SoundEasy or LspCad?

[Vg]

I'm currently thinking about buying one of the speaker packages around, and SoundEasy or LspCad standard seems to be the best alternatives that is reasonably priced.

Is SoundEasy really worth the extra $$$? In LspCad you have JustMLS, do SoundEasy have somethink like that, or if not; what measurement programs are compatible? I have access to ETF 5.

I also think that LspCad Pro's ability to draw polarplots is very useful, do SoundEasy have something like it?

I hope that you have answers to my questions

Thanks in advance,
Viktor

[Thunau]

If you are an EE and know a lot about loudspeaker/crossover construction you will feel at home with Sound Easy. Very powerful but not intuitive.
If you are a beginer to intermediate loudspeaker builder and would like to learn more about crossovers, get immediate feedback on "what if..." scenarios and roll your own crossovers the first week, get lspCAD. Both of them will give you the same results given the same input.
Sound Easy seem to have more input fields though.

I use lspCAD pro and grew to love certain features of the program that are unique to it.
For one, the structure of the program allows you to see how changing one parameter affects multiple aspects of the design. This is a priceless feature for guys who like to experiment. For example, you have the "combined frequency response", "polar pattern", "individual phase response" windows open at the same time and tiled on your desktop.
You skip through crossover components values using your arrow keys (another priceless feature) and see immediatetely what happens to all the graphs. You can't do that in Sound Easy. There you have to generate graphs in succession. Not as intuitive to work with.

A new version of lspCAD is coming. It will keep all the cool features of the current version and add a few others that Sound Easy don't have.
My advice would be get lspCAD now, learn it, and upgrade when ver. 6 is out.

[Vg]

Well, I will definitely experiment with the program, but maybe there's more to learn with SoundEasy? I first heard about LspCad 6 a year ago... I wonder when it will be released

[Thunau]

Go for it. I can't speak much about SE. There were like 3 major versions since I played with it.
I remember when I first looked into getting loudspeaker software 3 years ago there was a group buy on Madisound board, and everybody was weighing the pros and cons of those two packages (some things seem to never change ). Of the people that went with the more "advanced" package- which was a big majority- only a few ended up using it on a regular basis. Other than John K.'s (who is a consultant to Bohdan- the author of SE) I have seen only a couple of projects that were posted on the internet that originated in SE. You can tell right away by the look of graphs.
LspCAD on the other hand makes people stick with it and generate projects quickly. I think that a big majority of projects that you can view or download off the web were done in lspCAD.
If you are looking for a truly state of the art software ask Santa for Leap 5. The latest version written for Windows seem to be the most advanced and complete of them all.

[Vg]

Now I am even more confused, but at a higher level I'd probably be better off with LspCad, because actually I could probably get away with just using FRD tools and speaker workshop but I would like something more comprehensive and easy to use. But I'd really like to have the possibility to calculate vertical response graphs, isn't that a feature that SE has?? Someone must know this And LspCad Pro is expensive in comparison with SE...

And isn't Leap VERY expensive?

[Thunau]

Originally posted by Vg
Now I am even more confused, but at a higher level I'd probably be better off with LspCad, because actually I could probably get away with just using FRD tools and speaker workshop but I would like something more comprehensive and easy to use. But I'd really like to have the possibility to calculate vertical response graphs, isn't that a feature that SE has?? Someone must know this And LspCad Pro is expensive in comparison with SE...

And isn't Leap VERY expensive?

Yes Leap is like $1500.00 for both enclosure and crossover designer. Each one is $800.00 separatly.

As to vertical polar plots, you are right. I didn't realize that the vertical polar plot graphs are not a part of the standard lspCAD. I only used the pro version and was under the impression that except for emulator and certain utilitarian functions (i.e. E12 or E24 snap) they are identical. It turns out that a few functions that I like a lot are only in the pro version.
Yes, it is expensive. $500.00 is a lot for a tool that doesn't make you money. That's why it's called pro, I guess.

SE does offer a lot for $200.00. You get the emulator (but only for a few supported sound cards- lspCAD pro works with any card that works within Windows).
If the emulator is important to you then the lspCAD pro is again ahead of the rest. You can tweak your crossovers while playing your music through the emulator, or switch between multiple crossover versions that you saved in advance. Nothing like hearing two settings back to back without stopping the music.

Did you try the Filter Maker and Digital Player from FRD Consortium? If those work for you, then you could get most of the functionality of lspCAD pro out of the standard version. I know that one of the reasons you are looking for a software package is the fact that you do the whole thing in one application as opposed to a bunch of spreadsheets.
I guess you will have to get some more opinions.

[f4ier]

SE's interface has had a bit of an overhaul, making it easier to use. It has everything LspCAD Pro has to offer and more... at a significantly lower price. Emulation, digital equalization, linear/non-linear speaker measurement are just a few of the really cool features of SoundEasy.

LEAP is simply overpriced, especially considering it doesn't come with a measurement package, which makes its advanced simulation routines pretty useless. Remember though that the next LspCAD is just around the corner. In terms of value for money, SE is clearly the winner at the moment.

Cheers

[Shaun]

SoundEasy support is among the best I've seen. I have SE ver 7.0 (8.0 is latest). I would not worry about the sound card issue very much. Bohdan offers good support, and will even send you a software patch should there be incompatibility problems. So far, SE works with most popular sound cards. See the SoundEasy page http://www.interdomain.net.au/~bodzio/.

It may also be a good idea to join the SoundEasy Userslist.

LSPCad Pro is the version that has the crossover emulation module, not the standard version. SE has this as well; there is only one level (version) for SE.

[Vg]

I skimmed through the manuals for the programs and it seems that SoundEasy has all features I need, + many more. And with the new interface it's probably just what I need But since I have not got time at the moment to learn a new program I'll wait and see if LspCad 6 is released soon before I buy anything.

Many thanks for the help!

[Doug]

The new LEAP v5 is on sale until the end of December, in fact most all LinearX products are on sale at 20% off.

We will be getting the LEAP 5 system as we already purchased the new LMS v4 for windows about 8 months ago. It has the best user interface I've ever used. LMS coupled with LEAP 5 will generate the new LTD model for transducers which is far beyond the basic thiele / small, 53 parameters in all I think.

If you are going to make money with this, LEAP 5 and LMS is the only way to fly

Doug

http://linearx.com/