Spaciousness Rating of 8-channel Stereophony-based Microphone Arrays

In previous studies, the localisation accuracy and the spatial impression of 3-2 stereo microphone arrays were discussed. These showed that 3-2 stereo cannot produce stable images to the side and to the rear of the listener. An octagon loudspeaker array was therefore proposed. Microphone array design for this loudspeaker configuration was studied in terms of localisation accuracy, locatedness and sound image width. This paper describes an experiment conducted to evaluate the spaciousness of 10 different microphone arrays used in different acoustical environments. Spaciousness was analyzed as a function of sound signal, acoustical environment and microphone array’s characteristics. It showed that the height of the microphone array and the original acoustical environment are the two variables that have the most influence on the perceived spaciousness, but that microphone directivity and the position of sound sources is also important.