computational;
memory constraints of the DSP pipeline of commercial
consumer TWS earphones.

A subjective evaluation using the Semantic Differential
Method was conducted to assess the perceptual impact of the
simplified implementation. Twenty-four listeners evaluated
personalized target curves generated by both the original
; simplified methods, as well as two non-personalized
target curves commonly used in commercial TWS earphones.
The results show that both personalized methods
consistently outperform non-personalized conditions in
overall sound quality; listener preference. Importantly,
no statistically significant degradation in perceived
timbral naturalness was observed between the simplified;
original methods.

These findings demonstrate that auditory-model-based
personalized timbre optimization can be effectively
translated into a practical, consumer-ready technology. The
proposed approach represents a foundational contribution to
future audio personalization; has broad applicability
across headphone; earphone systems for stereophonic
sound reproduction.

Audio engineering standards often present as objective, yet
they frequently rely on a systemic data bias which Perez
characterises as the 'default male bias' [1]. This paper
examines the hegemony of the male ear, a system of norms
that privileges masculine modes of hearing by prioritizing
technical structure; text over affective experience;
timbre [2]. By transitioning from a visual centric auditory
gaze toward an embodied sonic gnosis, researchers can
recover haptic; physiological ways of knowing sound.
Drawing on the feminist listening praxis of the Female Ear
[3], this work explores the recording studio as an
analytical space where sonic microaggressions [4] enforce
rigid technical standards. The author argues for a new
audio praxis that centers ear pleasures [5], validating
subjective; affective sensory data as legitimate
engineering input. This approach seeks to dismantle the
regulatory fiction [6] of a universal hearing standard,
promoting a pluralistic understanding of musicking [7] that
is inclusive of non normative perspectives.