Patent ID: 8873778

Claim:
A sound processing apparatus comprising: a filter means for providing a sound signal with a frequency-gain characteristic according to a spectrum difference between a previously measured first head-related transfer function of a sound generated from a virtual sound image position to an ear of a listener and a previously measured second head-related transfer function of a sound generated from a real sound source position to the ear, and outputting the sound signal; and an emphasis means for emphasizing a neighborhood of a frequency of 8-kHz with respect to an input sound signal when the real sound source position is located under the listener and the virtual sound image position is located above the listener, in which said filter means decreases a gain of a received sound signal in a range of 200 Hz to 1.2 kHz and said emphasis means increases a gain of the input sound signal in the neighborhood of 8 kHz, wherein the gain of the input sound signal in the neighborhood of 8 kHz is increased such that gain increases toward a peak at frequencies lower than 8 kHz and decreases from the peak at frequencies higher than 8 kHz, and such that the maximum rate of gain increase toward the peak at frequencies lower than 8 kHz is greater than the maximum rate of gain decrease from the peak at frequencies higher than 8 kHz.