Lateral Localization of 0°- or Near-0°-Oriented Speech Signals in Anechoic Space
Mark B. Gardner · The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America · 1968
Many studies have been made of man's ability to localize various types of sounds under various acoustic conditions. Of particular interest in loudspeaker reception is the ability to localize transient-type signals that originate at or near the intersection of the horizontal and median planes, i.e., in the region directly in front of the listener. The present study explores this ability for high quality speech signals in noise-free, anechoic space. It was found that, under such test conditions, the average error of lateral or angular localization was 1.5°. In addition, an average individual bias of 1.1° and a group bias of less than ±0.1° were also found. When the speech signals were presented over a wide range of levels from a source located among similar units displayed at various angles and distances from the observer, average angular shifts as large as 5° were observed in the apparent lateral position of the source.