Download Evaluating the Performance of Objective Audio Quality Metrics in Response to Common Audio Degradations This study evaluates the performance of five objective audio quality metrics—PEAQ Basic, PEAQ Advanced, PEMO-Q, ViSQOL,
and HAAQI —in the context of digital music production. Unlike
previous comparisons, we focus on their suitability for production environments, an area currently underexplored in existing research. Twelve audio examples were tested using two evaluation
types: an effectiveness test under progressively increasing degradations (hum, hiss, clipping, glitches) and a robustness test under
fixed-level, randomly fluctuating degradations.
In the effectiveness test, HAAQI, PEMO-Q, and PEAQ Basic
effectively tracked degradation changes, while PEAQ Advanced
failed consistently and ViSQOL showed low sensitivity to hum
and glitches. In the robustness test, ViSQOL and HAAQI demonstrated the highest consistency, with average standard deviations
of 0.004 and 0.007, respectively, followed by PEMO-Q (0.021),
PEAQ Basic (0.057), and PEAQ Advanced (0.065).
However,
ViSQOL also showed low variability across audio examples, suggesting limited genre sensitivity.
These findings highlight the strengths and limitations of each
metric for music production, specifically quality measurement with
compressed audio. The source code and dataset will be made publicly available upon publication.
Download Auditory Discrimination of Early Reflections in Virtual Rooms This study investigates the perceptual sensitivity to early reflection changes across different spatial directions in a virtual
reality (VR) environment. Using an ABX discrimination paradigm, participants evaluated speech stimuli convolved with thirdorder Ambisonic room impulse responses under three position
reversal (Left–Right, Front–Back, and Floor–Ceiling) and three
reverberation conditions (RT60 = 1.0 s, 0.6 s, and 0.2 s). Binomial tests revealed that participants consistently detected early reflection differences in the Left–Right reversal, while discrimination performance in the other two directions remained at or near
chance. This result can be explained by the higher acuity and
lower localisation blur found for the human auditory system. A
two-way ANOVA confirmed a significant main effect of spatial
position (p = 0.00685, η² = 0.1605), with no significant effect of
reverberation or interaction. The analysis of the binaural room
impulse responses showed wave forms and Direct-ReverberantRatio differences in the Left–Right reversal position, aligning
with perceptual results. However, no definitive causal link between DRR variations and perceptual outcomes can yet be established.