Exploring Perceptual Audio Quality Measurement on Stereo Processing Using the Open Dataset of Audio Quality

Pablo M. Delgado; Sascha Dick; Christoph Thompson; Chih-Wei Wu; Phillip A. Williams

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arXiv · 2512.10689

Exploring Perceptual Audio Quality Measurement on Stereo Processing Using the Open Dataset of Audio Quality

Pablo M. Delgado·Sascha Dick·Christoph Thompson·Chih-Wei Wu·Phillip A. Williams

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Abstract

ODAQ (Open Dataset of Audio Quality) provides a comprehensive framework for exploring both monaural and binaural audio quality degradations across a range of distortion classes and signals, accompanied by subjective quality ratings. A recent update of ODAQ, focusing on the impact of stereo processing methods such as Mid/Side (MS) and Left/Right (LR), provides test signals and subjective ratings for the in-depth investigation of state-of-the-art objective audio quality metrics. Our evaluation results suggest that, while timbre-focused metrics often yield robust results under simpler conditions, their prediction performance tends to suffer under the conditions with a more complex presentation context. Our findings underscore the importance of modeling the interplay of bottom-up psychoacoustic processes and top-down contextual factors, guiding future research toward models that more effectively integrate both timbral and spatial dimensions of perceived audio quality.

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Pablo M. Delgado, Sascha Dick, Christoph Thompson, Chih-Wei Wu, Phillip A. Williams. 2025-12-11. Exploring Perceptual Audio Quality Measurement on Stereo Processing Using the Open Dataset of Audio Quality. https://arxiv.org/abs/2512.10689

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