Perceptually Motivated Amplitude Panning (PMAP) for Accurate Phantom Image Localization

This paper proposes and evaluates a new constant-power amplitude-panning law named “Perceptually Motivated Amplitude Panning (PMAP).” The method is based on novel image shift functions that were derived from previous psychoacoustic experiments. The PMAP is also optimized for a loudspeaker setup with an arbitrary base angle using a novel phantom image localization model. Listening tests conducted using various sound sources suggest that, for the 60° base angle, the PMAP provides a significantly better panning accuracy than the tangent law. For the 90° base angle, on the other hand, both panning methods perform equally good. The PMAP is considered to be useful for intelligent sound engineering applications, where an accurate matching between the target and perceived positions is important.