Like quality speakers and amplifiers, it is always necessary to have software to help in positioning and choosing the right products for each type of room.
The world of simulation software for sound environments is a world of its own, interesting and multifaceted, an essential aid for designers and System Integrators who have to choose the type of products to install and the correct positions for each loudspeaker. d&b audiotechnik provides a whole toolbox for different needs: ArrayCalc is designed for line arrays, column speakers and point source models, as well as subwoofers, and HeadroomCalc is one tool within the planning and simulation software ArrayCalc that supports the decision-making process for professionals with specific tender or health and safety-related design criteria. Available from ArrayCalc V11 onwards, HeadroomCalc now predicts the reaction of a d&b system to a specific discrete-time signal providing a more precise SPL calculation than any other solution currently available.
ArrayCalc: a practical and useful “toolbox”
Whenever we see a craftsman open his toolbox to carry out measurements or verifications, we are fatally amazed: it is the effect of expertise, and it is the fascination exerted by tools that may say nothing to us but that, in expert hands, solve problems and devise solutions. Here, the d&b ArrayCalc software should be seen a bit like the “toolbox” of the good audio designer: it offers precise measurement tools for system performance prediction, alignment, speaker rigging, and whole-system safety parameters, particularly for line arrays. ArrayCalc is available as a native stand-alone application for both Microsoft Windows and macOS, and can significantly reduce the time it takes to set up and tune systems.
The software, in practice, generates for the benefit of the designer a three-dimensional representation of any audience area in a given environment, and allows not only to align the time response of all sources, but also to calculate the phase response of the line array system and a SUB array even stacked on the ground. The level distribution can be easily mapped to the previously defined listening areas in three-dimensional view, also being able to zoom in, rotate and export the map as a graphical file.
The HeadroomCalc innovation: absolute realism in simulation
HeadroomCalc presented at ISE 2023 features the unique possibility to utilize user-supplied audio files, instead of generic steady-state spectra, for calculation of the specific signal response and impacts of DSP limiter-based nonlinear processing with the highest accuracy.
With HeadroomCalc, then, simply define the system, establishing up to five receiver (measurement) points, then load the specific input signal for which you wish to perform the simulation. The software will generate usable SPL metrics as if you were using a portable SPL meter at each defined measurement point.
A very important addition to d&b audiotechnik’s software-pool, HeadroomCalc rounds out the simulation offering by giving audio professionals an agile, wider-ranging tool than ArrayCalc, not as an alternative to it but in addition to it.
Additional accessories
Finally, also worth mentioning are the additional or optional features of d&b simulation software. For example, ArrayCalc Exchange is a SketchUp extension that allows users to convert CAD and EASE files into an ArrayCalc file (*.dbacv) that can be imported directly into the software. The Exchange extension, in short, supports designers in mobile and stationary applications by simplifying the creation of complex places with ArrayCalc.
The optional ArrayProcessing function, on the other hand, applies various filtering algorithms in order to optimize the tonal and level (thus both spectral and spatial) performance of a line array column on each specific audience area.
Finally, the d&b Venue Database provides high-quality venue models that can be imported directly into ArrayCalc, and is an important collateral tool for using the software, bringing valuable additional information into the system that includes available heights and rigging points, key structural features, venue photographs, and so on, while the d&b ArrayCalc Viewer App provides all the key information for positioning a d&b audiotechnik loudspeaker system, presenting all rigging, configuration, and system information in a very concise format.
https://www.dbaudio.com/global/en/products/software/arraycalc/#tab-overview
https://www.dbaudio.com/global/en/products/software/arraycalc/arraycalc-exchange/
https://www.dbaudio.com/global/en/solutions/enabling-technologies/arrayprocessing/
https://www.dbaudio.com/global/en/products/software/arraycalc/arraycalc-viewer/
