Sound Sprinkles V1.0 Beta User Manual

SoundSprinklesV1.
0Beta
CeilingLoudspeakerDistributedSystemSoftware

USERMANUAL
Sound Sprinkles 1.0 User Manual
2
Table of Contents
1. Introduction ................................................................................................................ 4
2. Design the Ceiling Distributed System ...................................................................... 4
2-1. Room Dimension ............................................................................................ 4
2-2. Ceiling Condition ........................................................................................... 5
2-3. Loudspeaker Model ........................................................................................ 7
2-3-1. Select Model and Set Input Electricity Power ............................... 7
2-3-2. Build New Loudspeaker Model ..................................................... 8
2-4 Auto Arrange ................................................................................................. 10
2-4-1 Techniques behind the Screen ............................................................ 11
2-4-2 Fine Tuning and Other Auto Arrangement Parameters ..................... 15
2-5 Adjustment in Free Mode .............................................................................. 15
3. Calculation and Analysis ......................................................................................... 17
3-1 SPL Calculation in a Simplified Situation ..................................................... 18
3-2 Direct SPL Mapping and Distribution ........................................................... 19
4. Function Summary and Shortcut ............................................................................. 20
4-1 Main Menu .................................................................................................... 21
4-1-1 File Menu ........................................................................................... 21
4-1-2 Loudspeaker Menu ............................................................................. 21
4-1-3 View Menu ......................................................................................... 21
4-1-4 Help Menu .......................................................................................... 22
3
4-2 Tools and Parameters..................................................................................... 22
4-2-1 Room Layout Tab ............................................................................... 22
4-2-2 Report Tab .......................................................................................... 23
4-2-3 Room Tab ........................................................................................... 23
4-2-4 Auto Arrange Tab ............................................................................... 23
4-2-5 Calculation Tab .................................................................................. 24
Bibliography ................................................................................................................ 25

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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.
2. Design the Ceiling Distributed System
2-1. 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 ear Height.
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 of X(m) is 5 to 240m.
Y(m): the room width or the Y-axis dimension in accordance to any relevant CAD
layout. The range of Y(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
5
ceiling, indicated the trim height. Trim height is defined as the position of the grille of
the loudspeaker above the finished floor. The range of Spk 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].
2-2. 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:
6
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
7
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.
2-3. 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.
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
8
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.
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,
9
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 this box 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
10
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.
2-4 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
11
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.
2-4-1 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 of
Coverage Circle (r)

Figure 5
The coverage angle of -6dB beamwidth () is frequency dependent. Usually the
higher 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 = 3
Low Density (Edge to Edge) = 2 = 2
Very Low Density
= 22 = 22
Fixed 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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2-4-2 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.
2-5 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
16
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.
17
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.
3. 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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3-1 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)
19
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.
3-2 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,
20
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

4. Function Summary and Shortcut
This section is a quick reference for the program.
21
4-1 Main Menu
4-1-1 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.
4-1-2 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.
4-1-3 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.
22
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
4-1-4 Help Menu
About: View the contact information of the author
User Manual: view the user manual.
4-2 Tools and Parameters
4-2-1 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.
23
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.
4-2-2 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.
4-2-3 Room Tab
Refer to section 2-1 and 2-2.
4-2-4 Auto Arrange Tab
Refer to section 2-4.
24
4-2-5 Calculation Tab
Refer to section 3-2.

25
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.

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