The Diverse Environments Multi-channel Acoustic Noise Database (DEMAND): A database of multichannel environmental noise recordings

TLDR

Multi‑microphone arrays enable spatial filtering for noise reduction and source separation, yet most research has focused on one‑ or two‑channel systems, leaving multichannel environmental noise databases scarce. The DEMAND database supplies 16‑channel recordings from diverse indoor and outdoor environments to address this gap. Recordings were captured with a planar array of four staggered rows, with microphone spacings ranging from 5 cm to 21.8 cm. Demand is freely available under a Creative Commons license to promote algorithm development beyond stereo setups.

Abstract

Multi-microphone arrays allow for the use of spatial filtering techniques that can greatly improve noise reduction and source separation. However, for speech and audio data, work on noise reduction or separation has focused primarily on one- or two-channel systems. Because of this, databases of multichannel environmental noise are not widely available. DEMAND (Diverse Environments Multi-channel Acoustic Noise Database) addresses this problem by providing a set of 16-channel noise files recorded in a variety of indoor and outdoor settings. The data was recorded using a planar microphone array consisting of four staggered rows, with the smallest distance between microphones being 5 cm and the largest being 21.8 cm. DEMAND is freely available under a Creative Commons license to encourage research into algorithms beyond the stereo setup.