Need advice on a loudspeaker design program

[FSHZ:42]

I was thinking on getting the Sound Easy program version 15, as I have the X-over 3 Pro along with the WT3 and True RTA. I am not familiar with the Sound Easy program, but have some knowledge on the programs mentioned. I know that programs like CLIO, LEAP, etc are very accurate, but are on the expensive side. Any suggestions would be appreciated!

Thanks!

[simon5]

If you get SoundEasy, get the how-to book. It's an excellent piece of software, but you need the book.

[FSHZ:42]

Hi simon5, Thanks for that info! Where can I find the how-to- book? Also, Do you have the Soundeasy speaker design program?

Thanks,
Emile

[simon5]

You can get the book here :

http://www.musicanddesign.com/Guide.html

It's even recommended by the SoundEasy crew.

I don't have that program, but I plan on purchasing it in a not too distant future. In my opinion, it's the only complete and affordable design solution.

[Shaun]

Originally posted by FSHZ:42
I know that programs like CLIO, LEAP, etc are very accurate, but are on the expensive side.

They are likely to be equally accurate. Someone did a comparison a few years back (forget who). Even SpeakerWorkshop (free) gave the same results, but I think that SpeakerWorkshop, because of its measurement method, can give you, for instance, R+L measurement, whereas the others require you to use a DMM to measure the R part (i.e., series resistance).

Join the SoundEasy Userslist, and ask lots of questions.

Yes, SoundEasy is low cost. It is also under continual development, so you may end up doing an unlimited series of upgrades if you are interested in the new features. V15 has mostly user-requested features; much of the user interface has been revamped since its inception.

I use SoundEasy. Buy it if you need its extensive functionality. Use SpeakerWorkshop if you don't.

[FSHZ:42]

One of the interesting features about the soundeasy program is it's capability to use it's built-in x-over/s on speakers to get a better idea of what they will sound like before actually assembling the components.

Does the Speaker Workshop have this feature?

Also, how would these programs compare to X-over 3 Pro from Harris Technologies?

Thanks,
Emile

[Ron E]

Originally posted by FSHZ:42
One of the interesting features about the soundeasy program is it's capability to use it's built-in x-over/s on speakers....

Does the Speaker Workshop have this feature?

Also, how would these programs compare to X-over 3 Pro from Harris Technologies?

Speaker workshop does not do digital filter preview, but depending on your education, it is not terribly hard to do this using something like Brute FIR.

Xover pro is junk, IMO. Unless things have changed it cannot even use measured phase, which is pretty important.

[FSHZ:42]

Speaker workshop does not do digital filter preview, but depending on your education, it is not terribly hard to do this using something like Brute FIR.

Is the Speaker workshop compareable to Soundeasy? I did search a little on the Speaker workshop, but am not familiar with it. It appears in the begining of the set up that you need to build a jig for testing speakers. I do have the WT3 for testing parameters of drivers, so would I exclude building the teat jig? One last thing- I know that Chris from Solen Electronics in Canada uses the X-over 3 Pro for doing cross-over designs for his company, so it cant be that bad of a program.

Thanks

[Shaun]

Originally posted by FSHZ:42
Is the Speaker workshop compareable to Soundeasy?

Only at the fundamental level. SW has all you need to successfully design an enclosure (size and tuning), measure the drivers (T/S & impedance) and/or passive components and finally do acoustic measurements (of the drivers in-box) and then crossover design. It can adjust component values automatically to meet a target acoustic response. Enough to build a very good loudspeaker.

SE offers many other features in addition to these (read the SoundEasy product page for full details).

Originally posted by FSHZ:42
I did search a little on the Speaker workshop, but am not familiar with it. It appears in the begining of the set up that you need to build a jig for testing speakers. I do have the WT3 for testing parameters of drivers, so would I exclude building the teat jig?

It can do everything that WT3 does. Short answer: you do need it. It is a simple circuit.

Originally posted by FSHZ:42 One last thing- I know that Chris from Solen Electronics in Canada uses the X-over 3 Pro for doing cross-over designs for his company, so it cant be that bad of a program.

The results are very much dependent on the skill of the user.

HTH

[djarchow]

To add to what Shaun said, Speaker workshop is worthless because it doesn't let you use imported phase. Even Speaker workshop or Passive Crossover Designer let you use measured impedance frequency response and phase and they are free.

The soundeasy design guide is not a book, but on CD. It is very good.

If you are only doing spl measurements in SoundEasy, and not t/s parameter testing you don't need to use any jig or circuit. If you did want to provide some additional protection for your soundcard when doing frequency response measurements, you could solder a resistor onto your reference probe input but that is optional. Youi will need a mic and preamp to do the measurements (same with any of the packages)

Short of LEAP, the only design package I would consider other than Soundeasy is LspCad Standard and it is not as full featured as SoundEasy. To get similar functionality you would need to get LspCad Pro which is more than double the price.

Good luck,

Dennis