sound sprinkles v1.0 beta user manual

7/28/2019 Sound Sprinkles V1.0 Beta User Manual

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SoundSprinklesV1.0Beta

CeilingLoudspeakerDistributedSystemSoftware

USERMANUAL


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Sound Sprinkles 1.0 User Manual

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Table of Contents

1B1. Introduction................................................................................................................ 4

2B

2. Design the Ceiling Distributed System ...................................................................... 4

6B2-1. Room Dimension ............................................................................................ 4

7B2-2. Ceiling Condition ........................................................................................... 5

8B2-3. Loudspeaker Model ........................................................................................ 7

15B 2-3-1. Select Model and Set Input Electricity Power............................... 7

16B 2-3-2. Build New Loudspeaker Model ..................................................... 8

9B2-4 Auto Arrange ................................................................................................. 10

17B2-4-1 Techniques behind the Screen............................................................ 11

18B2-4-2 Fine Tuning and Other Auto Arrangement Parameters ..................... 15

10B

2-5 Adjustment in Free Mode .............................................................................. 15

3B3. Calculation and Analysis ......................................................................................... 17

11B3-1 SPL Calculation in a Simplified Situation..................................................... 18

12B3-2 Direct SPL Mapping and Distribution........................................................... 19

4B4. Function Summary and Shortcut ............................................................................. 20

13B4-1 Main Menu .................................................................................................... 21

19B4-1-1 File Menu ........................................................................................... 21

20B4-1-2 Loudspeaker Menu ............................................................................. 21

21B4-1-3 View Menu ......................................................................................... 21

22B

4-1-4 Help Menu.......................................................................................... 22


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14B4-2 Tools and Parameters..................................................................................... 22

23B4-2-1 Room Layout Tab............................................................................... 22

24B

4-2-2 Report Tab.......................................................................................... 23

25B4-2-3 Room Tab ........................................................................................... 23

26B4-2-4 Auto Arrange Tab............................................................................... 23

27B4-2-5 Calculation Tab .................................................................................. 24

Bibliography ................................................................................................................ 25


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1B

1. Introduction

The SOUND SPRINKLES is a software for ceiling loudspeaker distributed system

design. It could plot the recommended loudspeaker placements and provide a

prediction of direct SPL in the room. The calculation uses extrapolations from the

horizontal and vertical beamwidth instead of the loudspeaker polar data; therefore, the

users are able to make loudspeaker profile by themselves, and do project with any

loudspeaker of their choice, including the ones with non-conical coverage.

2B2. Design the Ceiling Distributed System

6B2-1. Room Dimension

Version 1.0 can only calculate ceiling distributed system in rectangular rooms;

therefore the room dimensions are simplified to Room Width, Room Length,

Loudspeaker Height, and Listeners earHeight.

Room dimension input cells are located on the top-left column, under the Room

tab. The parameters are listed below:

X(m): the room length or the X-axis dimension in accordance to any relevant CAD

layout. The range ofX(m) is 5 to 240m.

Y(m): the room width or the Y-axis dimension in accordance to any relevant CAD

layout. The range ofY(m) is 5 to 160m.

Spk H(m): the anticipated trim height for the loudspeakers. For suspended and

"drop-tile" ceilings, indicate the finished ceiling height (elevation); for open ceiling

conditions where the loudspeakers will be suspended below the finished or structural


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ceiling, indicated the trim height. Trim height is defined as the position of the grille of

the loudspeaker above the finished floor. The range ofSpk H(m) is 1.2 to 20m.

Ear H(m): the listener's ear height. The common value for seated audience is 1.2(m),

and for standing audience is 1.6(m). In this program, the difference of ear height and

loudspeaker height cannot be less than 0.7m. The range of Ear H(m) is 0.5m up to

[Spk height-0.7m].

7B2-2. Ceiling Condition

The ceiling condition of the room will certainly affect the loudspeaker array

design. Generally there are two categories: ceiling grid and truss.

As shown in Figure 1 and Figure 2, for rooms with ceiling grid, the loudspeakers

should be installed inside the grid; however for rooms with ceiling truss, the

loudspeaker should be installed on the truss.

