Most of the performance in any engineered assembly will be design driven. Simply by buying a commodity loudspeaker, you're paying for a lot of design work.
Hi Pete. I did serious, high-end car audio design and build in the early 90’s, and with an engineering and computer programming background, I wrote many of my own tools based upon the original T/S papers and measured drivers using techniques that were only just barely starting to factor in listening space. I stumbled upon this video, and am absolutely blown away by how detailed and thorough your engineering process has become. I am HIGHLY impressed!
As a student studying acoustics, I am deeply thankful for this video. you are a huge inspiration to me. As a fellow bass enthusiast, a 3D designer, and a 3D printer enthusiast. Thank you so much.
That feeling when you're 18 minutes into a brain-melting demonstration of enclosure design and you've been wondering the whole time how this would work in your 1990 CRX and he nonchalantly drops the set-up into a 1991 CRX... 😆🤯
This is so cool. Every time I think I know enough about sub design to get by on my own there’s just sooo much more knowledge to gain and improve. Thank you for sharing
beautiful analysis. I think we all remember the days of grabbing some swap-meet subs and throwing together a box with some leftover plywood and a jigsaw and tossing it in the hatchback, mathematics be damned 😀
Yeah, I understood about 3% of what you said. I wish I knew how to do this for what I was planning but wow this is more complicated than I thought. You are really good at what you do man.
That is some advanced modelling skills at work. This video inspires me to upskill myself to make decisions more accurately. Great work Pete, Thank you for sharing your time and expertise with me.
@@EngineeringEssentials I'm good thanks. This video from hexibase has inspired me to go and learn some of the open source software he's shown. I already do acoustic simulations, etc like the ones shown. But if I learn this free stuff then I might actually be able to make tutorials on it, unlike the research/education stuff I currently use like ansys and comsol. How are you?
Watching this for the third time and it makes more sense each time. I love AD subs and it's exciting to get a glimpse on what happens on the pro level.
I recently bought a 2015 MX-5, and have been looking at my options for getting a decent sounding system in it. Thanks to this video, I now have a LOT of work ahead of me, tearing the car apart to take measurements of the area under the soft top behind the rear bulkhead so I can model an enclosure... Part of me (the part that makes spreadsheets for literally every major decision I make) is super excited. The other part (the part that has a limited number of hours in the day to screw around) is scared, lol.
You are simply on another level. I did my engineering final year project on trying out a dynamically-ported speaker (port geometry changes in real time with the music chords basically) -- but I was just messing about compared to the work you do and knowledge you have. I'll pay for something like a 2-hour complete tutorial explaining each step in extreme detail, and showing how you've come to some of the intuition you have.
Had a 2000 f150 single cab with two ds18 8-inch elites behind the seat in a box I built myself 2.43sf³ with a baffle and a chimney port. I did the cab measurements and tuned it for 44.7 hz and loved it now I'm running a 15" ds18 exl-xxb on 6K in a 3.5sf³ prebuilt box in my ram and while it does hit hard it doesn't have that same feel to it nor is it as loud. But hats off to you for what u do man some people don't realize what truly goes into designing an enclosure , I need to build a box for my new truck but I guess I'll get around to it if I end up getting that 18 from trinity audio
Good god. All of my early 2000's modeling was stone age stuff compared to now. I'm way out of the game now but I do have to say the modeling as described in this video is absolutely insane - in an awesome way. A great time to be a loudspeaker designer, for sure.
Wow. What a great walk through of the sound engineering process and considerations for a single subwoofer box. Jaw dropping. Can definitely look forward to more like this 👍🏻
Watched this video 2 times. Makes me wonder how long it will take for me to get to this level. When I was a kid my idol was Zaph Audio, but times change. Great work man!
This is extremely exciting! I've been working on my own suite of software and workflow, and this indicates to me that I'm on the right track. I've been working with FreeCAD, SciLab (and similar), Ngspice, VituixCAD, etc... Though I have no intentions of refining this much further, the practices and concepts explored here are applicable too so many different areas. I come from an electronics/RF background with a hefty helping of computer science, and all but the loudspeaker specific software is new to me. This recent revisit of the acoustical side of my hobbies has been a boon to my knowledgebase, moreso than possibly any other facet I've explored. Systems modeling, control theory... Mmm, so good. Thanks Pete, for the inspiration and motivation.
BRAVO! I'm only knowledgable enough to follow along at a high level, understanding bits and pieces throughout at varying depths, but what's abundantly clear - you're a master of your craft, and I looooved the reasoning behind the 'no on the spot enclosure recommendations' snippet towards the end.
Most informative video out there. From impedance curves to audio output with different drivers with given parameters. So much information in one video. AWESOME.
I can't expect a reply to this given the age but nothing ventured... I've watched this more than a few times now and there's one tool in the chain I've yet to identify. At about the 4:00 mark there's a graphic that I think is showing SPL (or energy) at various locations in the vehicle. There was a brief mention of "acoustic Abaqus", which I assume is some acoustic tailored version of the FEA software package. Yet it was not listed in the tools used. ReW was listed but though I've not used its Room Simulator, I don't think it produces this level of data. I'll assume, though not really needed, the graphics depicting the data was done via Blender. So how was the data depicted above generated ? I'm curious because although my engineering background is in radar, much of the concepts and principles apply across the fields. (No pun intended) Fantastic video, as always. Much appreciated!!
@@brianmack6285do you know what software is shown at 7:09? I recognise the FreeCAD window but I'm unsure what he's using for actually simulating the enclosure in an environment?
@@sandwich.entity3810My guess, from others comments, is that it's a plot in a spreadsheet (LibreOffice). It seems that "HexiB" wrote his auto interior modeling as a huge set of spreadsheet calcs some time ago and is still using this. I'd really like to know what approach he took and just how deep the simulation goes in trying to include all the real world effects. Room EQ Wizard has a room simulator, that I've never used, that does some simplistic modeling. I don't know how well either does in modeling and if they've ever been really validated. Obviously not every crook and valley is included and the acoustic properties of the various surfaces is at best 1'st order guess. Perhaps that's a good idea for another informative video, just how well does what was presented resemble the real world and what's important, and not, to make it good enough.
