Lateralization of complex sounds in binaural reproduction

The study concerns the lateralization of complex sound sources (horizontal plane, a step of 45° and above the listener's head) from which came the sound of simple two musical instruments, i.e. a rattle and a drum. The recordings were made with using a dummy head and reproduced binaurally by open headphones. Forty young, otologically healthy subjects were divided into 2 groups: auditory-trained and no-auditory trained. The lateralization skills for the instruments were the best to the right and left side of the listener's head. The research shown that temporal variability and spectrum of tested musical instrument had no significant effect on lateralization skills for almost all tested angles. The one exception was the azimuth of 0°, for which listeners from no-auditory trained group more easily localized the rattle. Auditory-trained subjects obtained significant better results than no-auditory trained subjects for azimuth angles: 135°, 180° and 225°.