Phase Aware Ear-Conditioned Learning for Multi-Channel Binaural Speaker Separation
Abstract
Separating competing speech in reverberant environments requires models that preserve spatial cues while maintaining separation efficiency. We present a Phase-aware Ear-conditioned speaker Separation network using eight microphones (PEASE-8) that consumes complex STFTs and directly introduces a raw-STFT input to the early decoder layer, bypassing the entire encoder pathway to improve reconstruction. The model is trained end-to-end with an SI-SDR-based objective against direct-path ear targets, jointly performing separation and dereverberation for two speakers in a fixed azimuth, eliminating the need for permutation invariant training. On spatialized two-speaker mixtures spanning anechoic, reverberant, and noisy conditions, PEASE-8 delivers strong separation and intelligibility. In reverberant environments, it achieves 12.37 dB SI-SDR, 0.87 STOI, and 1.86 PESQ at T60 = 0.6 s, while remaining competitive under anechoic conditions.
Cite
@article{arxiv.2510.11366,
title = {Phase Aware Ear-Conditioned Learning for Multi-Channel Binaural Speaker Separation},
author = {Ruben Johnson Robert Jeremiah and Peyman Goli and Steven van de Par},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2510.11366},
year = {2025}
}