@brianmack6285 he created and has constantly improved upon his own virtual particle accelerator. I saw this over 16 years ago at his home when he lived in one of the most remote locations in the USA. He has deleted many awesome videos that aren't as modern and esthetically appealing as his current content....but they were packed with awesome information & visual representations like you see here. He says it in the video, using an engineering lexicon, that what you see is absolutely not what he sees when he's at work. Layman's visual representations. I'd liken what I saw well over a decade ago to the binary rainfall in The Matrix. Back then he could model response differences in any location, in any atmosphere, of popcorn vs slick ceilings, thick-pile carpet vs wood floors, etc.
This is one of my favorite videos yet. I did something very similar in Paradox 1.0 many years ago, with optimization for every driver in my database. It would help you pick the best solution for the available space. It was limited to sealed and ported. Great to see this with higher order and TL designs. Nice work!
It blows my mind on how intelligent you are when it comes to doing these things. I'm a bit envious. It would be interesting to see what you could do if there was a fiberglass enclosure, molded to the wheel-well of the vehicle. and what kind of outcome it would produce or what it would need additionally to produce a proper conclusion. Love all your work bud! Have a great day! :)
Oh hell yea thank youuuu!!!! Ive been waiting for something like this. I have searched the internet to find a way to model frequency response using capacitive and inductive reactance because something is missing from my calculations. I hope this video has what i need
that workflow is insane! clearly not for everyone but it seems to take into consideration every aspect. And im here just doing winsid and struggling haha!
Great video! (As always) I especially enjoyed the part showing the cabinet and output curves as you were changing the geometry with the curves following right along showing the changing results. Awesome design tool!
This is a video I have been hoping you would make for a while. You have my thanks! It will definitely take me another watch-through or two to glean everything there is to be learned from this video. The comments on tuning frequency in particular, was something I had noticed in practice, but never had a good understanding of.
Next time someone ask me to build a sub box and I say "I can build you one that will sound pretty good, but I'm no expert. You should get someone smarter than me to design it first." I'm going to send them to this video.
cześć, pozdrowienia z Australii. Love these video's, glad I found your channel, I fill in a lot of gaps in my knowledge and get ideas from your projects, the learning is the grind but once you have the knowledge, the fun can start.
Very thorough, I have to watch your videos at least 5 times to catch everything you present! Please do a video on using multiple drivers like 4, 8 even 16 subs , I am sure the response would greatly vary compared to 1 Great channel
Meanwhile I just designed my box in SketchUp by only having the max size limit of my trunk to go after, and basic knowledge of sub boxes. Smacked that shit together and prayed it would work. And it did! Could it be designed a lot better? Definitely, but for the last six years I've lived in ignorant bliss as my 10" Digital Designs chuff along in their tiny enclosures. Pretty inspiring what you do, I wish to have this knowledge.
Exactly, This is all very impressive and absolutely worth it for some people. But with a few weeks of research and practice you can use WinISD to figure out your enclosures' specs and design the box with SketchUp or even just on paper and your enclosure will still perform 98% as good.
So you use OpenSCAD to model the listening space, Freecad to build the enclosure, am I understanding that correctly? What do you use for the acoustic simulation generating FR graphs?
Really cool that your employer was able to set you loose going over the ins and outs of enclosure design. While I always knew there were lots of intricacies to designing an enclosure, this really sets that detail in stark relief. Also makes one wonder how off-the-shelf speaker manufacturers are able to create sub enclosures for even more varied environments. The mind reels. 👍
He shows about 10% of useful software. The rest is just visualizations made specifically for the viewer; he doesn't use visual things like you see there. It's 90% cartoon for the layman. The information is in the dialog, though. Listen again with your eyes shut.
Ah fair one, I'm no computer expert. I did like the 3d modes study software. It does run on a number of heavy assumptions pertaining to the damping factor of the surfaces though. Xx
This is frickin awesome! The video I've been waiting for from you! Frickin awesome! I had you design the sub enclosure for the bed of a show truck made out of aluminum. And I have always been curious about the methods you used. By the way, it hits so hard and sounds amazing!
This is outstanding! I didn't know someone would really go to that much effort to simulate a loudpeaker enclosure from start to end so that the frequency response it creates in a specific environment matches a predefined curve at the listening position. Two questions: 1) What simulation software do you use? How did you achive live-update of the simulated frequency responses while tuning the parameters in CAD? 😧 2) 04:27 - Equal Loudness Target. Why do you want to match the equal loudness curve in the first place? Producers create their music on systems that follow a rather linear frequency response and not one, that follows the shape of an equal loudness curve. So why should our subwoofer do? In my view it just adds a colouration to the low end sound. What am I overseeing?
Yes and no. There are different problems at the same time when mixing music. Yes, you could compensate in the production or mixing stage of your music BUT: the lower the note the bigger the wave and less space in the mix. So when compensating for equal loudness you'd have to limit different notes differently or you overdrive very low notes, so you only do this in a very rough way eg. octave jumps
I agree using the Equal loudness contour diagrams in this way does seem odd. I've only ever used it for comparing differences at two different volumes and compensating for that so that the content sounds the same at a volume louder or quieter than the reference. I can't quite see why he would try to trace the contour in this way. I'd like to hear his thoughts on this.
1) This is really interesting to me too... I'm pretty sure he's taken advantage of OpenSource CAD editors so he can easily write and run a script (possibly written in Python) from whatever operating system he's using (in this case, Windows). The script periodically extracts data from the CAD file and parses it into another text file, which the Sheets editor can then read in real time. This can be achieved using plugins or macros. Afterward, it calculates and prints data and frequency responde charts using macros within the same spreadsheet file.
Let me add: I watched this after drinking a decent amount of quality Kentucky style bourbon. My face now hurts very badly from straining to comprehend what the heck you are talking about.
Thanks for sharing, that was very enlightening and fun to watch. I would love to see a more indepth tutorial, but seeing the overall process was great!
I think I know just enough of what you're saying to follow along but realize how little I know. This make my brain hurt, but in a good way. I think this could have been broken into a half dozen videos explaining all sorts of acoustic design principals. I really enjoyed this, but now need to go watch some silly cat videos. Thank you.
