The time has come to up my game to the next level. I am looking for recommendations for loudspeaker design and measurement software. I am a design engineer by trade. My weapon of choice for CAD modeling is Catia. I have used and am fluent with EDGE, WinISDPro, Tru Audio products and most of the free on line software. I am very familiar with the works of MJK and SL and have read and digested much of their work. I have used much of their Math and philosophies in my own personal work. Hand calculations for network design have become second nature for me. I have a good understanding of the fundamentals.
Where I am weak is in measurement and correction. I have little experience in actual loudspeaker measurement, analyzation of the results and correction techniques based on the resultant data. I am looking for software suggestions for measurement software, loudspeaker design software and filter design software. I realize that many of the loudspeaker design software packages have both box and filter software combined but I am not so sure that is the way to go. LEAP looks very intriguing but I am not sure if I need to take that kind of financial plunge. I would like to be able to model transmission line designs and OB designs as well as conventional designs.
So there it is. If you had to go out and set yourself up right now with Design, Measurement and Filter software and you had a budget of say $500 to $1000 dollars for mikes, stands, software and hardware….what would you buy based on your experience?
Matthew
Where I am weak is in measurement and correction. I have little experience in actual loudspeaker measurement, analyzation of the results and correction techniques based on the resultant data. I am looking for software suggestions for measurement software, loudspeaker design software and filter design software. I realize that many of the loudspeaker design software packages have both box and filter software combined but I am not so sure that is the way to go. LEAP looks very intriguing but I am not sure if I need to take that kind of financial plunge. I would like to be able to model transmission line designs and OB designs as well as conventional designs.
So there it is. If you had to go out and set yourself up right now with Design, Measurement and Filter software and you had a budget of say $500 to $1000 dollars for mikes, stands, software and hardware….what would you buy based on your experience?
Matthew
Smaart for the measurement software would be a good investment but i do not know if your budget would be enough .
You could go for the smaart7di version (which doesn't have the multi channel measurement feature) along with a smaart i/o (gain tracking so you can adjust levels without having to recalibrate your system) and a mic of a reasonable quality .
You might take a look at my blog (a lot of stuff regarding measurements done with SMAART7 and SIM3).
Timo's World all around the globe | allways havin' fun @ the job
You could go for the smaart7di version (which doesn't have the multi channel measurement feature) along with a smaart i/o (gain tracking so you can adjust levels without having to recalibrate your system) and a mic of a reasonable quality .
You might take a look at my blog (a lot of stuff regarding measurements done with SMAART7 and SIM3).
Timo's World all around the globe | allways havin' fun @ the job
I love my WooferTester. My "standard" kit is TrueRTA for a generic spectrum analyzer most useful for finding room problems, HOLM for most of my acoustic measurements, WT-II for my electrical measurements, ARTA is handy for CSD for driver evaluation and box verification. EDGE and WinISD for cabinet design and my own spreadsheets where I assembled as many things as I could. Crossover design I am using PSD Lite. I use a Focusrite USB mic preamp and Behringer mic ( calibrated). You could use LIMP for the electrical measurements as it is cheaper. I also have Zelscope I use with my old Sound Coleny pulser for acoustic center measurements. I usually plug my crossover into LTSpice just to be sure I understand what it is doing.
I have SoundEasy, but I have never been able to move a project from end to end with it. Very capable but not easy (or cheap). PE has it on sale right now.
I have SoundEasy, but I have never been able to move a project from end to end with it. Very capable but not easy (or cheap). PE has it on sale right now.
Not sure if you are thinking of designing active or passive crossovers or both, but here is my 2 cents on what you might need and some choices for each category:
Frequency Measurement: ARTA (can be used for free, <$100 to purchase for personal use), Dayton Audio Omni Mic (about $300)
Impedance Measurement: LIMP (free, part of the ARTA suite), Larson Audio Woofer Tester ($160), Dayton Audio DATS ($100)
Frequency Response Processing Software: the Frequency Response Blender (free for DIY use)
Design Software: Passive Crossover Designer (PCD is free for DIY use), Active Crossover Designer (ACD is free for DIY use, can be used for IIR digital filter design or analog active filter design)
Calibrated Microphone: Dayton Audio EMM-6 ($50), Dayton Audio UMM-6 USB mic ($70), Earthworks M30 ($650). Note that Dayton's Omnimic package includes a mic.
Mic Stand, floorstanding: any cheap one will do, $50-$75
Mic cable: depends on what mic you buy, or might be included in package, 25 feet is a good length
The knowledge of how to use all of these tools and design a good sounding loudspeaker: priceless
With all the DIY software out there, you can get by with an inexpensive calibrated USB mic and a mic stand and not be too limited for under $150 or so. Don't forget that there is not an ABC manual on loudspeaker design that you follow step-by-step, and the process more or less has to be learned by jumping in a doing it. Even the process of making accurate frequency response measurements has some little tricks to it. Come on in and find out just how deep the rabbit hole goes...
-Charlie
Try the mic from Holm Acoustics. Not very cheap but extremely precisely calibrated (both amplitude and phase) and with power supply included. In other words, you don´t need a separate phantom-supply.
HOLM Acoustics
Karsten
HOLM Acoustics
Karsten
I have been using Praxis Liberty Instruments, Inc. Home Page for 10 years now and find it far more flexible than the others. Its not cheap but a recent price drop to $650 makes it more accessible. I have used the others and find the learning curves to be difficult for all of them. Only Listen Listen, Inc. Audio and Electroacoustic Test & Measurement seems to have the same capabilities of Praxis and the same flexibility.
However with all the free stuff, and if its not how you pay your bills, then you can get usable results from pretty much any of them. More important is learning how to use the software and when its telling the truth or lying. That will take a while.
However with all the free stuff, and if its not how you pay your bills, then you can get usable results from pretty much any of them. More important is learning how to use the software and when its telling the truth or lying. That will take a while.
Martin King Sheets. $25 for personal use (needs MathCAD but there is a useable free version.
Quarter Wavelength Loudspeaker Design
dave
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