This work introduces a novel method for binaural reproduction from arbitrary microphone arrays, based on array-aware optimization of Ambisonics encoding through Head-Related Transfer Function (HRTF) pre-processing. The proposed approach integrates array-specific information into the HRTF processing pipeline, leading to improved spatial accuracy in binaural rendering. Objective evaluations demonstrate superior performance under simulated wearable-array and head rotations compared to conventional Ambisonics encoding method. A listening experiment further confirms that the method achieves significantly higher perceptual ratings in both timbre and spatial quality. Fully compatible with standard Ambisonics, the proposed method offers a practical solution for spatial audio rendering in applications such as virtual reality, augmented reality, and wearable audio capture.
@article{arxiv.2507.11091,
title = {Array-Aware Ambisonics and HRTF Encoding for Binaural Reproduction With Wearable Arrays},
author = {Yhonatan Gayer and Vladimir Tourbabin and Zamir Ben Hur and David Lou Alon and Boaz Rafaely},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2507.11091},
year = {2026}
}