From: Harold M Hallikainen <haroldhallikainen@JUNO.COM>


>         Of course this hyperbola (just like the ones drawn on marine
> charts for LORAN navigation) go both in front and behind the person doing
> the listening.  I've always wondered how we can tell if a sound is in
> front of us or behind us.  I have two theories.  1.  Due to the somewhat
> directional nature of our ears (they "point" forward), sounds behind us
> will have more reverberation than sounds in front of us, since there is
> more "gain" towards any reflector in front of us than towards the souce
> behind us.  2.  On hearing a sound, we turn our head slightly.  If we

I seem to recall being moderately impressed with an Aureal A3D-based sound
card. One of their 3-D demos had a helicopter flying around you in a
circular path. From recollection, as well as a pretty good front/rear
impression, there was also some degree of altitude discernible, although
this may have been most noticeable when the altitude was changing. (This was
using stereo headphones, although the card also supported the use of
front/rear speakers. I don't have good enough speakers to try it out with.)


Wayne