It was a long time ago since I started experimenting with a DSP setup for headphone playback, which achieves more realistic reproduction of regular stereo records originally intended for speakers. This is similar to what "stereo spatialization" does. Since then, I have been experimenting with various settings for my DIY spatializer with an aim to make it more immersive and natural, and have learned new things along the way.
In this post, I would like to present an updated version of the processing chain along with the discussion of the underlying approach. Since there is a lot of material to cover, I decided to split the post into two parts. In the first part, I talk about relevant research and outline the processing pipeline. In the second part, I will tell you about the process of individual tuning of the setup.
My initial understanding was that I needed to model a setup of stereo speakers in a room. However, after reading more works by S. Linkwitz about stereo recording and reproduction: "Stereo Recording & Rendering—101" , and "Recording and Reproduction over Two Loudspeakers as Heard Live" (co-authored with D. Barringer): part 1 , part 2 , I realized that a good stereo recording captures enough spatial information of a real or an artificially engineered venue, and although it was mixed and mastered on speakers,