Figure 1 Figure 2

In this program, the user could check the Ceiling Grid box to specify this room has

ceiling grid or truss. The small dots in the room layout view represent the place where a

loudspeaker could be installed; no matter the room has ceiling grid or truss.

The parameters for ceiling grid setting are listed below:


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X-S(m)/Y-S(m): The ceiling grid size along X-axis and Y-axis. If the ceiling grid in the

room is 2ft by 4ft, the user could input 2ft for X-S(m) and 4ft for Y-S(m), or the other

way around. For room with truss, the user should input the distance between each truss

for one parameter, and set the other one to the minimum value (2ft).

Generally the grid size could be understood as a divisor, and the loudspeaker

spacing along that axis has to be multiples of the grid size.

X-O(m)/Y-O(m): the grid offset along X-axis and Y axis. The room dimensions cannot

always be multiples of the grid size, so at one end of the room, the grid may not be full.

Those two parameters allow the user to adjust the grid layout slightly. Assuming that

loudspeaker is installed in the geometrical center of the grid, the two parameters

represent the coordinates of the geometrical center of the first full grid at the top left

corner.

Please see the example shown in Figure 3:

Figure 3


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This is a room with 2by 4 ceiling grid. The grid at the top left corner is not full;

the first full grid at the top left corner is the one with shade. The coordinates of the

geometrical center of this grid is (2, 3); therefore, the offset values X -O(m) and

Y-O(m) should be inputted as 2ft and 3ft.

Although all the input units are metric, the increment of the up and down button is

0.5 feet. The user could simply click the up button twice to change the value from 2ft to

3ft.

8B2-3. Loudspeaker Model

The basic loudspeaker parameters needed for this program are horizontal and

vertical coverage angles for 800Hz-5000Hz 1/3 octave band, sensitivity and maximum

input power. Additionally, the user could specify the price of each loudspeaker model

so that the program could calculate the total loudspeaker price for the project.

Those basic parameters of each loudspeaker are saved in the files with extension

name *.lspk respectively. All the *.lspk files are in the Loudspeaker Library

folder.

15B 2-3-1. Select Model and Set Input Electricity Power

In the Auto Arrange mode (Auto Arrange mode is on by default, please refer to 2-4

for more about this), by clicking the text box with current model name, the user could

choose the preferred loudspeaker model from the Loudspeaker Library folder. The

program will redo the loudspeaker arrangement based on the current room dimension,

auto arrange options and the selected loudspeaker model. Alternatively, the user could


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go to the main menu=>Loudspeaker=>Properties, and set the loudspeaker model and

input electrical power from the Properties Window.

If the Auto Arrange mode is turned off, the user could open the Properties Window

of a single loudspeaker by right-clicking the loudspeaker or go to the main

menu=>Loudspeaker=>Properties, and then set the model and input electrical power

for the current selected loudspeaker only.

The input electrical power is set to the maximum by default. Before changing this,

the user should refer to the possible power tag for the loudspeaker.

16B 2-3-2. Build New Loudspeaker Model

The models in the Loudspeaker Library are very limited. If a certain loudspeaker

model cannot be found, the user is able to make a profile for this loudspeaker and add it

to the Loudspeaker Library for future use.

The user should have at least the loudspeaker specification to make the profile;

however, for better accuracy, data from loudspeaker measurement results are preferred.

The Loudspeaker Builder can be accessed from the main menu=>Loudspeaker=>

Build New Loudspeaker Model. The input parameters are listed below:

Model: the model name of this loudspeaker.

Coverage Angle Table: this table contains the coverage angles for different

beamwidths and frequency bands.

-6dB H represents the -6dB horizontal beamwidth, and -6dB V represents the

-6dB vertical beamwidth. The 800, 1000, 1250, 1600, 2000, 2500,


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3150, 4000 and 5000 columns are 1/3 octave frequency bands. Those coverage

angles are supposed to be input by the user.

The 1k, 2k and4k columns are 1/1 octave frequency band. The user cannot

input those 1/1 octave band and the 1-4k Average coverage angles manually because

they are calculated from the corresponding 1/3 octave bands by the program.

