Binaural Target Speaker Extraction using Individualized HRTF

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Ellinson, Yoav, Gannot, Sharon
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
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author Ellinson, Yoav
Gannot, Sharon
author_facet Ellinson, Yoav
Gannot, Sharon
contents In this work, we address the problem of binaural target-speaker extraction in the presence of multiple simultane-ous talkers. We propose a novel approach that leverages the individual listener's Head-Related Transfer Function (HRTF) to isolate the target speaker. The proposed method is speaker-independent, as it does not rely on speaker embeddings. We employ a fully complex-valued neural network that operates directly on the complex-valued Short-Time Fourier transform (STFT) of the mixed audio signals, and compare it to a Real-Imaginary (RI)-based neural network, demonstrating the advantages of the former. We first evaluate the method in an anechoic, noise-free scenario, achieving excellent extraction performance while preserving the binaural cues of the target signal. We then extend the evaluation to reverberant conditions. Our method proves robust, maintaining speech clarity and source directionality while simultaneously reducing reverberation. A comparative analysis with existing binaural Target Speaker Extraction (TSE) methods shows that the proposed approach achieves performance comparable to state-of-the-art techniques in terms of noise reduction and perceptual quality, while providing a clear advantage in preserving binaural cues. Demo-page: https://bi-ctse-hrtf.github.io
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2507_19369
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Binaural Target Speaker Extraction using Individualized HRTF
Ellinson, Yoav
Gannot, Sharon
Audio and Speech Processing
Sound
In this work, we address the problem of binaural target-speaker extraction in the presence of multiple simultane-ous talkers. We propose a novel approach that leverages the individual listener's Head-Related Transfer Function (HRTF) to isolate the target speaker. The proposed method is speaker-independent, as it does not rely on speaker embeddings. We employ a fully complex-valued neural network that operates directly on the complex-valued Short-Time Fourier transform (STFT) of the mixed audio signals, and compare it to a Real-Imaginary (RI)-based neural network, demonstrating the advantages of the former. We first evaluate the method in an anechoic, noise-free scenario, achieving excellent extraction performance while preserving the binaural cues of the target signal. We then extend the evaluation to reverberant conditions. Our method proves robust, maintaining speech clarity and source directionality while simultaneously reducing reverberation. A comparative analysis with existing binaural Target Speaker Extraction (TSE) methods shows that the proposed approach achieves performance comparable to state-of-the-art techniques in terms of noise reduction and perceptual quality, while providing a clear advantage in preserving binaural cues. Demo-page: https://bi-ctse-hrtf.github.io
title Binaural Target Speaker Extraction using Individualized HRTF
topic Audio and Speech Processing
Sound
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2507.19369