This is the best video on the actual, thorough, engineering of a speaker I have seen by an absolute landslide. Proper custom speaker design and manufacture such as this is something I want to pivot into, what is your educational/professional background?
Hats off, amazing work!! I just worry the model of cabin is way off from reality _garbage in garbage out_ Could there be a better way to model the space?
The video is a bare-bones visual representation (for the viewers, unused by him). It gives Layman's explanation with crayons compared to what he's really looking at when modeling. He mentions it quickly, but 99.x% of watchers won't catch it.
@@RightPriceSports Pretty sure he's modifying a basic parametric model in openscad, 0:51 "all my models". He just mentioned opening the file in a 3D viewer for us to see, but it's not strictly necessary. So he's working off a realllly basic estimation that's probably nowhere near real world. There has to be a better way, maybe using something like a bunch of data collected with 'REW' in conjunction with the basic model, or even better a 3D scan or actual model from OEM
Can you also make sub recomendations? Seems much more efficient to have this done with the flexibility of picking a better suited driver before actually commiting to a subwoofer and make that fit as best as possible.
He can recommend from drivers he's modeled very recently, but that's just based on memory. His driver database is vast & runs over a decade and a half of models, versions, revisions etc and it takes man hours that can't be quoted on demand when you request a design. So, it's highly unlikely that you can get him to make a recommendation on drivers, it's much easier & responsible to let you dig your own foxhole & he just optimize it.
@@RightPriceSports he must have a shortlist of what he knows works well in certain applications. Going by that would if you don't have specific preferences for a driver make life easier for everyone involved i'd imagine.
@Baron von Limbourgh if it were me, I'd liken that to "giving financial advice" or "endorsing an exact S/N product". This, because the customer will want to hold the engineer responsible for the failure of a product, specifically after the McDonald's tech dept guy points the finger away from his company.
What software / visuals are used to create the pressure simulations, such as at 16:20? I thoroughly enjoyed this and might look into picking up model-based enclosures in the future. As of right now, most designs are just simple Bassreflex Boxes.
I would like to know as well! Been asking since the early days 😢 I don't mind being pointed in the direction of where to go, I also don't mind paying for a similar program. Can someone (Preferably Pete) guide us please?
From what I understand he designed the whole software suite himself by programming live scripts so he could output his SPL graphs in real time... Simply astounding level of engineering. I understand why he wouldn't want to share his intellectual property, but I would pay so much to get to use this software 😂
First off thank you for sharing these types of videos with us. I had read in another comment that you designed and built an enclosure for someone? If so what do you charge and what info do you need?
The software used at 6:15 is incredibly! Seeing how the enclosure affects the response live is amazing. Is that a software that is available somewhere? Right now I am looking for ways to simulate enclosures and room acoustics at specific positions and something like that would be awesome!
Haven't watched that far, but have you checked the video description? It says all used software is free or open source and has a list of used programs with links.
@@raw_000 None of the programs there seem to be capable of those acoustic simulations by themselves. There are programs that are open source and free that can be used for simulation though. Including one that can be integrated into FreeCAD.
I think he has actually written everything in Libre office calc. It is just a spreadsheet with things color coded to make it look like a GUI, with buttons have macros assigned to them. I think the simulation is being done numerically in the spreadsheet, which is certainly possible although the math behind there must be crazy. It's also possible that the macros are launching something else to perform the simulation.
This was very enlightening, and it was interesting to get a look at some of the tools available. But I think in as many words, his conclusion is "It's the back of Chevy Suburban, not Carneghie hall -you might as well just wing it"
my yamaha subwoofer has a "yst" system (yamaha active servo tech), would a system like that have a effect on the design of the enclosure? the yst would make the ts parameters and such from the driver itself unusable? would they measure the driver with the yst system active? or arent they matched at all and could use any random 10" driver?
The fun part is putting everything together to calculate a response curve, and then it morphs over time, when even a single tone builds in amplitude as the multiple dissipating waves bounce throughout the cabin. See that on a XYZ ∆P graph, real time....that is some cool ish. That's what he wrote over a decade ago. I can imagine what he's modified it to today.
@@RightPriceSportsHi, I've seen a few of your comments and you seem to have some insight into his design process... Do you know what software is shown at 7:09 (and throughout the video)? I recognise the FreeCAD window but I'm unsure what he's using for actually simulating the enclosure in an environment? Or is it all done via spreadsheet calculations? If so I'm still curious what software he's using to select inputs/outputs ect, and how that would interact with the spreadsheets and 3D model in real time? Any insights you have would be amazing! I'm not looking to have a workflow as well interlinked and optimised as his, but the ability to model the specifics of an enclosure within an environment would be great. Most of the tools I've been using so far just take overall sizes (e.g. volume or port area ect) not exact enclosure dimensions/layouts, and none of them will interact with an environment! I have 3D modelling experience so being able to put it to use and more realistically simulate enclosures would be interesting. Thank you
When I specified my sub enclosure, I asked for sealed because I thought this would give me the most accurate response as it related to the kind of music I listen to which is metal with heavy double bass. In my experience a ported enclosure resulted in inaccurate sound at higher volumes. Is this correct? Should I have considered other designs?
This is why you have no option as to which alignment you get when using his services. You request a specific performance & then list the limitations, and as you can see, he then goes to Mars to find the best possible set of physical characteristics to achieve your goal.
This video is a bit weird in that the client wanted only up to 60hz and already had a driver/speaker. Ported designes are good getting more efficiency way down in those low frequencies where a ton of power is needed exponentially as you get lower. Usually crossover in a car sub will be higher than 60hz, depending on the car/situation (and as you noted, the playback content) ported design will struggle to provide tight bass when crossover is set to a more usual 100-150Hz, as most car 6x9 and door speakers still struggling down there. So barring some other low-mid solution, this client must have a big hole between 60 and wherever the other speakers come into their own. Maybe this is just for some competition thing
Probably should have stated your concerns about this and let him do the work. I am pretty sure he would have recomended the best possible option for your specific situation, no matter what it would have been. Like you see here, there is a lot more to it then the general simple rules people like to use/talk about. They probably hold true in most cases when you or me design a box ourselves. But probably less so when you are able to model basicly anything to perfection.