Please note that this program is not using the nominal coverage angle such as 120

by 120, 90 by 40, but the angles for different beamwidths and frequency bands.

Users should refer to the loudspeakers measurement results or the -6dB beamwidth

graph on the specification (see the loudspeakers specification sheet/manual).

Sensitivity: the nominal sensitivity of this loudspeaker, in dB.

Max Power: the maximum input power in watts (continuous pink noise). Usually this

is about half of the program power.

Price: the approximate price for one loudspeaker.

Half Coverage Angle: this is a converter between full and half coverage angle.

Conical Coverage: check thisbox if the loudspeaker has conical coverage pattern

(same H and V -6dB beamwidth). The user could input either horizontal or vertical

beamwidth, and then the program will make them identical automatically.

Extrapolate Data: by checking this box, the user just needs to input the coverage

angles for -6dB beamwidth (the cells in blue), and the program will extrapolate the

angles for -3dB, -9dB and -12dB beamwidth. This is useful when the user has limited

information about this loudspeaker, but can only get the -6dB beamwidth graph from


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the specification. CAUTION: Using the extrapolated loudspeaker data will affect the

accuracy of the whole project.

Example: build loudspeaker model for JBL 47HC

Step 1: input the model name as JBL 47HC, Sensitivity (dB) is 93, Max Power

(Watt) is 75, and Price ($)as 256.

Step 2: Check the Conical Coverage and Extrapolate Data boxes.

Step 3: read the -6dB Beamwidth Graph from the specification, as shown in Figure 4.

Figure 4

The coverage angles for 800Hz, 1000Hz, 1250Hz, 1600Hz, 2000Hz, 2500Hz,

3150Hz, 4000Hz and 5000Hz could be read as 170 deg, 160 deg, 120 deg, 100 deg, 70

deg, 75 deg, 80 deg, 75 deg, 65 deg from the graph. (The squares marked by dot)

Step 4: click Save as button and name the file as JBL 47HC.

Now the loudspeaker JBL 47HC is ready for use in this program.

9B2-4 Auto Arrange

This program offers more than 100 loudspeaker arrangement options to meet

various conditions such as ceiling type, reverberation time, ambient noise and also the


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budget. Auto arrangement calculations are based on the room dimension, loudspeaker

height, ear height, frequency band, radius of coverage circle, overlap type and layout

pattern.

The Auto Arrange box has to be checked to enable this function. The Auto Arrange

options are listed below:

Auto Arrange At: choose the frequency band that the auto arrangement based on.

Layout Pattern: choose the layout pattern.

Overlap Type: choose the amount of overlap.

The section 2-4-1 explains the techniques of ceiling distributed system design and

the details of those options. General users could skip this part.

17B2-4-1 Techniques behind the Screen

The radius of coverage circle (r) is a very crucial parameter. All latter calculations

are based on it. From Figure 5 which illustrates the coverage circle for a single

loudspeaker, we could get the relationship very easily:

= tan (2

)

r: radius of coverage circle

sh: loudspeaker height

eh: ear height

: coverage angle of -6dB beamwidth


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Loudspeaker Height

(sh)

Ear Plane

Ear Height(eh)

-6 dB Beamwidth

Coverage Angle()

Raduis ofCoverage Circle (r)

Figure 5

The coverage angle of -6dB beamwidth () is frequency dependent. Usually thehigher the frequency band, the smaller the coverage angle. The default frequency band

which the auto arrangement based on is 1-4 kHz average. 1 kHz, 2 kHz and 4 kHz 1/1

octave band are also provided for the user.

In order to be able to wisely lay out the loudspeakers in the ceiling distributed

system, a basic repeatable pattern must be used. In this pattern, a loudspeaker must be

equidistant from its nearest neighbor. A simple way to think of a pattern that meets this

constraint is to consider a regular polygon with loudspeaker sat the center and each of

the points. There are only two polygons which satisfy these constraints: a square and a

regular hexagon. (Enerson, October,1977)

Figure 6 shows the geometry of the square and regular hexagonal layout pattern.


