Listening Lab (Audio Lab)

The Listening Lab (Audio Lab) represents an essential laboratory and space for the acoustic measurement and reproduction of audio. It is used to investigate the creation of a plausible auditory illusion. It is used to make the perceived quality of augmented and virtual environments (see AR/VR) measurable. For this purpose, the laboratory is equipped with special room acoustics according to the room acoustic requirements of the ITU-R BS.1116-3 standard. It offers the possibility to set up a multi-channel and freely configurable loudspeaker setup (e.g. up to 22.2 channels) for playback and multi-channel microphone setups for recording. The listener can be tracked by pose and position tracking in the listening room. Furthermore, a 4k and High Dynamic Range video projection is currently under construction. In addition to the listening room, a control room is available to control the lab.

The Listening Lab is used for research and development of technologies in the field of spatial audio. It meets the acoustic requirements of the ITU-R BS.1116 standard. The following permanently installed infrastructure is located in the room (excerpt):

• 22.2 NHK speaker setup with Geithain RL906 as well as 5.1 surround setup with Geithain RL901.

• Traverse system on the ceiling for free configuration of different loudspeaker arrangements

• Motu AVB DA converter with 24 outputs

• feed in the control room via RME AVB interface with a maximum of 128 channels

• Yamaha CXA5100 decoder

• Sony UHD/4k SRXD close projection on acoustically transparent screen or on HDR optimized, non acoustically transparent screen

• HDMI cabling for UHD with 4:4:4
   

Equipment

The following equipment is available for research and teaching work (selection).

• Microphone array: KEMAR artificial head, motion-tracked binaural, Spatial Decomposition Method, Eigenmike.

• Turntable

• Extra-aural headphones

• Head-Mounted Displays

• QualiSys Motion Tracking

• Microphones for individual applications (Service: Comparison of the IMT microphones - parameters, sound samples)

• Computer technology