Patent ID: 8321214

Claim:
A method of processing, on a processor, a multichannel audio signal, said method comprising: calculating a series of values of a level of a first channel of the audio signal over time; calculating a series of values of a level of a second channel of the audio signal over time; based on the series of values of a level of the first channel and the series of values of a level of the second channel, calculating a series of values of a gain factor over time; and controlling the amplitude of the second channel relative to the amplitude of the first channel over time according to the series of values of the gain factor, wherein said method includes indicating that a segment of the audio signal is an information segment, and wherein calculating a series of values of a gain factor over time includes, for at least one of the series of values of the gain factor and in response to said indicating, calculating the gain factor value based on a corresponding value of the level of the first channel, a corresponding value of the level of the second channel, and a bias factor, and wherein the bias factor is based on a standard orientation of an audio sensing device relative to a directional information source.