A new approach to detecting auditory onsets within a binaural stream

The human auditory system is particularly sensitive to spatial information conveyed in the first two milliseconds of an auditory event. Therefore, in order to analyse a stream of binaural data in a perceptually relevant way, it is important to determine quickly and precisely the onset of each event within a data stream. This paper details the design of an auditory onset detector which is intended to assist in the extraction of spatial parameters from an arbitrary binaural stream. A fast predictive filter architecture is specified, and tested using binaural recordings. These items highlight the strengths, limitations, and difficulties of computerised onset detection, and of this approach in particular. Note: Throughout this paper, the term ‘binaural data’ and its variants are used to refer to continuous data in a binaural format. No implicit distinction is intended between sound received by a listener experiencing a sound field, and the data presented to a computer as a two-channel audio file.