A method for processing audio data, the method comprising: receiving audio data (7, 1302A-1305D) corresponding to a plurality of instances of speech spoken by a plurality of talkers, the audio data including at least one of: (a) audio data from multiple endpoints (1, 715a-715d, 1302-1305), recorded separately or (b) audio data from a single endpoint corresponding to multiple talkers and including spatial information for each of the multiple talkers; rendering the audio data in a virtual acoustic space such that each of the talkers has a respective different virtual position in the virtual acoustic space; and scheduling the instances of speech to be played back; CHARACTERIZED IN THAT: the audio data comprises conference pre-recorded audio data corresponding to a teleconference or in-person conference, some or all of the talkers being conference participants of the same teleconference or in-person conference; and the scheduling comprises introducing a playback overlap in time between at least two of the instances of speech that did not previously overlap, or increasing a playback overlap in time between at least two of the instances of speech that did previously overlap, wherein the scheduling is performed, at least in part, according to a set of perceptually-motivated rules; wherein the instances of speech that are overlapped in time comprise instances of speech from multiple different ones of said conference participants. receiving audio data (7, 1302A-1305D) corresponding to a plurality of instances of speech spoken by a plurality of talkers, the audio data including at least one of: (a) audio data from multiple endpoints (1, 715a-715d, 1302-1305), recorded separately or (b) audio data from a single endpoint corresponding to multiple talkers and including spatial information for each of the multiple talkers; rendering the audio data in a virtual acoustic space such that each of the talkers has a respective different virtual position in the virtual acoustic space; and scheduling the instances of speech to be played back; CHARACTERIZED IN THAT: the audio data comprises conference pre-recorded audio data corresponding to a teleconference or in-person conference, some or all of the talkers being conference participants of the same teleconference or in-person conference; and the scheduling comprises introducing a playback overlap in time between at least two of the instances of speech that did not previously overlap, or increasing a playback overlap in time between at least two of the instances of speech that did previously overlap, wherein the scheduling is performed, at least in part, according to a set of perceptually-motivated rules; wherein the instances of speech that are overlapped in time comprise instances of speech from multiple different ones of said conference participants. the audio data comprises conference pre-recorded audio data corresponding to a teleconference or in-person conference, some or all of the talkers being conference participants of the same teleconference or in-person conference; and the scheduling comprises introducing a playback overlap in time between at least two of the instances of speech that did not previously overlap, or increasing a playback overlap in time between at least two of the instances of speech that did previously overlap, wherein the scheduling is performed, at least in part, according to a set of perceptually-motivated rules; wherein the instances of speech that are overlapped in time comprise instances of speech from multiple different ones of said conference participants.