@@baronvonlimbourgh1716 The thing is, his perfection is only as good as model of the cabin he's basing everything on, and it's far from perfect. _Garbage in, garbage out_ Maybe down below 60hz it's fine as the waves are huge and rudimentary model works, but things get tricky as you get into the region between sub bass and mids You can engineer to the nth degree of perfection, but you also need to see the big picture, ask the right questions etc. Client may look at marketing for their 6x9s and tell you 60-80hz is a good crossover point, big picture outlook and experience will tell you that's not realistic. When client turns around and complains about loose muddy base, blaming client because they specified 60hz maybe technically correct, but still a design failure nonetheless
@@Not_Sure-i6o if that's the case, that would have been the exact advice he would have given him, wouldn't he? The OP is now questioning his decision. Would he have stated his concerns he either would have recieved a better sounding system or he would have had his experiences confirmed and would be confident what he has recieved now actually also is the best solution for his application. Pretty straight forward.
While this may be the best video on the subject ever made, I bet at least 70% of us dont have a clue about half of the stuff you said, unfortunately or fortunately for you :) My question is what would be the way and software for us, those 70% who would like to try to design our own enclosure, is there any procedure to follow that would make us not making big mistakes? I do understand that enclosure design if we want it to be perfect should be left to professionals, even driver choice and amps and in some cases even vehicle choice, but say we have some vehicle and some driver for which we have parameters and we roughly want it to be in specific place and have limited size available what would be the best approach to design and build enclosure which would not sound bad. For good sounding one we know who to ask and what to do, but how about some simple diy not bad sounding project which is not sensitive to millimeter precision errors which can end up more like centimeter beginner errors in build process for example?
Please help explain: This level is above me and have some basic questions. I understand the bass distance is based on the hz it is played at, 28hz around 34 feet. But does certain box enclosures change the distance of the apex? Or is it just the note played? Is the apex also the completion of the frequency wave? Or the whole wave length? What would be the order of distance apex be- sealed/passive radiator/ported/4th order/horn?
What software are you using in the 10 minute 15 second point in this video that lets you see and dynamically change the Box configuration while updating the frequency response curve?
I used to target an equal loudness curve also. More recently, I’ve decided the production team already takes this into account in the mixing studio. Therefore, a flat response is quite adequate. What are your findings with mixing levels from the studio? Thanks.
Do you know how to or know of any videos on how to evaluate and test a specific cars' acoustics and utilize/combine tbat info to build a more accurate or better SPL sub enclosure. Im asking this because i have a 2006 Nissan Maxima and i think its one of the worst acoustically sounding cars ive ever heard. I mean its REALLY terrible. The only thing i could think of is either using my Alesis MEQ-230(dual 30 band graphic eq) or my Behringer Ultra Curve Pro DEQ2496 to "flatten the car". Any suggestions?
Accelerometers on each panel, then extrapolate to build a model, like he showed you, with multiple compliances. Then figure out how that affects pressure waves moving thru it. Then figure out how it operates with hundreds of pressure waves moving thru it over time.
@@RightPriceSports thanks whether i use that in this car, maybe. Do you or anyone know at car stereo contests, what cars are used in "sound quality" winners the most?
This is pretty incredible, and honestly looks more approachable than I'd expected; Do you think it'd be possible to invert this workflow in order to design a soundproof enclosure for a specific sound source? Also, the description lists all software as being free or open source, but I'm not sure which one the actual speaker configuration and acoustic simulation program is supposed to be; It looks like it might be in-house software?
I would prefer to have a flat response and let the electronics handle the loudness curve. For the obvious reason loudness needs to flatten out at louder volume.
This video is jaw dropping. It really makes the price of that enclosure design seem like a completely reasonable investment.
Most of the performance in any engineered assembly will be design driven. Simply by buying a commodity loudspeaker, you're paying for a lot of design work.
Hi Pete. I did serious, high-end car audio design and build in the early 90’s, and with an engineering and computer programming background, I wrote many of my own tools based upon the original T/S papers and measured drivers using techniques that were only just barely starting to factor in listening space. I stumbled upon this video, and am absolutely blown away by how detailed and thorough your engineering process has become. I am HIGHLY impressed!
my dad did DJ magic mikes set up and im trying to figure it out too
As a student studying acoustics, I am deeply thankful for this video. you are a huge inspiration to me. As a fellow bass enthusiast, a 3D designer, and a 3D printer enthusiast. Thank you so much.
That feeling when you're 18 minutes into a brain-melting demonstration of enclosure design and you've been wondering the whole time how this would work in your 1990 CRX and he nonchalantly drops the set-up into a 1991 CRX... 😆🤯
I've got a 89 with a dd 9518 in it 😂... Let's just say violence 😊
This is so cool. Every time I think I know enough about sub design to get by on my own there’s just sooo much more knowledge to gain and improve. Thank you for sharing
damn this really opened my eyes when it comes to enclosure design and the difference between SPL n SQ
I have no idea what you said, but as usual, I’m amazed listening to you say it! Well done.
Man that is a firehose of information for people not doing this daily, great stuff!
You lost me right after, "My name is Pete..." 🤣
AI would probably do all the technical work for us instantly. Then all you'd have to do is print the enclosure. Future is looking good
@@lxrdvader2021
I didn't even think of that
But I'm sure Pete could out perform a AI box
But I'll take the AI help
@@johnj2496 gonna have to agree with you, he's built different
Talk about a knowledge dump! Waaaayyyy more information here than I'll ever be able to comprehend
I learned something from you today. Me at 50, technology has advanced by leaps and bounds indeed.
U are hands down 1 of the most intelligent and interesting people that I have ever came across on you tube.
beautiful analysis. I think we all remember the days of grabbing some swap-meet subs and throwing together a box with some leftover plywood and a jigsaw and tossing it in the hatchback, mathematics be damned 😀
Yeah, I understood about 3% of what you said. I wish I knew how to do this for what I was planning but wow this is more complicated than I thought. You are really good at what you do man.
That is some advanced modelling skills at work. This video inspires me to upskill myself to make decisions more accurately. Great work Pete, Thank you for sharing your time and expertise with me.
