Computer Aided Acoustic Design (CAAD) 1 Seminar

Computer-aided simulation of room and electroacoustics (Computer Aided Acoustic Design) allows valid statements to be made about the quality and effectiveness of an acoustic design. Different sound reinforcement concepts can be simulated, evaluated and compared in both new and existing buildings, while required values such as level distribution and speech intelligibility can be verified in advance.

The expert use of an acoustic simulation provides a high degree of planning reliability, which is why knowledge of the interaction of room and electroacoustics as well as the relevant basics of acoustic planning are indispensable.

The expert use of an acoustic simulation provides a high degree of planning security, which is why software-supported simulations have become indispensable in the field of pro-audio.

In order to be able to choose an ideal solution according to the requirements and room acoustic conditions, knowledge of the interaction of room and electro-acoustics as well as the relevant basics of acoustic planning are essential.

Focal points

Part 1: Theory "Essential basics of acoustic planning“.

Basics of room acoustics or sound in a room, absorption and reverberation time, reflections

• Essential knowledge regarding the interaction of electro-acoustics and room acoustics, e.g., do the same loudspeakers "sound" the same in every room?
• How is the absorption of materials defined, how does it affect the reverberation time?
• What do the different levels, direct sound, reverberation, background noise, mean, how are they defined and how do they affect clarity and speech intelligibility?

Basics of electroacoustics

• Single loudspeakers: loudspeaker data, directivity, sensitivity, power, latency, frequency response, or loudspeaker combinations (clusters, arrays): delay, cancellations, gains
• Efficiency vs. sensitivity or What is the effect of bundling?
• When do you need a delay? or What role do psychoacoustic influences play?
• Haas effect (the locating effect of the first wavefront)

What information is needed and how is it obtained?

• Architect's plans, photos, 3D models (BIM), applicable standards, reverberation time measurement, surface materials, loudspeaker data ...

How do I plan in a targeted manner in the actual simulation, interpret the results and present them to the customer in a comprehensible form, among other things? 

• Sound distribution, reflection calculation with ray tracing, reverberation time calculation, speech intelligibility.

Part 2: Practice "Modelling of a room and use of an acoustic 3D simulation software".

Room:

• Create room model
• Selecting and editing absorption materials
• Covering surfaces with materials
• Calculate reverberation times (Sabine, Fitzroy, Eyring), alternatively: Enter reverberation times (default or measurement)
• Printout of surface list of loudspeakers:
• View loudspeaker data in the "Speakerbuilder" module
• Selection and placement of loudspeakers
• Positioning and aligning speakers
• Editing loudspeaker parameters
• Set listening level(s)
• Auralisation (also with own sound material)
• Different calculation methods (including shadowing and first reflection)
• Display in different frequencies and evaluation
• Evaluation and interpretation of the results
• Printout of a loudspeaker list with positions and power control
• Ray tracing (reflectogram, energy-time display).

The simulation software is kindly provided for the participants of the seminar. The participants will receive a manual with all elementary contents for acoustic simulations for the seminar as well as for later use.