Speaker Enclosure Design Software
BassBox Pro - Box Design SoftwareBassBox Pro™ is a state-of-the-artspeaker enclosure design program. It is used around the world by professionaland amateur speaker system designers to design worldclass speaker boxes. BassBoxPro is very versatile and can be used to design speakers for a wide variety ofapplications including home hi-fi, home theater, car, truck, van, pro soundreinforcement, recording studio monitors, stage monitors, PA, musicalinstruments, etc.Easy to Learn and UseBassBox Pro has manyfeatures that make it very easy to learn and use. For example, when the programis first run, a Welcome window (shown below) will appear to help you configurethe program and introduce you to its on-screen manual.The on-screen manual (shown below) is extensive andcontains most of the same information as the beautiful 364 page printed manual.Both the on-screen and printed manuals are the best in the industry and includea 'Box Designer's Guide', 'Sample Designs' and 'BassBox ProReference'.BassBox Pro also includes a 'balloon' help feature(shown below). When the mouse pointer hovers over a control or label, a smalltext box will appear to provide a definition or explanation of the objectbelow.Box Design is as easy as 1-2-3There aremany ways to begin a speaker design with BassBox Pro, including the use of itsinnovative Design Wizard. In general, speaker design involves the followingsteps:. Enter the driver parameters such as Fs, Vas andQts.
BassBox Pro's driver database contains parameters for thousands ofdrivers. Calculate the box volume and tuning. This is veryeasy with the program's helpful 'Suggest' button.
It will cause BassBox Pro torecommend a box that will produce a smooth bass response. Evaluate the performance with the graphs. This caninclude the effects of the acoustical environment. For example, BassBox Procan estimate the in-car response in the graphs to show how the speaker willsound to passengers inside a car.Each box design can be saved and re-opened or re-usedlater. As many as ten different designs can be open at the same time. Boxdesigns can also be duplicated so that driver or box information does not needto be re-entered.Design WizardBassBox Pro includes apowerful Design Wizard (shown below) to help new users quickly design a speaker.It can start with either the driver or the box and then it will walk you throughBassBox Pro as it prompts you for information in an orderly progression.
In thisway it serves as a 'smart' assistant to help you use theprogram.Main WindowThe centerpiece of BassBox Prois its resizable main window (shown below) that includes a summary of all opendesigns. Up to ten designs can be open simultaneously.A mini preview graph is provided for each design toshow its amplitude response. These preview graphs are automatically updatedwhenever a design is altered, providing 'real time' feedback. A small picturebeside each mini graph displays the box type that has been selected (closed,vented, bandpass or passive radiator).
Free Speaker Enclosure Design Software
A summary of the driver and boxparameters is listed in a text box.Largest Driver DatabaseBassBoxPro includes the world's largest database of driver parameters! Users can add,edit or delete drivers and the database can be searched by manufacturer, drivermodel name, driver parameters or suitability for a closed or ventedbox.Driver PropertiesInformation about adriver is contained in the Driver Properties window. The driver information canbe entered manually, imported from another BassBox Pro or BassBox Lite speakerdesign file, imported from the CLIO or LAUD measurement systems, or it can beloaded from BassBox Pro's extensive driver database.
Like many windows inBassBox Pro, the Driver Properties window uses tabs to organize the information.Three of its six tabs are displayed below. The first illustration shows the'Configuration' tab where the number of drivers and their mechanical andelectrical configurations are set.Notice above that the mechanical configurationsettings include compound or isobaric and push-pull.The second illustration shows the 'Parameters' tabcontaining the driver's Thiele-Small and electromechanical parameters. 'Net'parameters are displayed when more than one driver is specified. If the driverhas a dual voice coil, separate parameters can be entered for each of the threevoice coil wiring methods (separate, parallel and series).