Hey Deepak. Fancy seeing you here 👋
@@Elliott-Designs Hi Elliott, Nice to see you again. How are you?
@@EngineeringEssentials I'm good thanks. This video from hexibase has inspired me to go and learn some of the open source software he's shown. I already do acoustic simulations, etc like the ones shown. But if I learn this free stuff then I might actually be able to make tutorials on it, unlike the research/education stuff I currently use like ansys and comsol. How are you?
Watching this for the third time and it makes more sense each time. I love AD subs and it's exciting to get a glimpse on what happens on the pro level.
You have outdone yourself on this one! I understood everything about this in theory before, but now I have a more practical understanding. Thank you.
Super-Pete does it again! Greatest video of all time.
I recently bought a 2015 MX-5, and have been looking at my options for getting a decent sounding system in it. Thanks to this video, I now have a LOT of work ahead of me, tearing the car apart to take measurements of the area under the soft top behind the rear bulkhead so I can model an enclosure... Part of me (the part that makes spreadsheets for literally every major decision I make) is super excited. The other part (the part that has a limited number of hours in the day to screw around) is scared, lol.
You are simply on another level. I did my engineering final year project on trying out a dynamically-ported speaker (port geometry changes in real time with the music chords basically) -- but I was just messing about compared to the work you do and knowledge you have. I'll pay for something like a 2-hour complete tutorial explaining each step in extreme detail, and showing how you've come to some of the intuition you have.
Unfortunately, I think he wrote his own software, so a tutorial may not give you the skills you need to catch up. Guy is on another level. LoL
Had a 2000 f150 single cab with two ds18 8-inch elites behind the seat in a box I built myself 2.43sf³ with a baffle and a chimney port. I did the cab measurements and tuned it for 44.7 hz and loved it now I'm running a 15" ds18 exl-xxb on 6K in a 3.5sf³ prebuilt box in my ram and while it does hit hard it doesn't have that same feel to it nor is it as loud. But hats off to you for what u do man some people don't realize what truly goes into designing an enclosure , I need to build a box for my new truck but I guess I'll get around to it if I end up getting that 18 from trinity audio
One of the best car audio videos ever viewed
Good god. All of my early 2000's modeling was stone age stuff compared to now. I'm way out of the game now but I do have to say the modeling as described in this video is absolutely insane - in an awesome way. A great time to be a loudspeaker designer, for sure.
Wow. What a great walk through of the sound engineering process and considerations for a single subwoofer box. Jaw dropping. Can definitely look forward to more like this 👍🏻
Watched this video 2 times. Makes me wonder how long it will take for me to get to this level. When I was a kid my idol was Zaph Audio, but times change. Great work man!
I don’t think I’ll ever make it to his level. We can try though.
Although if you’re doing half of this and you’re in the car audio space, you’re doing better than 90% of the people out there
Many years, a keen interest in the subject and the job which allows you to get to this stage.
You’re certainly on your way, man! I follow your channel as well.
This is extremely exciting! I've been working on my own suite of software and workflow, and this indicates to me that I'm on the right track. I've been working with FreeCAD, SciLab (and similar), Ngspice, VituixCAD, etc...
Though I have no intentions of refining this much further, the practices and concepts explored here are applicable too so many different areas. I come from an electronics/RF background with a hefty helping of computer science, and all but the loudspeaker specific software is new to me.
This recent revisit of the acoustical side of my hobbies has been a boon to my knowledgebase, moreso than possibly any other facet I've explored. Systems modeling, control theory... Mmm, so good.
Thanks Pete, for the inspiration and motivation.
BRAVO! I'm only knowledgable enough to follow along at a high level, understanding bits and pieces throughout at varying depths, but what's abundantly clear - you're a master of your craft, and I looooved the reasoning behind the 'no on the spot enclosure recommendations' snippet towards the end.
You sir are an acoustic wizard
Top tier knowledge and presentation. Thanks for all your work!
Most informative video out there. From impedance curves to audio output with different drivers with given parameters. So much information in one video. AWESOME.
I can't expect a reply to this given the age but nothing ventured...
I've watched this more than a few times now and there's one tool in the chain I've yet to identify. At about the 4:00 mark there's a graphic that I think is showing SPL (or energy) at various locations in the vehicle. There was a brief mention of "acoustic Abaqus", which I assume is some acoustic tailored version of the FEA software package. Yet it was not listed in the tools used. ReW was listed but though I've not used its Room Simulator, I don't think it produces this level of data. I'll assume, though not really needed, the graphics depicting the data was done via Blender.
So how was the data depicted above generated ? I'm curious because although my engineering background is in radar, much of the concepts and principles apply across the fields. (No pun intended)
Fantastic video, as always. Much appreciated!!
@@brianmack6285do you know what software is shown at 7:09? I recognise the FreeCAD window but I'm unsure what he's using for actually simulating the enclosure in an environment?
@@sandwich.entity3810My guess, from others comments, is that it's a plot in a spreadsheet (LibreOffice). It seems that "HexiB" wrote his auto interior modeling as a huge set of spreadsheet calcs some time ago and is still using this. I'd really like to know what approach he took and just how deep the simulation goes in trying to include all the real world effects. Room EQ Wizard has a room simulator, that I've never used, that does some simplistic modeling. I don't know how well either does in modeling and if they've ever been really validated. Obviously not every crook and valley is included and the acoustic properties of the various surfaces is at best 1'st order guess. Perhaps that's a good idea for another informative video, just how well does what was presented resemble the real world and what's important, and not, to make it good enough.
@brianmack6285 he created and has constantly improved upon his own virtual particle accelerator. I saw this over 16 years ago at his home when he lived in one of the most remote locations in the USA. He has deleted many awesome videos that aren't as modern and esthetically appealing as his current content....but they were packed with awesome information & visual representations like you see here. He says it in the video, using an engineering lexicon, that what you see is absolutely not what he sees when he's at work. Layman's visual representations. I'd liken what I saw well over a decade ago to the binary rainfall in The Matrix. Back then he could model response differences in any location, in any atmosphere, of popcorn vs slick ceilings, thick-pile carpet vs wood floors, etc.
Holy shit dude. That's bonkers. Always impressed with your content.
