Parametric spatial audio reproduction with higher-order B-format microphone input

A time-frequency-domain non-linear parametric method for spatial audio processing is presented here, which can utilize microphone input having directional patterns of any order. The method is based on dividing the sound field into overlapping or non-overlapping sectors. Local pressure and velocity signals are measured within each sector, and an individual Directional Audio Coding (DirAC) processing is performed for each sector. It is shown, that in certain acoustically complex conditions the sector-based processing enhances the quality compared to traditional first-order DirAC processing.