Perceptual quality improvement and assessment for virtual bass system

• Main Author: Mu, Hao
• Other Authors: Gan Woon Seng
• Format: Theses and Dissertations
• Language: English
• Published: 2015
• Subjects: DRNTU::Engineering::Electrical and electronic engineering
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/10356/65644
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

This research aims to develop a high-fidelity psychoacoustic bass enhancement system for small loudspeakers in consumer audio-enabled devices, such as laptops and flat TVs. Due to physical size and frequency response constraints of miniaturized and flat panel loudspeakers, low-frequency reproduction from these loudspeakers is generally limited, and excessive amplifying low-frequency components can potentially overload or damage loudspeakers. The proposed psychoacoustic bass enhancement system, known as the virtual bass system (VBS), enhances the bass perception of small loudspeakers by tricking our human auditory system into perceiving the bass that does not exist physically. The VBS is based on the psychoacoustic phenomenon called missing fundamental effect, which states that higher harmonics of the fundamental frequency can produce the sensation of the fundamental frequency in the human auditory system. However, additional harmonics generated by the VBS might result in perceivable distortion and reduce the perceptual quality of VBS-enhanced signals. Hence, this thesis focuses on improving the perceptual quality of the VBS using different techniques.