Binauralizer

Interactive MATLAB framework for sound field synthesis, spatial rendering, and binaural monitoring.
Load audio or video, pick a renderer (WFS, DBAP, CTC, time-delay stereo, direct playback), visualize the sound field, and listen in real time via HRTFs.

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Features

• Real-time audio engine

  • Block-based processing with ring buffer
  • Audio/video loader with A/V sync
  • Output device picker and device info
  • Binauralization via SOFA HRTFs
  • Optional Master EQ (graphic + parametric + simple low-pass) with hard bypass

• Renderers

  • WFS (generalized 2.5D):
    • Referencing: concentric/parallel, fixed point, fixed distance
    • Per-element anti-aliasing (optional) and Tukey tapering
    • Exposes illuminated/tapered zones for visualization
  • DBAP (Distance-Based Amplitude Panning), updated to the current engine
  • CTC (Cross-Talk Cancellation):
    • Plant models: HRTF / point source / rigid sphere
    • Source models: HRTF / point source / rigid sphere
  • Time-delay stereo (pairwise delay filters)
  • Direct playback (no spatialization)

• Visualization

  • Sound-field simulator:
    • Harmonic , Impulse, Monitor (live) modes
    • Amplitude error and magnitude views (harmonic)
    • Transfer function (dB) at the receiver
  • Renderer overlays in the main axes:
    • Reference contour, amplitude distribution, tapering window
    • Illuminated/tapered zones (filled polygons)
  • Floating zoom controls anchored to the axes

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Requirements

• MATLAB (recent release recommended)
• Audio Toolbox and DSP System Toolbox
• SOFA API for MATLAB (for HRTFs), e.g. SOFAload (Included in the code)
• At least one SOFA HRTF file (e.g., HRTFs/BuK_ED_corr.sofa)
• Optional: OS video codecs supported by MATLAB if you load videos

The app detects missing toolboxes and will disable playback with a clear message.

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Citing Binauralizer

If you use this software in academic work, please cite the repository:

@misc{Binauralizer,
  title        = {Binauralizer: MATLAB framework for sound field synthesis, spatial rendering, and binaural monitoring},
  author       = {Firtha, Gergely},
  howpublished = {\url{https://github.com/gfirtha/binauralizer}},
  year         = {2025},
  note         = {Version retrieved from GitHub}
}

For Wave Field Synthesis theory and implementation details, also consider:

• G. Firtha, P. Fiala, F. Schultz, S. Spors, “Improved Referencing Schemes for 2.5D Wave Field Synthesis Driving Functions,” IEEE/ACM TASLP, 25(5):1117–1127, 2017.
• G. Firtha, “A generalized Wave Field Synthesis framework with application for moving virtual sources,” PhD dissertation, BME, 2019.

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