Acoustic design software is an aid within a process, which if you do not have the correct data to perform the evaluation and a qualified designer, the final results will not be satisfactory.
By Richard Santa
Most of the temples and churches have been characterized by having an architecture that makes them stand out from the other constructions they have around. But in many cases, the design processes did not take into account the sound or the need for intelligibility of the word for those attending these venues.
Therefore, the designs of the sound system for temples and churches had become a wasteful work, with high costs and not very effective results. This situation changed when acoustic design software was developed, through which work time and precision have been gained in the facilities.
Oriol Galofre, director for Latin America of Bose's professional line, explained that the types of acoustic design software must be differentiated. There are some complete ones that take into account the acoustics of the place, while others only seek to ensure that the right product of a certain brand is being used.
"There is software that is more complete and allows you to do both. But almost all with which you can review acoustic environments allow you to make an electroacoustic design as well, that is, to make the design of a sound system in general, "he said.
For all needs
There are several software that are on the market that allow to make an acoustic design with precision and in a short time. One of them is EASE, created by the German company AFMG, which facilitates compliance with the requirements for SPL, ITS and other requirements.
Some of the key benefits of EASE simulation are: becoming aware of the obstacles that would remain hidden without simulation; analyze and solve acoustic problems before they arise; save time and money by avoiding multiple iterations on-site; and make use of the quality database to find the optimal solution, among others.
AFMG has created other standard software for the professional audio industry based on ease, such as EASERA for acoustic simulation and measurement, as well as its related products EASE Focus, EASERA SysTune, EASE Direction and EASE SpeakerLa. In this way, the company covers fields such as Electro-acoustics and acoustic modeling of the room; electronic and acoustic measurements; RF and infrared simulation; lighting design for stages; applications in engineering and physics; and software development and maintenance.
In general, Oriol Galofre points out that through acoustic design systems calculation speed has been gained. "What used to take weeks or months of work and with dubious credibility, today a series of parameters are taken with which the software makes calculations and in a matter of minutes you have the results."
You can and should save costs
Using an acoustic design system for an installation can help save on installation costs. They can and should. It can because it helps the project manager to see some installation possibilities and to be more sure of the process. And it must because it is a function of a software that helps create it.
"But it's not just the software itself that helps save installation costs. It is very important to see the software within a design process. Sometimes the client calls us and tells us that he needs the sound system for a church and the designer thinks he knows what is best, but if in the end it does not give good results, time and money is lost in the installation. That's why software is an important element, which can and should help in terms of costs, but it should not be taken out of the design pot," said the Bose representative.
Another of the simulation and calculation software of room acoustics available is Odeon, developed by acoustic researchers from the Technical University of Denmark. Today, software research and development continues at the independent company Odeon A/S.
With this system you can manage, in the same model, the acoustics of a room, the installation of speakers and, to some extent, the transmission of sound. Results are extracted in the form of acoustic parameters, sound mapping, gif animations and aural or binaural sound aural that allow analyzing the results through headphones or presenting the sound environment of a future room to customers.
Its manufacturers claim that the acoustic simulation of a room that is carried out with Odeon is equivalent to predicting its impulsive response in a 3D model from the origin to the receiver. The room model can be imported from SketchUp or other CAD software.
It is also possible to derive acoustic parameters such as reverberation time T30, T20, EDT, SPL, STI, Clarity, etc., design the acoustics of a room by controlling reflections, sound absorption and sound dispersion properties on surfaces in order to achieve the desired acoustics and adequate noise reduction. for speeches, concerts, etc.
Licensed use
Although there are some cases in which acoustic design software can have a high cost, there are manufacturers that have designed a business model through licenses that allow designers to acquire the products they need for each particular project.
An example is the Ulysses software, which allows the free download of a demo version and the acquisition of licenses separately. It provides CAD-based 3D calculation, with simulation and design routines to create the sound system and acoustics of the room. Creating and editing using 3D graphic skills helps manage projects at high speed, efficiency and convenience.
Ulysses was developed by IFBsoft, with the intention of being fast, accurate and very easy to use for acoustic calculation, simulation and sound system design in general. It features -IT compatible simulation results using compact file formats that allow you to quickly download email attachments that include a visualization module.
But what characteristics should a good acoustic design system have? It will depend a bit on what is intended with the software, but the main one is accuracy.
"I think there is one thing that is very important, is that it is accurate. Especially when the calculations are done and the results come out, be reliable. The rest will depend on what you need. There is software that only makes calculations of the direct fields and others that are much more complex that indicate the echoes, the bounces, the reverberations. But the most important thing in each case is that it is accurate, right," said Oriol Galofre.
Calculation speed
Churches usually have a particular architecture that, in many cases, the sound is affected. Acoustic design systems should help to achieve the optimal system for space, because they allow to see if there is any problem of echo or reberveration, especially in spaces where intelligibility is so important, such as a church. In these cases it is very important the help of a software that allows to model together how the sound system would be.
"The software has helped take time away. What used to take a week or a month to get, now takes an hour or less to know how many boxes are required. In less than an hour you can import a drawing, use it as a guide, design a surface and get the number of speakers or modules you need. But the time will depend on the complexity of the information you are looking to obtain, the different aspects or if you only need to know the number of boxes, what is called the direct field of sound, "said the Bose executive.
And precisely this company has since 1985 with Modeler, a system for predicting the performance of the sound system, which from its inception and until 2005 was supported on the MAC platform and is now for PC. The fundamental algorithms within the Modeler software have been continuously updated, refined and expanded to provide highly accurate and computationally efficient predictions of sound system performance.
It incorporates a variety of design aids to reduce the time needed to develop a 3D model and apply a sound system design. Import functions of standard CAD programs reduce the time needed to enter model data into the program, while acoustic adaptation functions help match the acoustic performance of the model to the actual room.
Modeler sound system software is available in two versions: Standard and Plus. The standard version offers all the features and functions for the creation of room models, the implementation of a sound system design and simulation of system performance. Mapping of key system metrics such as speech coverage, intensity and intelligibility are available.
Modeler Plus incorporates prediction and property signal processing algorithms that allow auralization of multiple models of rooms and listening positions. Playback is carried out with the Auditioner playback system.
Oriol Galofre concluded that "I am a fervent defender that everything depends on the designer, how faithful he is to give the results that can reflect the needs of the client. It is an art but at the same time it is a process, that if it is done as it should the software will help, but if it is done incorrectly, the results will be wrong."
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