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 WinSpeakerz for Windows 95 True Audio has released its latest version of WinSpeakerz enclosure-design software designed for the Windows 95 operating system. This software has evolved over the years. It began initially as "AudioCAD" for the Macintosh in 1989, followed by a more elaborate version on a Macintosh platform as in 1990. Because of the popularity of the PC platform, the company translated to Windows 95; the first version of WinSpeakerz 1.0 was released in 1996. This latest version of WinSpeakerz, Version 2.0, has the same features as the previous Win95 release with the addition of diffraction-loss modeling, automotive cabin pressure field response, and the ability to account for series resistance in a box/driver simulation. WinSpeakerz comes with a very professional 275-page manual, three 3.5" disks, and a hardware lock that connects between your parallel port and printer. The install routine is initialized manually using the start/run command and loads the program into the Windows 95 program-files subdirectory by default. WinSpeakerz is primarily a box-design program, although facilities are included for crossover design using fixed resistance formulas. The opening screen has a menu line with nine pull-down menus, including File, Edit, Analysis, Display, Vent, Box, Crossover, Window, and Help. Directly below the menu line is a series of push buttons, which allows faster access to many of the commands contained in the pull down menus. At the Push of a Button Twenty-five push buttons are arranged into five groups. The first group controls the measurement domain and allows the selection of standard box modeling (half-space response curves), diffraction-loss modeling (anechoic), or automotive-cabin modeling (closed field). Figure 3 shows the standard analysis half-space mode, including the five available graphs (SPL, excursion, phase, group-delay, and impedance). Figure 4 illustrates the anechoic diffraction loss model, and Fig. 5 gives the closed-field automotive-cabin
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model; all three measurements involve the same sealed-box simulation. The second push-button group also has three functions. The first button calls up the driver library, which comes with about 950 different manufacturer's driver specifications. This driver database can be expanded and modified, and, once it is selected, an individual driver's T/S and mechanical specs can be transferred to the analysis part of the program. Button two in this group employs the System Editor, which controls
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| all the various parameters
available for user control, including general system
parameters, a generous notebook area, modeling data,
physical and mounting details, driver parameters, and
system details. Arranged in typical file-tab Win95
format, the Model file allows you to adjust the baffle
width for the anechoic model and also the f3 and Q for a
12dB/octave closed-field SPL response rise. The System
file has numerous parameters including DC resistance, the
number of drivers being analyzed, and power input. Push-button group three has five buttons, one to engage each of the five graph types: SPL, cone-excursion, phase, group-delay, and impedance (Fig. 3). This third group involves the ten possible graph memory slots available for displaying multiple curves, such as the closed-box magnitude and group-delay curve family shown in Fig. 6. |
The final button group
invokes the program’s Calculator routines for vent,
box, and crossover design. The Vent Calculator routine
allows the user to input a vent area for either round- or
square-shaped vents and also calculates the length. The
Box calculator, depicted in Fig. 7, is used for
mechanical layout of an enclosure and would be especially
valuable for car-audio or custom home-theater
installation. The last button in this group is Crossover Design. The
FIGURE 7: WinSpeakerz box calculator. |
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| routine supplies high-pass
and low-pass network values for various classic filter
(first-order, second- and third order Butterworth, and
second- and fourth-order Linkwitz Riley) using fixed
resistance values, a type of routine which is often
dangerous in the hands of amateur speaker designers. Of
greater value are the LCR and CR conjugate and Lpad
design routines. Driver and Box Selection The program flow includes choosing a driver from the database or entering a new set of parameters, and then selecting a box design to analyze. WinSpeakerz can simulate five types of loudspeaker enclosures: a standard second-order closed box, a third-order closed box (closed box plus series capacitor), a fourth-order vented box (Fig. 8), a fourth-order symmetric bandpass enclosure (closed rear-chamber bandpass, shown in Fig. 9), a fifth-order asymmetric bandpass (closed rear-chamber bandpass plus series inductor to attenuate vent resonance modes), and a sixth-order symmetrical bandpass (closed rear-chamber bandpass with a series capacitor and series inductor). Once a box type is designated and the analysis mode engaged, the selected graphs are displayed in the large graph box which occupies about two-thirds of the main screen. Below the main graph display are two data boxes that summarize the T/S parameters of the driver under analysis and specifications for the particular box type being examined. |
WinSpeakerz is both a well-crafted software package and a good, basic box-design program recommended for car audio or home-theater installers working with a manufacturer. The software is priced at $129 and is available from True Audio, 349 W Felicita Ave., Ste. 122, Escondido, CA 92025, (760) 480-8961, (800) 621-4411, E-mail sharon.alsup@trueaudio.com, or visit the company’s website at https://www.trueaudio.com to download an evaluation copy. |
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