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Writer's pictureSubramanya Pemmanda Kantesh Kumar

HRTF (Head Related Transfer Function)

Updated: Jun 5, 2022



The human body alters the perception of sound when sound waves flow through it. The head, ears, shoulders, and complete body are the major causes of HRTF inside the human anatomy.  Sometimes sound travels directly into the listener's ear canals, while other times sound waves reverberate off nearby objects, reaching the listener in a variety of ways.The sound source is created by specific characteristics of the listener, and there is a change in the frequency profile that is related to HRTF.  The phenomenon of HRTF, also known as Head Related Transfer Function, may be used to characterise how the ear perceives sound sources. Sound is created and propagates in all directions, resulting in the formation of sound waves, then in  the form of expanding sphere in all directions sound waves spread outwards from the sound source in all directions. The form of the ear, the mass of the head, as well as the dimension of the mouth, the ear canal that regulates sound waves going through and by amplifying specific frequencies that contribute to the listener's particular impression and experience, defining the position of the sound source (3Dio, 2019).


HRTF is not their own, everyone perceives a considerably higher envelopment of the surrounding sound. This is why binaural recording is useful for a variety of applications. HRTF is directly associated with the unique form of the human head. Thus, binaural recordings sound best when made with your particular HRTF (DPA microphones, 2019).


The curves on the left are taken with the ear canal open. HRTFs from participants with blocked ear canals are shown in the curves to the right - Refer (figure 1) below:




( Figure 1 )


Each curve is an average of many participants.









Bibliography


3Dio. 2019. What is HRTF?. [online] Available at: https://3diosound.com/blogs/learn-about-sound/what-is-hrtf

[Accessed 29 April 2022].


DPA. 2019. Binaural Recording Techniques. [online] Available at: https://www.dpamicrophones.com/mic-university/binaural-recording-techniques

[Accessed 29 April 2022].


Møller, Henrik; Friis Sørensen, Michael; Hammershøi, Dorte; Jensen, Clemen Boje: Head-Related Transfer Functions of Human Subjects. J. Audio Eng. Soc., Vol 43, No 5, 1995 May.



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