Fabio Antonacci

Research

My work sits at the intersection of signal processing and acoustics. The main areas are listed below, each with a selection of key publications.

Full publication list on Google Scholar

Sound signal processing

I develop methods to analyze, separate and generate audio signals, from the localization and tracking of sources in reverberant environments to deep-learning models for time delay estimation, audio inpainting and sound generation. The same tools are applied to biomedical signals, such as the detection of heart murmurs from phonendoscope recordings, and to networked music performance.

Key publications

  • M. Cobos, F. Antonacci, L. Comanducci, A. Sarti, “Frequency-Sliding Generalized Cross-Correlation: A Sub-Band Time Delay Estimation Approach”, IEEE/ACM Transactions on Audio, Speech and Language Processing, 28, 2020, pp. 1270-1281.
  • M. Pezzoli, J.J. Carabias-Orti, M. Cobos, F. Antonacci, A. Sarti, “Ray-Space-Based Multichannel Nonnegative Matrix Factorization for Audio Source Separation”, IEEE Signal Processing Letters, 28, 2021, pp. 369-373.
  • F. Miotello, M. Pezzoli, L. Comanducci, F. Antonacci, A. Sarti, “Deep Prior-Based Audio Inpainting Using Multi-Resolution Harmonic Convolutional Neural Networks”, IEEE/ACM Transactions on Audio, Speech and Language Processing, 32, 2024, pp. 113-123.
  • F. Ronchini, L. Comanducci, G. Perego, F. Antonacci, “PAGURI: A User Experience Study of Creative Interaction with Text-to-Music Models”, Electronics, 14 (17), 2025, art. 3379.
  • R. Malvermi, S. Mannarino, V. Garella, G. Greco, G. Fini, B. Baj, F. Antonacci, V. Calcaterra, G. Zuccotti, “Enhancing pediatric cardiac auscultation with data-driven murmur detection: toward tele-consultation applications”, Pediatric Research, 2026.

Space-time processing of audio and acoustic signals

I study how to capture, analyze and reproduce sound fields with microphone and loudspeaker arrays. A central tool of my work is the ray space, a geometric representation in which the sound field is described by acoustic rays. The Ray Space Transform built on it supports the localization, extraction and separation of sources, the creation of virtual microphones, and the rendering of sound fields through loudspeaker arrays.

Key publications

  • D. Markovic, F. Antonacci, A. Sarti, S. Tubaro, “Soundfield imaging in the ray space”, IEEE Transactions on Audio, Speech and Language Processing, 21 (12), 2013, pp. 2493-2505.
  • L. Bianchi, F. Antonacci, A. Sarti, S. Tubaro, “The ray space transform: A new framework for wave field processing”, IEEE Transactions on Signal Processing, 64 (21), 2016, pp. 5696-5706.
  • F. Borra, A. Bernardini, F. Antonacci, A. Sarti, “Uniform linear arrays of first-order steerable differential microphones”, IEEE/ACM Transactions on Audio, Speech and Language Processing, 27 (12), 2019, pp. 1906-1918.
  • L. Comanducci, F. Borra, P. Bestagini, F. Antonacci, S. Tubaro, A. Sarti, “Source Localization Using Distributed Microphones in Reverberant Environments Based on Deep Learning and Ray Space Transform”, IEEE/ACM Transactions on Audio, Speech and Language Processing, 28, 2020, pp. 2238-2251.
  • G. Greco, D. Zhang, M. Pezzoli, F. Antonacci, “Distributed Acoustic Mixture-of-Experts for Spatial Sound Estimation”, IEEE Open Journal of Signal Processing, 7, 2026, pp. 569-580.

Computational acoustics

I develop fast and accurate models of acoustic propagation in complex enclosures, based on beam tracing and visibility lookup, and methods to infer the properties of a room from measurements, such as its geometry and the reflectivity of its walls. More recent work addresses sound field reconstruction and near-field acoustic holography, combining physical models with compressive sensing and physics-informed neural networks.

Key publications

  • F. Antonacci, M. Foco, A. Sarti, S. Tubaro, “Fast tracing of acoustic beams and paths through visibility lookup”, IEEE Transactions on Audio, Speech and Language Processing, 16 (4), 2008, pp. 812-824.
  • F. Antonacci, J. Filos, M.R.P. Thomas, E.A.P. Habets, A. Sarti, P.A. Naylor, S. Tubaro, “Inference of room geometry from acoustic impulse responses”, IEEE Transactions on Audio, Speech and Language Processing, 20 (10), 2012, pp. 2683-2695.
  • D. Markovic, F. Antonacci, A. Sarti, S. Tubaro, “3D Beam Tracing Based on Visibility Lookup for Interactive Acoustic Modeling”, IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics, 22 (10), 2016, pp. 2262-2274.
  • S. Damiano, F. Borra, A. Bernardini, F. Antonacci, A. Sarti, “A Compressive Sensing Approach for the Reconstruction of the Soundfield Produced by Directive Sources in Reverberant Rooms”, IEEE/ACM Transactions on Audio, Speech and Language Processing, 32, 2024, pp. 2667-2679.
  • X. Luan, M. Pezzoli, F. Antonacci, A. Sarti, “Physics-Informed Neural Network-Driven Sparse Field Discretization Method for Near-Field Acoustic Holography”, IEEE Transactions on Audio, Speech and Language Processing, 33, 2025, pp. 4282-4294.

Acoustics of musical instruments

Since 2013 I have coordinated the Musical Acoustics Laboratory at the Museo del Violino in Cremona, where we characterize bowed string instruments, both historical and modern. The work covers vibrational analysis, including contactless methods suited to precious instruments, the measurement of radiation patterns during performance, the analysis of timbre, and machine-learning models that link the geometry and the wood properties of the plates to their vibrational behavior.

Key publications

  • S. Gonzalez, D. Salvi, D. Baeza, F. Antonacci, A. Sarti, “A data-driven approach to violin making”, Scientific Reports, 11 (1), 2021, art. 9455.
  • S. Gonzalez, D. Salvi, F. Antonacci, A. Sarti, “Eigenfrequency optimisation of free violin plates”, Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 149 (3), 2021, pp. 1400-1410.
  • M. Pezzoli, A. Canclini, F. Antonacci, A. Sarti, “A comparative analysis of the directional sound radiation of historical violins”, Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 152 (1), 2022, pp. 354-367.
  • F. Setragno, M. Zanoni, F. Antonacci, A. Sarti, M. Malagodi, T. Rovetta, C. Invernizzi, “Feature-based analysis of the impact of ground coat and varnish on violin tone qualities”, Acta Acustica united with Acustica, 103 (1), 2017, pp. 80-93.
  • G. Longo, S. Gonzalez, J.D.E. Dalisay, T. Nania, F. Antonacci, “Influence of thickness profile and bracing pattern in the radiation patterns of archtop guitars”, Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 157 (2), 2025, pp. 1141-1150.