Apparatus and method for perception-based clustering of object-based audio scenes

An apparatus (100) according to an embodiment is provided The apparatus (100) comprises an input interface (110) for receiving information on three or more audio objects. Moreover, the apparatus (100) comprises a cluster generator (120) for generating two or more audio object clusters by associating each of the three or more audio objects with at least one of the two or more audio object clusters, such that, for each of the two or more audio object clusters, at least one of the three or more audio objects is associated to said audio object cluster, and such that, for each of at least one of the two or more audio object clusters, at least two of the three or more audio objects are associated with said audio object cluster. The cluster generator (120) is configured to generate the two or more audio object clusters depending on a perception-based model.