Binaural Audio Source Remixing with Microphone Array Listening Devices

Abstract: Augmented listening devices, such as hearing aids and augmented reality headsets, enhance human perception by changing the sounds that we hear. Microphone arrays can improve the performance of listening systems in noisy environments, but most array-based listening systems are designed to isolate a single sound source from a mixture. This work considers a source-remixing filter that alters the relative level of each source independently. Remixing rather than separating sounds can help to improve perceptual transparency: it causes less distortion to the signal spectrum and especially to the interaural cues that humans use to localize sounds in space.