Simple enough acoustic modeling software

[tk2k]

Hi CB,

I've played around with Danley's DDT software to try and get a sense of how my speakers will interact with each other, but I think I'm ready to take it to the next level and do some actual modeling of our components and room.

Disclaimer: This is mostly for fun/education. I know if I want to do this for real I should bring in a consultant. I know throwing things like amps, drums, etc in the room will change everything, but I'd just like to establish a 'baseline'

Budget: Free trials? Again mostly a learning experience, but i'd be willing to by some hardware (wanted to invest in an acceptable measurement mic anyway...)

What I'd like to model:

A two-partition-room-area with glass, drywall, concrete and wood floor surfaces. It's all a box except for a 'divider wall track' which extends about 3' down in the middle of the room for when it's closed in two segments.

Mains, subs, monitors, with and without audience?


What I would not like to model:
all our duct work and those small reflection surfaces


Thanks

 

[MNicolai]

I work for an AV consulting firm in the Milwaukee area. If a client were to bring us their own model, we would make our own anyway.

There's too much liability in trusting someone else's model to accurately represent the room. If a client gives us their model and it isn't to the level of precision or accuracy we would put into our own models, we would be assuming too much liability by selling someone a sound system or acoustics design based upon someone else's calculations. It makes it more difficult for us to know that the systems we're designing will do what we've said they will be able to do, and potentially puts us in hot water if the systems then sound poorly in that room.

As for taking measurements, that is also something we would do on our own as would other consultants. We've spent a whole lot of money on an inventory of testing and calibration equipment so a measurement mic you may buy wouldn't be in the same league as the equipment we would use. As an example, this summer we just spent $20k this summer on a single CAT 6 certifier that we use to certify the integrity of all CAT6, CAT5E, and fiber runs we pull and terminate on a job.

Experiment with some acoustical modeling software and purchase an RTA if you'd like, but don't spend your money on anything with the expectation a consultant would use your data. Any consultant worth their salt will take their own measurements and create their own model.

 

[tk2k]

Mike,

I certainly know I'm not anywhere near 'legitimate' territory here, but in the same way creating a CAD map of a theater from scratch is a good exercise, I'd like to give this an (amateur) attempt. I'm more looking to create a theoretical model, and then do some real-world testing to see how close it is. Again, nothing anywhere near the level a real consultant would do.

Again, this is mostly just an educational project. There's some extra money in a 'technical education' budget line I can access as well.

 

[museav]

Budget: Free trials? Again mostly a learning experience, but i'd be willing to by some hardware (wanted to invest in an acceptable measurement mic anyway...)

What I'd like to model:

A two-partition-room-area with glass, drywall, concrete and wood floor surfaces. It's all a box except for a 'divider wall track' which extends about 3' down in the middle of the room for when it's closed in two segments.

Mains, subs, monitors, with and without audience?


What I would not like to model:
all our duct work and those small reflection surfaces

Once you model the room, what are you hoping to calculate or predict?

The thread title references acoustic modeling, which would seem to mean not just modeling direct speaker coverage as with DDT or Meyer MAPP and apparently talking about EASE, CATT Acoustic, Ulysses, Odeon, etc. Some of those may have a free demo version or educational pricing, otherwise the lowest cost license is probably EASE Jr or Ulysses at around $900 to $1,000 with full packages costing up well into the thousands of dollars.

You may be able to look at direct sound from subs but for room acoustics and the interaction of the subs with the room I believe that EASE (at least the current version), Ulysses and CATT are not accurate at subwoofer frequencies, a result of the prediction techniques used.

Unless the concept is to make field measurements to verify or adjust the model then I'm not sure where a measurement microphone fits in. And if that is the goal then you may need more than just a measurement mic.


Added: Another consideration is that modeling speaker performance is contingent upon having the related speaker data. Many of the programs use a proprietary data format, although some use the CLF (Common Louspeaker Format) or can import other speaker data formats. But you have to have the related data in a compatible format to incorporate a speaker. If you are considering modeling an existing system then it might make sense to see if data is available for your speakers as that may factor into what programs are compatible or if it is even practical to model the system with any accuracy.