This is super fascinating. I didn't know I was so interested in acoustics and sound engineering until this video. Thank you so much
This is one of my favorite videos yet. I did something very similar in Paradox 1.0 many years ago, with optimization for every driver in my database. It would help you pick the best solution for the available space. It was limited to sealed and ported. Great to see this with higher order and TL designs. Nice work!
As always, these type of content is inspiring. Thank you so much for sharing! I have to rewatch the video to digest. ❤❤
It blows my mind on how intelligent you are when it comes to doing these things. I'm a bit envious. It would be interesting to see what you could do if there was a fiberglass enclosure, molded to the wheel-well of the vehicle. and what kind of outcome it would produce or what it would need additionally to produce a proper conclusion. Love all your work bud! Have a great day! :)
I have a friend that did that in an audi a4 combi with a FI IB3 18 and it sounds amazing, he peaks at 15 Hz 😁
Oh hell yea thank youuuu!!!! Ive been waiting for something like this. I have searched the internet to find a way to model frequency response using capacitive and inductive reactance because something is missing from my calculations. I hope this video has what i need
That was awesome. Looking forward to a pt.2. Really interesting. Thank you for the work you put into the video. Your videos are awesome.
that workflow is insane! clearly not for everyone but it seems to take into consideration every aspect. And im here just doing winsid and struggling haha!
So much knowledge and so much work!
Great video! (As always)
I especially enjoyed the part showing the cabinet and output curves as you were changing the geometry with the curves following right along showing the changing results. Awesome design tool!
Thank you so much for this video. It is valuable knowledge to my increaing library of sound design. Another bang on video Pete😄👍
This is a video I have been hoping you would make for a while. You have my thanks! It will definitely take me another watch-through or two to glean everything there is to be learned from this video. The comments on tuning frequency in particular, was something I had noticed in practice, but never had a good understanding of.
Next time someone ask me to build a sub box and I say "I can build you one that will sound pretty good, but I'm no expert. You should get someone smarter than me to design it first." I'm going to send them to this video.
cześć, pozdrowienia z Australii. Love these video's, glad I found your channel, I fill in a lot of gaps in my knowledge and get ideas from your projects, the learning is the grind but once you have the knowledge, the fun can start.
Thanks for thoroughly discouraging me from progressing in the world of professional custom subwoofer design.
Very thorough, I have to watch your videos at least 5 times to catch everything you present! Please do a video on using multiple drivers like 4, 8 even 16 subs , I am sure the response would greatly vary compared to 1
Great channel
Meanwhile I just designed my box in SketchUp by only having the max size limit of my trunk to go after, and basic knowledge of sub boxes.
Smacked that shit together and prayed it would work. And it did!
Could it be designed a lot better? Definitely, but for the last six years I've lived in ignorant bliss as my 10" Digital Designs chuff along in their tiny enclosures.
Pretty inspiring what you do, I wish to have this knowledge.
Exactly, This is all very impressive and absolutely worth it for some people. But with a few weeks of research and practice you can use WinISD to figure out your enclosures' specs and design the box with SketchUp or even just on paper and your enclosure will still perform 98% as good.
Thanks for sharing this, I'm just a car audio hobbiest but I really want to get further into audio engineering and I love the content. Keep it up
i thought you would be using like winisd or vituixcad but that seems much more sophisticated. were can i get this software?🙂
So you use OpenSCAD to model the listening space, Freecad to build the enclosure, am I understanding that correctly? What do you use for the acoustic simulation generating FR graphs?
Im also interested to better understand this aspect of his design process
Really cool that your employer was able to set you loose going over the ins and outs of enclosure design. While I always knew there were lots of intricacies to designing an enclosure, this really sets that detail in stark relief. Also makes one wonder how off-the-shelf speaker manufacturers are able to create sub enclosures for even more varied environments. The mind reels. 👍
His employer hired him because of his skill set. Pete has had multiple business from his design work. Since before 2005 for sure
Manufacturers use a one-size-fits-all approach and many are absolutely clueless how to do this kind of work TBH.
So much for just putting any beand 12s in my van 😂, you just opened (fried) my mind to a lot more senarios!! Great video and way more explanations
So much information 😭 going to have to watch again
Brilliant Pete. Your software is extremely impressive. Nicely done that man xx
He shows about 10% of useful software. The rest is just visualizations made specifically for the viewer; he doesn't use visual things like you see there. It's 90% cartoon for the layman. The information is in the dialog, though. Listen again with your eyes shut.
Ah fair one, I'm no computer expert. I did like the 3d modes study software. It does run on a number of heavy assumptions pertaining to the damping factor of the surfaces though. Xx
This is frickin awesome! The video I've been waiting for from you! Frickin awesome! I had you design the sub enclosure for the bed of a show truck made out of aluminum. And I have always been curious about the methods you used. By the way, it hits so hard and sounds amazing!
Wow, this was a really interesting deep dive! Thanks! :)
Ok I'm done ,half way through and I'm exhausted 😂
This is outstanding! I didn't know someone would really go to that much effort to simulate a loudpeaker enclosure from start to end so that the frequency response it creates in a specific environment matches a predefined curve at the listening position.
Two questions:
1) What simulation software do you use? How did you achive live-update of the simulated frequency responses while tuning the parameters in CAD? 😧
2) 04:27 - Equal Loudness Target. Why do you want to match the equal loudness curve in the first place? Producers create their music on systems that follow a rather linear frequency response and not one, that follows the shape of an equal loudness curve. So why should our subwoofer do? In my view it just adds a colouration to the low end sound.
What am I overseeing?
Yes and no. There are different problems at the same time when mixing music. Yes, you could compensate in the production or mixing stage of your music BUT: the lower the note the bigger the wave and less space in the mix. So when compensating for equal loudness you'd have to limit different notes differently or you overdrive very low notes, so you only do this in a very rough way eg. octave jumps
I agree using the Equal loudness contour diagrams in this way does seem odd. I've only ever used it for comparing differences at two different volumes and compensating for that so that the content sounds the same at a volume louder or quieter than the reference. I can't quite see why he would try to trace the contour in this way. I'd like to hear his thoughts on this.
Used software was linked in the videos description, but I am interested in the live updates as well.
