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The Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness supported this work under the projects TEC2012-37945-C02-01, TEC2015-68076-R and the grant BES-2013-065034.

Analysis of institutional authors

Gutiérrez-Parera, PabloCorresponding AuthorLopez, Jose JAuthor

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October 10, 2024
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Influence of the Quality of Consumer Headphones in the Perception of Spatial Audio

Publicated to:Applied Sciences-Basel. 6 (4): 117- - 2016-04-01 6(4), DOI: 10.3390/app6040117

Authors: Gutierrez-Parera, Pablo; Lopez, Jose J

Affiliations

Univ Politecn Valencia, Inst Telecommun & Multimedia Applicat ITEAM, E-46022 Valencia, Spain - Author

Abstract

High quality headphones can generate a realistic sound immersion reproducing binaural recordings. However, most people commonly use consumer headphones of inferior quality, as the ones provided with smartphones or music players. Factors, such as weak frequency response, distortion and the sensitivity disparity between the left and right transducers could be some of the degrading factors. In this work, we are studying how these factors affect spatial perception. To this purpose, a series or perceptual tests have been carried out with a virtual headphone listening test methodology. The first experiment focuses on the analysis of how the disparity of sensitivity between the two transducers affects the final result. The second test studies the influence of the frequency response relating quality and spatial impression. The third test analyzes the effects of distortion using a Volterra kernels scheme for the simulation of the distortion using convolutions. Finally, the fourth tries to relate the quality of the frequency response with the accuracy on azimuth localization. The conclusions of the experiments are: the disparity between both transducers can affect the localization of the source; the perception of quality and spatial impression has a high correlation; the distortion produced by the range of headphones tested at a fixed level does not affect the perception of binaural sound; and that some frequency bands have an important role in the front-back confusions.

Keywords

BinauralDistortionFrequency responseFront-back confusioFront-back confusionHeadphonesPerceptionQualityRecordingSoundSpatial soundSubjective test

Quality index

Bibliometric impact. Analysis of the contribution and dissemination channel

The work has been published in the journal Applied Sciences-Basel due to its progression and the good impact it has achieved in recent years, according to the agency Scopus (SJR), it has become a reference in its field. In the year of publication of the work, 2016, it was in position , thus managing to position itself as a Q2 (Segundo Cuartil), in the category Computer Science Applications. Notably, the journal is positioned en el Cuartil Q3 for the agency WoS (JCR) in the category Physics, Applied.

From a relative perspective, and based on the normalized impact indicator calculated from the Field Citation Ratio (FCR) of the Dimensions source, it yields a value of: 2.16, which indicates that, compared to works in the same discipline and in the same year of publication, it ranks as a work cited above average. (source consulted: Dimensions Sep 2025)

Specifically, and according to different indexing agencies, this work has accumulated citations as of 2025-09-27, the following number of citations:

  • WoS: 5
  • Scopus: 5

Impact and social visibility

From the perspective of influence or social adoption, and based on metrics associated with mentions and interactions provided by agencies specializing in calculating the so-called "Alternative or Social Metrics," we can highlight as of 2025-09-27:

  • The use, from an academic perspective evidenced by the Altmetric agency indicator referring to aggregations made by the personal bibliographic manager Mendeley, gives us a total of: 33.
  • The use of this contribution in bookmarks, code forks, additions to favorite lists for recurrent reading, as well as general views, indicates that someone is using the publication as a basis for their current work. This may be a notable indicator of future more formal and academic citations. This claim is supported by the result of the "Capture" indicator, which yields a total of: 33 (PlumX).

With a more dissemination-oriented intent and targeting more general audiences, we can observe other more global scores such as:

  • The Total Score from Altmetric: 0.75.
  • The number of mentions on the social network X (formerly Twitter): 2 (Altmetric).

It is essential to present evidence supporting full alignment with institutional principles and guidelines on Open Science and the Conservation and Dissemination of Intellectual Heritage. A clear example of this is:

  • The work has been submitted to a journal whose editorial policy allows open Open Access publication.
  • Assignment of a Handle/URN as an identifier within the deposit in the Institutional Repository: http://hdl.handle.net/10251/84792

Leadership analysis of institutional authors

There is a significant leadership presence as some of the institution’s authors appear as the first or last signer, detailed as follows: First Author (GUTIÉRREZ PARERA, PABLO) and Last Author (López Monfort, José Javier).

the author responsible for correspondence tasks has been GUTIÉRREZ PARERA, PABLO.

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