Speaker Placement Agnosticism: Improving the Distance-based Amplitude Panning Algorithm

Abstract: Lossius et. al introduced the distance-based amplitude panning algorithm, or DBAP, to enable flexibility of loudspeaker placement in artistic and scientific contexts. The algorithm allows for arbitrary loudspeaker locations in a 2D plane so that a virtual sound source may navigate the 2D space. The gains for each speaker are calculated as a function of the source's distance to each loudspeaker, thus creating a sound field. This gives the listener the impression of a source moving through the field of loudspeakers. This paper introduces a heuristically developed robust variation of DBAP that corrects for faulty assumptions in the implementation of Lossius. Specifically, this paper develops a method for working with sound sources outside the field of loudspeakers in which the Lossius version produces distorted aural impressions and wildly undulating amplitudes caused by spatial discontinuities in the gains of the various loudspeakers. In smoothing the spatial impression of the virtual source, we are also able to eliminate the calculation of the convex hull entirely, a necessary component of the original implementation. This significantly simplifies and reduces the calculations required for any space in either two or three dimensions.