# HRTF Estimation using a Score-based Prior

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2410.01562 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2410.01562/

## Key facts

- Cited by 3 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- Placed in Audio, speech and music, one of 14 directions in Diffusion models.
- Builds on 13 of its 30 references that are in the map.
- First posted on arXiv 2 Oct 2024.

## Placed in

- Diffusion models / [Audio, speech and music](https://mlsanity.com/diffusion/audio-speech-and-music/)

## Builds on (most cited first, 13 of 13)

- [Adam: A Method for Stochastic Optimization](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1412.6980/) (2014)
- [Denoising Diffusion Probabilistic Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2006.11239/) (2020)
- [Generative Modeling by Estimating Gradients of the Data Distribution](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1907.05600/) (2019)
- [Elucidating the Design Space of Diffusion-Based Generative Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2206.00364/) (2022)
- [Fourier Features Let Networks Learn High Frequency Functions in Low Dimensional Domains](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2006.10739/) (2020)
- [Diffusion Posterior Sampling for General Noisy Inverse Problems](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2209.14687/) (2022)
- [Solving Audio Inverse Problems with a Diffusion Model](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2210.15228/) (2022)
- [Blind Audio Bandwidth Extension: A Diffusion-Based Zero-Shot Approach](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2306.01433/) (2023)
- [Unsupervised Blind Joint Dereverberation and Room Acoustics Estimation with Diffusion Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2408.07472/) (2024)
- [BUDDy: Single-Channel Blind Unsupervised Dereverberation with Diffusion Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2405.04272/) (2024)
- [HRTF Interpolation using a Spherical Neural Process Meta-Learner](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2310.13430/) (2023)
- [SofaMyRoom: a fast and multiplatform "shoebox" room simulator for binaural room impulse response dataset generation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2106.12992/) (2021)
- [HRTF Estimation in the Wild](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2311.03560/) (2023)

## Built on by (most cited first, 3 of 3)

- [ArrayDPS: Unsupervised Blind Speech Separation with a Diffusion Prior](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2505.05657/) (2025)
- [Ambisonics Encoding of Room Impulse Responses using a Device-Agnostic Diffusion Model](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2608.14097/) (2026)
- [Unsupervised Multi-channel Speech Dereverberation via Diffusion](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2508.02071/) (2025)

## Abstract (arXiv)

We present a head-related transfer function (HRTF) estimation method which relies on a data-driven prior given by a score-based diffusion model. The HRTF is estimated in reverberant environments using natural excitation signals, e.g. human speech. The impulse response of the room is estimated along with the HRTF by optimizing a parametric model of reverberation based on the statistical behaviour of room acoustics. The posterior distribution of HRTF given the reverberant measurement and excitation signal is modelled using the score-based HRTF prior and a log-likelihood approximation. We show that the resulting method outperforms several baselines, including an oracle recommender system that assigns the optimal HRTF in our training set based on the smallest distance to the true HRTF at the given direction of arrival. In particular, we show that the diffusion prior can account for the large variability of high-frequency content in HRTFs.