2.5 The WinSpeakerzDriver (transducer) selection is a critical step in the speaker design process. Power transformer design tool. WinSpeakerz includes a powerful searchable and sortable Driver Database with approximately 1,000 drivers included. You'll find JBL, EV, Vifa, Dynaudio, Fane, Focal, Alpine, Rockford Fosgate and many others. Of course you can add new drivers to your Driver Databaseat any time by entering the basic Thiele-Small parameters. Thedriver database is not provided with the demo version of WinSpeakerz.From the Driver Database you can search for drivers that meet your specific requirements for a project. For example, your next project might be for a home theater system and you're interested in 10' drivers with an SPL of 92. You can instruct the Database to show you just those drivers that are10 inches in diameter with an SPL of 92.You can also specify how your selection of drivers is to be sorted.
Subwoofer Design Toolbox
The default sort is by Manufacturer and Nominal Diameter. However by making another selection in the pull down 'Sort' list the selected drivers can be sorted by free air resonance, price, or any other combination of parameters. Designers can edit existing driver data, add new drivers, and delete drivers from the Database.Double clicking on a driver in the listing opens the Record Editor where driver data can be edited. Each driver record in the Database has space for up to 98 parameters displayed on three pages: General Information, Parameters, and Physical and Mounting Information.Fig. 15 below shows the result of our search for 10 inch drivers witha sensitivity of 92 dB SPL.Figure 15: The WinSpeakerz Driver Database2.6 TheThe System Editor comes into play after you've selected a driver and have started working at the Workbench. In order to see the full details of the System currently on the Workbench you open the System Editor by selecting 'Edit System' under the Edit menu (or at the toolbar).
The System Editor is the place to make adjustments to various system parameters (such as box loss Q, isobaric factor, R(e), etc.), write notes on the system as well as make custom adjustments to this System's particular driver.Select Edit System from the toolbaror Edit menu.The system editor opens with the last active page selected. 16 below.Figure 16: The System Details Page of the The System EditorThe tabbed pages of the System Editorare:.System: Details.System: Notes.System: Model.Driver: General Information.Driver: Parameters.Driver: Physical and Mounting InformationAt the System Editor you can access allthe system parameters such as the volume of the box under test, or the box resonance frequency. All thedata from the Box Parameters windows are saved as part of the Projectfile plus any system notes that you might want to enter on the Notes page. The tab keysteps you through the various edit fields. The makeup of atypical project file is shown in Fig. 17 below.Figure 17: Contents of a Typical Project FileEach of the 10 System memories contains all six pages ofinformation from the System Editor, ten of these systems plus theworkbench data are stored in a single Project file.Close the System Editor window by clicking on its close box at the top right.This will take us back to the plot window.The print command allows you to print a summary report for the system on theworkbench. Included in the report is an expanded listing of the parameters shown in the Driver Parameters window, the contents of the Box Parameters window, and the System parameters.Print asummary report f by selecting Print from the File menu (Ctrl+P).2.7 TheThe Vent Calculator has pages for Tube Vents and Rectangular Vents.
The Vent Calculator will recommend the number and diameter of tubes based on the Minimum Recommended Vent area,S(v)min, in the Box Parameters window. Or you can enter the diameter and number of tubes and the vent surface area and length ofthe tubes will be calculated.For Rectangular Vents enter the vent height, vent width and desired number. The vent surface area and length of the vent will be calculated.See Fig. 18 below.Figure 18: The WinSpeakerz Rectangular Vent Calculator2.8 The WinSpeakerzThe Rectangular, Trapezoidal and Bandpass box calculators are also located under the Box Menu and on the Toolbar. There are input fields for Driver Displacement, Bracing Displacement, Other Displacement and Box Volume added by filling.
The WinSpeakerzUser's Guide goes into much greater detail about each of these features. Each calculator allows you toprint a report containing all the details and notes for your enclosure.In addition to calculating the volume from arbitrary enclosure dimensions, WinSpeakerz will calculate the dimensions from the volume. You can enter box dimensions and the box volume will be calculated, or you can enter a volume and WinSpeakerz will calculate the dimensions using the golden ratio. The Box Calculators have locks in each of the box dimension fields for holding certain dimensions constant while allowing other dimensions to float.The Trapezoidal Box Calculator includes an angle field to specify the angle of the side of the enclosure. The default is 15 degrees when you first open the trapezoidal box calculator.