Dunlavy Audio Software Addresses Acoustic Challenges

8-Jul-02

Dunlavy's new DALLAS (Dunlavy Audio Labs Listener Analysis Software) provides the answer to a significant puzzle for custom installers. Often, the acoustics of a room present the biggest challenge to creating a true home theatre. In a few simple steps, DALLAS collects ""real-time"" data from the room and then pinpoints the location of reflections and their frequency responses. DALLAS ranks the severity of these potentially damaging reflections and graphs them in 3D, providing the installer with an interactive fly-through of the room. Acoustic hot spots can be visualized and addressed quickly, saving the trial and error usually necessary for perfecting an installation.DALLAS software was the brainchild of John Sondericker of Dunlavy Audio Labs, who stated, ""We developed DALLAS as a tool for our dealers to help them optimize each one of their audio installations. As the CEDIA channel has matured, a great deal more emphasis has been put on video performance than audio. It's our belief that a dealer who can provide the customer superior sound can differentiate himself in the custom marketplace.""The DALLAS program also provides a battery of other acoustic analysis tools including a fully featured Real Time Analyzer (RTA), a modal resonance calculator, and the ability to measure and show impulse response, frequency response, spectrographs, and waterfall graphs. DALLAS can be installed on any Windows-based laptop with a USB port, and comes with a high quality sound card, microphone preamp, and a calibrated microphone to insure consistent, repeatable results. More detailed information is available in the following article, ""If Walls Could Talk.""If Walls Could Talk""If walls could talk"" is more than an old adage. It echoes one of the most enduring challenges to audio engineers and home theatre installers alike -- the optimal integration of loudspeakers into unique listening environments. Dunlavy Audio Labs has developed a solution for the installer who is serious about delivering first-rate audio as well as video to every customer. Dunlavy's new software -- dubbed DALLAS (Dunlavy Audio Labs Listener Analysis Software) -- offers dealers and installers a practical way to analyze speaker performance in any venue. Based on data collected in the room, DALLAS graphically displays room response in a 3D, interactive fly-through that highlights reflection points and other room interactions. The exact wall location of a reflection point, its severity, and the frequency response of the reflected sound is displayed visually. The installer can then easily determine how the problem can best be addressed. Whether the solution is re-arranging furniture and accessories in the room, or applying acoustic treatment to the space, the results can be immediately evaluated. DALLAS can dramatically shorten the amount of time needed to optimize an installation. DALLAS installs on any Windows-based laptop computer with a USB port, giving the installer an extremely convenient, portable tool. An external sound card, mic preamp, and a calibrated measurement microphone are supplied with DALLAS in a rugged carrying case. The program also contains a fully-featured RTA, and tools to perform room modal resonant calculation and measurement. This revolutionary software consolidates many of the instruments installers have been forced to carry to the job site in order to accurately analyze audio performance. Designed for versatility and ease of use, DALLAS contains a detailed help system that is always one click away. For the inquisitive mind, the program includes the one-of-a-kind Dunlavy University -- a library on room acoustic theory and other topics of interest to audiophiles and audio professionals alike.DALLAS is a dynamic, interactive, common sense approach to analyzing and correcting acoustical problems in a specific listening room or environment that requires accuracy and clarity in sound reproduction. No other program on the market offers audio specialists such a wide variety of features, including:- Display of the actual frequency response of each reflection - Works easily with any number of speakers - Evaluates any number of listening positions - Impulse response, frequency response, spectrograph and waterfall graphs display - Eight separate measurement channels for easy comparison of tests - Printable graphs and note pads for record keeping - Relative SPL meter is included The new DALLAS software program will be introduced at the 2002 CEDIA show in Minneapolis with two manufacturer's training classes. First availability will be extended to Dunlavy dealers and distributors, with a public release to follow shortly.

For more information about Dunlavy Audio, visit www.dunlavyaudio.com.

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