Stereo hearing exploits only one directional cue and the ear fills in the rest

Evidence

Because of the way we perceive directional sound, it is possible to fool the ear into perceiving a directional sound through just two loudspeakers or a pair of headphones in stereo listening. This can be achieved in basically three ways: two using loudspeakers and one using headphones. The first two ways are based on the concept of providing only one of the two major directional cues in the hearing system—that is, using either intensity or delay cues and relying on the effect of the ear’s time–intensity trading mechanisms to fill in the gaps. — David M. Howard, Jamie Angus, Acoustics and Psychoacoustics, 750

Categorization

• DEFINE: Introduces the time–intensity trading mechanism that lets mono-cue systems reproduce directional sound.
• XREF: connects to: Mixing intensity and delay stereo cues produces spurious cues that confuse the ear; Stereo can encode direction with only one directional cue at a time; The hearing system adapts well to phantom stereo images despite conflicting HRTF cues — Toole, Floyd E, Sound reproduction- the acoustics and…, 564

Broader Connections

• Stereo can encode direction with only one directional cue at a time #corroborates (0.85)
• Mixing intensity and delay stereo cues produces spurious cues that confuse the ear #complicates (0.72)
• The hearing system adapts well to phantom stereo images despite conflicting HRTF cues #expands (0.72) — Toole, Floyd E, Sound reproduction- the acoustics and…, 564