ABSTRACT: This paper presents an analysis of the accuracy achievable in the spatialization of digital sound using generic Head-Related Transfer Functions (HRTFs) played back over commodity audio channels, readily available in most personal computers (PCs) now in the market, using off-the-shelf headphones. We believe that this study is of interest because these are the conditions in which the vast majority of computer users experience 3D sound in consumer applications, such as games. Our analysis suggests that under these conditions localization is much less accurate to the sides of the head, and that there is an average localization error of approximately 15 degrees in the azimuth range from -75 to +75 degrees.