Phase-amplitude 3-D stereo encoder and decoder

A method for two-channel phase amplitude stereo encoding of at least one localized audio source signal assigned a localization relative to a listener position and at least one unlocalized audio source signal, the method comprising:

• scaling the at least one localized audio source signal by frequency-independent encoding coefficients derived from the localization to generate a 2-channel encoded signal such that the localization of the at least one localized audio source signal is represented by inter-channel phase and amplitude differences in the 2-channel encoded signal;
• generating a first unlocalized audio signal and a second unlocalized audio signal from the at least one unlocalized audio source signal such that the first and second unlocalized audio signals are substantially uncorrelated;
• and
• adding the first and second unlocalized audio signals respectively to first and second encoded channel signals of the 2-channel encoded signal.

A method for two-channel phase amplitude stereo encoding of at least one localized audio source signal assigned a localization in three dimensions relative to a listener, the method comprising:

• scaling the at least one localized audio source signal by frequency-independent encoding coefficients derived from the localization to generate a 2-channel encoded signal such that the localization of the at least one localized audio source signal is represented by inter-channel phase and amplitude differences in the 2-channel encoded signal, the localization including an up-down dimension, a left-right dimension and a front-back dimension;
• and
• generating a first unlocalized audio signal and a second unlocalized audio signal from an unlocalized audio source signal such that the first and second unlocalized audio signals are substantially uncorrelated;
• wherein the scaling accommodates a top channel corresponding to an upper hemisphere located above the listening plane and a bottom channel located below the listening plane.