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Square Pattern Hexagonal Pattern

Coverage

Circle

s

Figure 6

The program provides square, hexagonal, and five of their derivative patterns in the

Layout Pattern drop list. Figure 7 shows the difference of their geometry. Please note

that there is no absolute advantage or disadvantage of a certain pattern. The user could

try all the patterns which are proper for the room, and then compare their distribution

graph, also the quantity of loudspeakers required.

Square Crisscross I Crisscross II

Hexagonal Hori. I Hexagonal Hori. II

Hexagonal Vert. I Hexagonal Vert. II

even rows has s/2 offset odd rows has s/2 offset

even rows has s/2 offset

odd rows has s/2 offset

Figure 7


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In Figure 6, the distance of between the centers (s) is a function of the radius of the

coverage circle (r), depending on the amount of overlap. The table below shows the

relationship of s and r for different overlap type and layout pattern.

Overlap Type/Layout Pattern Square Hexagonal

High Density (Center to Center) = = Medium Density = 2 = 3Low Density (Edge to Edge)

= 2

= 2

Very Low Density = 22 = 22Fixed Spacing N/A N/A

Table 1

For rooms with ceiling grid, s will be rounded down to the closet multiple of the

ceiling grid size.

Generally speaking, the user could choose lower density for background music

systems or speech systems in rooms with little reverberation and low ambient noise.

Choose higher density to optimize speech intelligibility in rooms with higher levels of

reverberation and/or ambient noise. (Eargle & Foreman, 2002)

In the Fixed Spacing, the loudspeaker spacing could be adjusted by the user,

under the X-S and Y-S boxes.

Although the concept above assumes the loudspeaker is conical, they could be

applied for non-conical loudspeaker reasonably: just calculate the horizontal and

vertical spacing separately according to the horizontal and vertical coverage angle.


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18B2-4-2 Fine Tuning and Other Auto Arrangement Parameters

Min D(m): the minimum distance from loudspeaker to wall. People usually do not put

the ceiling loudspeaker too close to the wall because of the reflection. 1.5m is a

reasonable distance; however, the user could adjust this value as needed.

X-S(m)/Y-S(m): the loudspeaker spacing along X-axis and Y-axis.

Those two controls allow the user to view and adjust the loudspeaker spacing;

however, the only condition the user could adjust this value manually is under the

Fixed Spacing overlap option.

X-O(m)/X-O(n)/Y-O(m)/Y-O(n): the loudspeaker array offset along X-axis and

Y-axis.

X-O(m) and Y-O(m) are valid if there is no ceiling grid in the room. They represent

the distance from the top-left loudspeaker to the top-left corner of the room along

X-axis and Y-axis. The loudspeaker array is centered in the room by default; however,

the user could adjust the array position depending on the room condition.

X-O(n) and Y-O(n) are valid when there is ceiling grid in the room. Provided that

the top-left grid is (1,1) in the coordinate, those two controls represent the abscissa and

ordinate of the top-left loudspeaker.

10B2-5 Adjustment in Free Mode

It is necessary to adjust some details of the auto arranged loudspeaker array so that

the loudspeaker positions could fit the actual room condition. Usually, loudspeaker


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installation has to compromise with the air diffuser, lighting system and columns in the

room.

There are several functions allowing the user to adjust the auto arranged

loudspeaker array. First of all, the user needs to switch to Free Mode by un-checking

the Auto Arrange box to enable those functions.

Delete Selected Loudspeaker: In the room layout view, right click a loudspeaker and

choose Delete; or go to Menu-Loudspeaker-Delete Selected Loudspeaker. This is

useful if there are columns in the room.

Add a Loudspeaker: go to Menu-Loudspeaker-Add Loudspeaker. One loudspeaker

will be added in the middle of the room. Please be sure to select the desired model and

set proper input electricity power.

Move Loudspeaker: In the room layout view, the user could simply left click and drag

the loudspeaker. To do this in a precise way, the user could open the Properties Window

of the loudspeaker, and then input the X-axis and Y-axis coordinates for the

loudspeaker location. For rooms with ceiling grid, the user could only drag the

loudspeaker on the grids, and the user cannot set the X-axis and Y-axis coordinates in

the Properties Window.

