Virtual sound source distance is limited by reproduction technology, not perception

Evidence

Distance rendering. The sensation of distance is largely provided by simulating both the direct sound path and the room effect. When they are reproduced correctly, the distance cues (discussed in Section 12.7) based on loudness, direct-to-reverberant (D/R) ratio, early reflections, and spectral content are correct. In loudspeaker-based audio rendering, the virtual sources can be easily positioned at distances as far as or farther than the loudspeakers are. It is hard to bring the sound source closer than the distance of the loudspeakers without special techniques; only some wave-field-synthesis methods with a massive number of loudspeakers are capable of bringing the virtual source into the listening area (see Section 14.5.6). If accurately head-tracked and well-equalized headphone listening is available (see Section 14.6.2), the virtual sources can be rendered close to and far from the listener, since the distance cues based on range dependence of binaural cues at short distances can also be exploited, and since the listening room has no effect on the sound entering the ear canals, making the task easier. In fact, bringing the virtual sources close with headphones is trivial, since the virtual sources are localized inside the head without special treatment. — Ville Pulkki, Matti Karjalainen, Communication Acoustics- An…, 2568

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to binaural cues and direct-to-reverberant ratio from Chapter 12 discussed in a prior reading of this book.