1) This is really interesting to me too... I'm pretty sure he's taken advantage of OpenSource CAD editors so he can easily write and run a script (possibly written in Python) from whatever operating system he's using (in this case, Windows). The script periodically extracts data from the CAD file and parses it into another text file, which the Sheets editor can then read in real time. This can be achieved using plugins or macros. Afterward, it calculates and prints data and frequency responde charts using macros within the same spreadsheet file.
Let me add: I watched this after drinking a decent amount of quality Kentucky style bourbon. My face now hurts very badly from straining to comprehend what the heck you are talking about.
Thanks for sharing, that was very enlightening and fun to watch. I would love to see a more indepth tutorial, but seeing the overall process was great!
Glad your back I was worried
I think I know just enough of what you're saying to follow along but realize how little I know. This make my brain hurt, but in a good way. I think this could have been broken into a half dozen videos explaining all sorts of acoustic design principals. I really enjoyed this, but now need to go watch some silly cat videos. Thank you.
Awesome! super informative and i like the attention to modeling response in a specific tiype of car. thanks for explaining this process.
This is the best video on the actual, thorough, engineering of a speaker I have seen by an absolute landslide.
Proper custom speaker design and manufacture such as this is something I want to pivot into, what is your educational/professional background?
Hats off, amazing work!! I just worry the model of cabin is way off from reality _garbage in garbage out_
Could there be a better way to model the space?
The video is a bare-bones visual representation (for the viewers, unused by him). It gives Layman's explanation with crayons compared to what he's really looking at when modeling. He mentions it quickly, but 99.x% of watchers won't catch it.
@@RightPriceSports Pretty sure he's modifying a basic parametric model in openscad, 0:51 "all my models". He just mentioned opening the file in a 3D viewer for us to see, but it's not strictly necessary.
So he's working off a realllly basic estimation that's probably nowhere near real world.
There has to be a better way, maybe using something like a bunch of data collected with 'REW' in conjunction with the basic model, or even better a 3D scan or actual model from OEM
Can you also make sub recomendations?
Seems much more efficient to have this done with the flexibility of picking a better suited driver before actually commiting to a subwoofer and make that fit as best as possible.
He can recommend from drivers he's modeled very recently, but that's just based on memory. His driver database is vast & runs over a decade and a half of models, versions, revisions etc and it takes man hours that can't be quoted on demand when you request a design. So, it's highly unlikely that you can get him to make a recommendation on drivers, it's much easier & responsible to let you dig your own foxhole & he just optimize it.
@@RightPriceSports he must have a shortlist of what he knows works well in certain applications.
Going by that would if you don't have specific preferences for a driver make life easier for everyone involved i'd imagine.
@Baron von Limbourgh if it were me, I'd liken that to "giving financial advice" or "endorsing an exact S/N product". This, because the customer will want to hold the engineer responsible for the failure of a product, specifically after the McDonald's tech dept guy points the finger away from his company.
Incredibly detailed. Amazing work as always!
What software / visuals are used to create the pressure simulations, such as at 16:20? I thoroughly enjoyed this and might look into picking up model-based enclosures in the future. As of right now, most designs are just simple Bassreflex Boxes.
I would like to know as well!
Been asking since the early days 😢
I don't mind being pointed in the direction of where to go, I also don't mind paying for a similar program. Can someone (Preferably Pete) guide us please?
From what I understand he designed the whole software suite himself by programming live scripts so he could output his SPL graphs in real time...
Simply astounding level of engineering. I understand why he wouldn't want to share his intellectual property, but I would pay so much to get to use this software 😂
I had a design from you at Pwk n it was amazing Pete...
Thinking for some new project n design as well...
As always next level knowledge
Appreciate you sharing this.
First off thank you for sharing these types of videos with us. I had read in another comment that you designed and built an enclosure for someone? If so what do you charge and what info do you need?
The software used at 6:15 is incredibly! Seeing how the enclosure affects the response live is amazing. Is that a software that is available somewhere?
Right now I am looking for ways to simulate enclosures and room acoustics at specific positions and something like that would be awesome!
Haven't watched that far, but have you checked the video description? It says all used software is free or open source and has a list of used programs with links.
@@raw_000 None of the programs there seem to be capable of those acoustic simulations by themselves. There are programs that are open source and free that can be used for simulation though. Including one that can be integrated into FreeCAD.
openscad
exactly what I was looking for more information on.
I think he has actually written everything in Libre office calc. It is just a spreadsheet with things color coded to make it look like a GUI, with buttons have macros assigned to them. I think the simulation is being done numerically in the spreadsheet, which is certainly possible although the math behind there must be crazy. It's also possible that the macros are launching something else to perform the simulation.
This was very enlightening, and it was interesting to get a look at some of the tools available. But I think in as many words, his conclusion is "It's the back of Chevy Suburban, not Carneghie hall -you might as well just wing it"
hold on a minute, let me grab a mop. My brain melted.
Pete,
Thanks for your videos. At some future date could you model the Karlson Ultra-Fidelity speaker enclosure please?
Over impressive - DEEP respect ------------------------- old git, UK
I undestood almost nothing but watched the whole thing
Just WOW, learned a loooot, thanks!
Probably I could use these softwares to make my sub placement "optimal" in the livingroom, right?
my yamaha subwoofer has a "yst" system (yamaha active servo tech), would a system like that have a effect on the design of the enclosure?
the yst would make the ts parameters and such from the driver itself unusable? would they measure the driver with the yst system active? or arent they matched at all and could use any random 10" driver?
Id love to see a future video in which you elaborate on the workbench calculations you used to yield the frequency response of the system.
The fun part is putting everything together to calculate a response curve, and then it morphs over time, when even a single tone builds in amplitude as the multiple dissipating waves bounce throughout the cabin. See that on a XYZ ∆P graph, real time....that is some cool ish. That's what he wrote over a decade ago. I can imagine what he's modified it to today.
@@RightPriceSportsHi, I've seen a few of your comments and you seem to have some insight into his design process...
Do you know what software is shown at 7:09 (and throughout the video)? I recognise the FreeCAD window but I'm unsure what he's using for actually simulating the enclosure in an environment? Or is it all done via spreadsheet calculations? If so I'm still curious what software he's using to select inputs/outputs ect, and how that would interact with the spreadsheets and 3D model in real time?