Delete All Loudspeakers: go to Menu-Loudspeaker-Delete All Loudspeaker. By

doing this, the user could delete all the loudspeakers arranged by the program, then add

and arrange loudspeakers to the room manually. This is not recommended to general

user.


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Rotate Loudspeaker: The user could rotate all loudspeakers at the same time by

clicking +5 deg or -5 deg buttons in the left column. To rotate one specific

loudspeaker, the user could go to the Properties Window and set the angle for this

loudspeaker. Please note that this program also allows the user to rotate a loudspeaker

with conical coverage pattern, but this is not meaningful.

3B3. Calculation and Analysis

The ideal ceiling distributed system should provide uniform and sufficient sound

pressure level into the room; therefore, it is important to estimate the direct SPL

distribution of a certain loudspeaker system design before the real installation project

starts.

This program could calculate the direct SPL at any location of the room and

analysis the distribution for different frequency band, based on the loudspeaker system

design in the room.

By default the input electricity power for all loudspeakers are set to their maximum

input power in this program; therefore, the calculated SPL indicates the maximum level

the system could reach. This value has to fulfill the minimum SPL and S/N of the

design goal.

Section 3-1 will demonstrate the way to calculate the direct SPL, and section 3-2

explains the functions in the software.


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11B3-1 SPL Calculation in a Simplified Situation

This section will explain how to calculate the SPL for one listener location in the

room which has only one loudspeaker, as illustrated in Figure 8. The -3, -6, -9 and -12

dot lines represent the -3dB, -6dB, -9dB and -12dB beamwidths.

Figure 8

The sound level from the loudspeaker attenuates because of the distance and

off-axis attenuation. The first one simply follows the inverse square law; the second

one is an estimation based on the beamwidths of the loudspeaker. For example in

Figure 8, the listener is just located at the -9dB beamwidth; therefore the off-axis

attenuation is 9dB.

Provided that we know the sensitivity of the loudspeaker, the SPL at listener could

be calculated as the equation below:

SPL at Listener = Sen+ 10LogP - D - A

Sen: Sensitivity of the Loudspeaker (dB@1m, 1Watt)

P: Input Electrical Power (Watt)


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D: Level Decrease caused by Distance, 20log (Distance in metric unit)

A: Level Decrease caused by off-Axis.

In actual condition, this calculation should be repeated for each loudspeaker in the

room, and then logarithmically sum those values.

12B3-2 Direct SPL Mapping and Distribution

Direct SPL mapping is a very straight way to show the evenness of sound

distribution in the room. It divides the room into a lot of small squares, calculate the

SPL for the center point of each square, and define color to each square based on the

SPL value.

The user could click the Mapping button in the Calculation tab to render the

direct SPL mapping. The color legend on the right side displays the relationship

between mapping colors and level values. The maximum SPL in the room is always

defined as pure red, and the minimum SPL as pure blue; therefore, the color of the

mapping coverage doesnt show the absolute level, but the relative level.

Distribution graph is the statistical data from the calculation for mapping. It

indicates the percentage of the room area as a function of SPL range.

The Distribution button is located right under the Mapping button.

There are two common parameters for the mapping and distribution:

Frequency/Bandwidth: choose the frequency and bandwidth the calculation based on.

Options includes the 800Hz, 1000 Hz, 1250 Hz, 1600 Hz, 2000 Hz, 2500 Hz, 3150 Hz,


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4000 Hz, 5000 Hz 1/3 octave bands, 1kHz, 2kHz, 4kHz 1/1 octave band, and 1-4kHz

average. The default setting is 1-4 kHz average.

Patch Size: as mentioned above, the room is divided into a lot of small squares and the

SPL for each square will be calculated. Patch size indicates the side length of each

square. With a smaller patch size, the calculation is slower but more delicate, and vice

versa.

