• Acoustics and Audio Signal Processing group
  • Audio Signal Processing Research Group
  • Communication acoustics team: Spatial sound and Psychoacoustics
    • Directional audio coding
    • Head-related acoustics
    • Psychoacoustics and evaluation of spatial sound
    • Spatial impulse response rendering
  • Speech Modelling and Enhancement
  • Voice Production Analysis
• Metrology group
• Signal Processing Group

Spatial impulse response rendering

Spatial Impulse Response Rendering (SIRR) can be used to reproduce room acoustics with any multichannel loudspeaker system. In SIRR the time-dependent direction of arrival and diffuseness of measured room responses are analyzed within frequency bands. A multichannel response suitable for reproduction with any chosen surround loudspeaker setup is synthesized using the analysis data. The resulting loudspeaker responses are used in a multichannel convolving reverberator, and the synthesized responses create a natural perception of space corresponding to the measured room.

• SIRR responses are commercially available at Waves Inc. website.
• SIRR demos for 5.0 and 7.0 listening can be found here.

The following table lists most important papers on SIRR in inverse chronological order. For some publications, the PDF-file and a companion web-page containing sound examples are provided. These can be found in the leftmost column.

Publication		Short description
N/A	V. Pulkki and J.Merimaa "Spatial Impulse Response Rendering II: Reproduction of Diffuse Sound and Listening Tests" Journal of the Audio Engineering Society, vol 54, no. 1, 2006	The assumptions made in the first SIRR-JAES paper are bolstered here, and a new method to diffuse sound is presented. The quality obtained with SIRR and Ambisonics is studied with formal listening tests in anechoic chamber and in listening room.
N/A	J.Merimaa and V. Pulkki, "Spatial Impulse Response Rendering I: Analysis and Synthesis" Journal of the Audio Engineering Society, vol 53, no. 12, 2005	A comprehensive description of the SIRR method with some psychoacoustical background. The described implementation is based on energetic analysis of a sound field using B-format microphones. The operation of SIRR is illustrated with an application example.
	J.Merimaa and V. Pulkki "Spatial Impulse Response Rendering," in Proceedings of The 7th International Conference on Digital Audio Effects (DAFx'04), pp. 139-144, Naples, Italy, October 5-8, 2004. Invited paper.	The SIRR method and an implementation based on energetic analysis of a sound field using B-format microphones are described, and some listening experiments are reviewed.
	J.Merimaa and T. Peltonen and T. Lokki "Concert Hall Impulse Responses - Pori, Finland,"	Measurement methods and comprehensive analysis of a set of impulse responses measured in the Pori Promenadikeskus concert hall a presented. All omnidirectional, binaural, B-format, and SIRR processed responses are available for download.
	V. Pulkki and J.Merimaa "Spatial Impulse Response Rendering: A Tool for Reproducing Room Acoustics for Multi-Channel Listening," white paper for Waves, Inc.	The basics of SIRR are described. This paper is meant as a introduction to SIRR, and it should be also accessible to people with less background in audio and signal processing.