Any insights you have would be amazing! I'm not looking to have a workflow as well interlinked and optimised as his, but the ability to model the specifics of an enclosure within an environment would be great. Most of the tools I've been using so far just take overall sizes (e.g. volume or port area ect) not exact enclosure dimensions/layouts, and none of them will interact with an environment! I have 3D modelling experience so being able to put it to use and more realistically simulate enclosures would be interesting.
Thank you
Absolutely amazing.
Can you model that same subwoofer with a passive tunable radiator or even infinit baffle?
Fantastic video thank you Pete.
When I specified my sub enclosure, I asked for sealed because I thought this would give me the most accurate response as it related to the kind of music I listen to which is metal with heavy double bass. In my experience a ported enclosure resulted in inaccurate sound at higher volumes. Is this correct? Should I have considered other designs?
This is why you have no option as to which alignment you get when using his services. You request a specific performance & then list the limitations, and as you can see, he then goes to Mars to find the best possible set of physical characteristics to achieve your goal.
This video is a bit weird in that the client wanted only up to 60hz and already had a driver/speaker.
Ported designes are good getting more efficiency way down in those low frequencies where a ton of power is needed exponentially as you get lower.
Usually crossover in a car sub will be higher than 60hz, depending on the car/situation (and as you noted, the playback content) ported design will struggle to provide tight bass when crossover is set to a more usual 100-150Hz, as most car 6x9 and door speakers still struggling down there.
So barring some other low-mid solution, this client must have a big hole between 60 and wherever the other speakers come into their own.
Maybe this is just for some competition thing
Probably should have stated your concerns about this and let him do the work.
I am pretty sure he would have recomended the best possible option for your specific situation, no matter what it would have been.
Like you see here, there is a lot more to it then the general simple rules people like to use/talk about. They probably hold true in most cases when you or me design a box ourselves. But probably less so when you are able to model basicly anything to perfection.
@@baronvonlimbourgh1716 The thing is, his perfection is only as good as model of the cabin he's basing everything on, and it's far from perfect. _Garbage in, garbage out_
Maybe down below 60hz it's fine as the waves are huge and rudimentary model works, but things get tricky as you get into the region between sub bass and mids
You can engineer to the nth degree of perfection, but you also need to see the big picture, ask the right questions etc.
Client may look at marketing for their 6x9s and tell you 60-80hz is a good crossover point, big picture outlook and experience will tell you that's not realistic.
When client turns around and complains about loose muddy base, blaming client because they specified 60hz maybe technically correct, but still a design failure nonetheless
@@Not_Sure-i6o if that's the case, that would have been the exact advice he would have given him, wouldn't he?
The OP is now questioning his decision. Would he have stated his concerns he either would have recieved a better sounding system or he would have had his experiences confirmed and would be confident what he has recieved now actually also is the best solution for his application.
Pretty straight forward.
The less I understand what you're saying the more I enjoy it.
GOLD. THANKS!
While this may be the best video on the subject ever made, I bet at least 70% of us dont have a clue about half of the stuff you said, unfortunately or fortunately for you :)
My question is what would be the way and software for us, those 70% who would like to try to design our own enclosure, is there any procedure to follow that would make us not making big mistakes? I do understand that enclosure design if we want it to be perfect should be left to professionals, even driver choice and amps and in some cases even vehicle choice, but say we have some vehicle and some driver for which we have parameters and we roughly want it to be in specific place and have limited size available what would be the best approach to design and build enclosure which would not sound bad. For good sounding one we know who to ask and what to do, but how about some simple diy not bad sounding project which is not sensitive to millimeter precision errors which can end up more like centimeter beginner errors in build process for example?
man so what is all this software? or did you make it?
Please help explain:
This level is above me and have some basic questions.
I understand the bass distance is based on the hz it is played at, 28hz around 34 feet. But does certain box enclosures change the distance of the apex? Or is it just the note played? Is the apex also the completion of the frequency wave? Or the whole wave length? What would be the order of distance apex be- sealed/passive radiator/ported/4th order/horn?
What software are you using in the 10 minute 15 second point in this video that lets you see and dynamically change the Box configuration while updating the frequency response curve?
I used to target an equal loudness curve also. More recently, I’ve decided the production team already takes this into account in the mixing studio. Therefore, a flat response is quite adequate. What are your findings with mixing levels from the studio? Thanks.
can you please advise on which enclosure would give the best and loudest output for a single pioneer ts-w3003d4
That one --->
Do you know how to or know of any videos on how to evaluate and test a specific cars' acoustics and utilize/combine tbat info to build a more accurate or better SPL sub enclosure. Im asking this because i have a 2006 Nissan Maxima and i think its one of the worst acoustically sounding cars ive ever heard. I mean its REALLY terrible. The only thing i could think of is either using my Alesis MEQ-230(dual 30 band graphic eq) or my Behringer Ultra Curve Pro DEQ2496 to "flatten the car". Any suggestions?
Sell the car. :)
Accelerometers on each panel, then extrapolate to build a model, like he showed you, with multiple compliances. Then figure out how that affects pressure waves moving thru it. Then figure out how it operates with hundreds of pressure waves moving thru it over time.
@@-vermin-HA. Lookin like i might😁👍.
@@RightPriceSports thanks whether i use that in this car, maybe.
Do you or anyone know at car stereo contests, what cars are used in "sound quality" winners the most?
This is pretty incredible, and honestly looks more approachable than I'd expected; Do you think it'd be possible to invert this workflow in order to design a soundproof enclosure for a specific sound source?
Also, the description lists all software as being free or open source, but I'm not sure which one the actual speaker configuration and acoustic simulation program is supposed to be; It looks like it might be in-house software?
Si
You need to start a tutorial series teaching others your wizardry..
intensely interesting video. thank you!
I would prefer to have a flat response and let the electronics handle the loudness curve. For the obvious reason loudness needs to flatten out at louder volume.
It was not clear to me, what software are you using to simulating the speaker + enclosure response?
I'd still love to know what the simulations software is. Either I blinked and missed it or he didn't tell?
Ill be coming back to this video many, many times😄