There are three parameters to control the distribution graph:

Upper/Lower Limit: set the SPL range be shown in the graph. By default the upper

and lower limits are set to the maximum and minimum SPL in the room, but sometimes

the user may be interested in a certain SPL range.

Class Width: this indicates the width of SPL range for each bar. For example, a bar has

a height at 29.8%, center SPL at 95dB and the class width is 3dB. This means there are

29.8% area of the room has SPL range from 93.5dB to 96.5dB (953/2).

Other analyses on the report view are explained below:

Total Points: the number of squares the room be divided to. This value is depending on

the patch size and room area. (Total Point=n)

SPL Average: = ( )/=1

Standard Deviation: [( )2]=1 4B4. Function Summary and Shortcut

This section is a quick reference for the program.


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13B4-1 Main Menu

19B4-1-1 File Menu

Open: open an existing project file (*.ssp)

Save as: save the current project

Export Picture-Room Layout: export the room layout as jpeg file. The mapping

could be turned on or off as needed.

Export Picture-Distribution Graph: export the distribution Graph as jpeg file.

Export Report: export an auto generated project report as text file.

Exit: exit the program.

20B4-1-2 Loudspeaker Menu

Add Loudspeaker: refer to section 2-5, Ctrl+Shift+A

Delete Selected Loudspeaker: refer to section 2-5, Ctrl+Shift+D

Delete All Loudspeakers: refer to section 2-5

Build New Loudspeaker Model: refer to section 2-3-2

Properties: open the Properties Window for the loudspeakers. Refer to section

2-3-1 for changing loudspeaker model and input electrical power; refer to section 2-5

for moving and rotating loudspeaker.

21B4-1-3 View Menu

Show/Hide Mapping: Ctrl+M.

Show/Hide Grid: valid only for rooms with ceiling grid, Ctri+G.

Show/Hide -6dB Coverage Angle: Ctrl+6.


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The six operations below control the room layout view:

Move Up: Ctrl+Up

Move Down: Ctrl+Down

Move Left: Ctrl+Left

Move Right: Ctrl+Right

Zoom In: Ctrl+I

Zoom Out: Ctrl+O

22B4-1-4 Help Menu

About: View the contact information of the author

User Manual: view the user manual.

14B4-2 Tools and Parameters

23B4-2-1 Room Layout Tab

Move Up, Ctrl+Up

Move Down, Ctrl+Down

Move Left, Ctrl+Left

Move Right, Ctrl+Right

Zoom In, Ctrl+I

Zoom Out, Ctrl+O

Show/Hide -6dB Coverage Angle, Ctrl+6.

Show/Hide Mapping, Ctrl+M.

Show/Hide Grid, Ctri+G.


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Add Loudspeaker, Ctrl+Shift+A

Delete Selected Loudspeaker, Ctrl+Shift+D

Export Picture: refer to section 4-1, Export Picture-Room Layout.

Black/White: choose the background color of the room layout view.

Right Click Anywhere in the Room: show the coordinates and the direct SPL of

this location.

Right Click Loudspeaker Button: show the dropdown menu for this

loudspeaker, which includes the coordinates of this loudspeaker, the button to delete

this loudspeaker, and the button to access the properties window of this loudspeaker.

Double Click Anywhere in the Room: show the room in the middle of the view.

24B4-2-2 Report Tab

Upper Limit: refer to section 3-2.

Lower Limit: refer to section 3-2.

Class Width: refer to section 3-2.

Export Picture: refer to section 4-1, Export Picture-Distribution Graph.

Black/White: choose the background color of the distribution graph.

Export Report: refer to section 4-1.

25B4-2-3 Room Tab

Refer to section 2-1 and 2-2.

26B4-2-4 Auto Arrange Tab

Refer to section 2-4.


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27B4-2-5 Calculation Tab

Refer to section 3-2.


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Bibliography

Eargle, J. M., & Foreman, C. (2002).Audio Engineering for Sound Reinforcement. JBL

Pro Audio Publications.

Enerson, C. (October,1977).Distributed System Pattern Analysis. Tustin, CA:

Synergetic Audio Concepts, Volume 5, Number 1.

sound sprinkles v1.0 beta user manual

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