What is EASE

 

The EASE software suite provides system designers and consultants with an invaluable set of tools for all aspects of professional practice, from detailed, realistic modeling and simulation of venue acoustics and sound system performance to informative and engaging client presentations, as well as professional data assessment and verification To visit the company web site, click on the picture above

 

Using the EASE software a wireframe image of the room is created. Each surface is entered including the construction materials. From this information the software can calculate things like RT60, %Alcons and a host of other measurements of sound propagation in the room. Evaluating the results provide us with the information needed to determine acoustic treatments, speaker locations and manyother things. Shown here is the wireframe rendering of the Xavier University Cintas Center, a large complex facility with a multitude of uses and configurations.

 

Shown here is a rendering of a small traditional church Sanctuary. From this the software can give us the same critical information needed to specify the correct speaker, speaker location, acoustic treatments and more. While this is not as complex, the information drawn from the EASE software is as essential to the design process.

 

From the wireframe drawing we can extract a visual of just the audience areas and when applying a speaker option we can see visually where the sound will arrive at any seat in the room and at what volume level. By applying several different speakers and possibly different locations, we can determine the correct speaker solution for that specific space. Shown here are the audience areas for the Xavier Cintas Center.

 

Shown here is the travel of sound through space coming from a single source, such as a person speaking, and with no reinforcement. This is as clear as sound travel can ever be.  The sound waves are traveling out from the top center of the picture and decreasing as detailed in the Inverse Square Law. The objective of professional sound design engineering is to recreate this same clarity of pattern utilizing an electronic sound reinforcement system while increasing the sound levels appropriately at the listener's ear.

 

After applying the speaker to the software we get a rendering similar to this from which we can tell sound pressure levels as they change from seat to seat and in this facility from section to section. The objective here is to have the sound travel in a pattern similar to the picture above and have the volume levels as similar between any two seats as possible. Again showing the Xavier Cintas Center using a center cluster line array speaker configuration. Note that even though there is a volume level difference from area to area, there is an even flow of uninterrupted sound to every seat.

 

Shown here is the audience area of our small traditional Sanctuary and again using a center speaker configuration we can see the arrival of the sound at the various seats and the sound levels as they change throughout the room. Note also that the sound is uninterrupted as it moves back through the space.

The EASE software offers much more complex analysis of the room characteristics than is described here. However it should be obvious that every room where a clear sound reproduction is required will benefit from having this analysis performed as a part of the design process.

 

Among the battery of formulaic results generated by EASE is the RT60 or reverberation calculation used to determine clarity factors. Above is a chart showing the ideal time of delay at a nominal frequency averaged between 500Hz and 1000Hz. The EASE software will tell us exactly what the delay time is for the room be studied. Along with the other calculations it preforms we can make accurate decisions about the proper materials to use in a space.