Effects of HRTF Augmentation on Predicted Spatial Release from Masking in Music

Abstract: Separating individual musical instruments within a complex mixture of sounds poses a persistent challenge for listeners with hearing loss. Although spatial separation of sources improves speech recognition in this population, the potential benefits of spatial cue enhancement for music perception remain largely unexplored. This paper introduces a method to increase spatial cue salience through the augmentation of individual head-related transfer functions (HRTFs). Auditory model analyses indicate that augmented HRTFs may enhance the separability of musical instruments relative to individual HRTFs. Predicted benefits persist when moderate sensorineural hearing loss is modelled, though they are substantially reduced. Simulated hearing aid processing does not restore these benefits to normal-hearing levels.