Assessing Spectral Distortions Produced by Off-the-Shelf Sound Spatialization Engines

Alex Razvan Domniteanu; Jane Gallacher; Mario Ettore Giardini

Assessing Spectral Distortions Produced by Off-the-Shelf Sound Spatialization Engines

Alex Razvan Domniteanu
, Jane Gallacher
, Mario Ettore Giardini

Research output: Contribution to conference › Poster › peer-review

Abstract

Abstract— Detecting the direction of provenance of sound is an important clinical test. The gaming industry has developed solutions for the spatialization of sound in virtual sound environments. Yet, it is unclear to what extent the spectral content of sounds, of key importance in diagnostics, is modified by commercial spatialization algorithms. This study assessed the spectral content of spatialized pure tones of different frequencies processed through the Unreal 5 game development engine (UE5) using simple panning, three commercial spatialization plugins, Steam Audio, Google Resonance and Microsoft Project Acoustics, two middleware solutions, Wwise and FMOD, and a digital audio workstation solution, DearVR. The panning and UE5 plugin implementations distort the original sound, while the others do not show such distortion.

Clinical Relevance— This study is foundational to the development of sound spatialization applications for healthcare using commercial spatialization solutions.

Original language	English
Publication status	Published - 16 Jul 2025
Event	47th Annual Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society (EMBC) - Bella Center, Copenhagen, Denmark Duration: 14 Jul 2025 → 17 Jul 2025 Conference number: 47 https://embc.embs.org/2025/

Conference

Conference	47th Annual Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society (EMBC)
Abbreviated title	EMBC 2025
Country/Territory	Denmark
City	Copenhagen
Period	14/07/25 → 17/07/25
Internet address	https://embc.embs.org/2025/

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

SDG 3 Good Health and Well-being
SDG 10 Reduced Inequalities

Keywords

sound
acoustics
virtual reality
spatialisation

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Acoustics and Ultrasonics
Speech and Hearing
Biomedical Engineering

2 Poster
1 Abstract

Assessing attenuation curve compliance in off-the-shelf sound spatialisation methods for sound localisation testing
Domniteanu, A. R., Gallacher, J. & Giardini, M. E., 4 Sept 2025.
Research output: Contribution to conference › Poster › peer-review
Developing a portable testing solution for sound localization
Domniteanu, A. R., Gallacher, J. & Giardini, M. E., 1 Apr 2025.
Research output: Contribution to conference › Poster › peer-review
Do sound spatialisation engines affect sound localisation abilities in normal-hearing human participants?
Domniteanu, A. R., Gallacher, J. & Giardini, M. E., 4 Sept 2025.
Research output: Contribution to conference › Abstract › peer-review

Cite this

@conference{cf60a704c3a745629b264f029dbb6ddf,

title = "Assessing Spectral Distortions Produced by Off-the-Shelf Sound Spatialization Engines",

abstract = "Abstract{\textemdash} Detecting the direction of provenance of sound is an important clinical test. The gaming industry has developed solutions for the spatialization of sound in virtual sound environments. Yet, it is unclear to what extent the spectral content of sounds, of key importance in diagnostics, is modified by commercial spatialization algorithms. This study assessed the spectral content of spatialized pure tones of different frequencies processed through the Unreal 5 game development engine (UE5) using simple panning, three commercial spatialization plugins, Steam Audio, Google Resonance and Microsoft Project Acoustics, two middleware solutions, Wwise and FMOD, and a digital audio workstation solution, DearVR. The panning and UE5 plugin implementations distort the original sound, while the others do not show such distortion. Clinical Relevance{\textemdash} This study is foundational to the development of sound spatialization applications for healthcare using commercial spatialization solutions.",

keywords = "sound, acoustics, virtual reality, spatialisation",

author = "Domniteanu, \{Alex Razvan\} and Jane Gallacher and Giardini, \{Mario Ettore\}",

year = "2025",

month = jul,

day = "16",

language = "English",

note = "47th Annual Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society (EMBC), EMBC 2025 ; Conference date: 14-07-2025 Through 17-07-2025",

url = "https://embc.embs.org/2025/",

}

TY - CONF

T1 - Assessing Spectral Distortions Produced by Off-the-Shelf Sound Spatialization Engines

AU - Domniteanu, Alex Razvan

AU - Gallacher, Jane

AU - Giardini, Mario Ettore

N1 - Conference code: 47

PY - 2025/7/16

Y1 - 2025/7/16

N2 - Abstract— Detecting the direction of provenance of sound is an important clinical test. The gaming industry has developed solutions for the spatialization of sound in virtual sound environments. Yet, it is unclear to what extent the spectral content of sounds, of key importance in diagnostics, is modified by commercial spatialization algorithms. This study assessed the spectral content of spatialized pure tones of different frequencies processed through the Unreal 5 game development engine (UE5) using simple panning, three commercial spatialization plugins, Steam Audio, Google Resonance and Microsoft Project Acoustics, two middleware solutions, Wwise and FMOD, and a digital audio workstation solution, DearVR. The panning and UE5 plugin implementations distort the original sound, while the others do not show such distortion. Clinical Relevance— This study is foundational to the development of sound spatialization applications for healthcare using commercial spatialization solutions.

AB - Abstract— Detecting the direction of provenance of sound is an important clinical test. The gaming industry has developed solutions for the spatialization of sound in virtual sound environments. Yet, it is unclear to what extent the spectral content of sounds, of key importance in diagnostics, is modified by commercial spatialization algorithms. This study assessed the spectral content of spatialized pure tones of different frequencies processed through the Unreal 5 game development engine (UE5) using simple panning, three commercial spatialization plugins, Steam Audio, Google Resonance and Microsoft Project Acoustics, two middleware solutions, Wwise and FMOD, and a digital audio workstation solution, DearVR. The panning and UE5 plugin implementations distort the original sound, while the others do not show such distortion. Clinical Relevance— This study is foundational to the development of sound spatialization applications for healthcare using commercial spatialization solutions.

KW - sound

KW - acoustics

KW - virtual reality

KW - spatialisation

M3 - Poster

T2 - 47th Annual Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society (EMBC)

Y2 - 14 July 2025 through 17 July 2025

ER -

Assessing Spectral Distortions Produced by Off-the-Shelf Sound Spatialization Engines

Abstract

Conference

UN SDGs

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Fingerprint

Research output

Assessing attenuation curve compliance in off-the-shelf sound spatialisation methods for sound localisation testing

Developing a portable testing solution for sound localization

Do sound spatialisation engines affect sound localisation abilities in normal-hearing human participants?

Cite this