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CARA - Room Acoustic Software

We're very much not into doing sales-pitch type posts, but after reading through several threads in this forum, we realized that questions regarding software for room acoustics were frequent enough that if we tried to answer every thread, we'd *really* feel obnoxious!

So... the lesser of two evils

CARA is a comprehensive room acoustic modelling package designed and developed by German physicist: Dr. Ulrich Thomanek. Dr. Thomanek worked with ELAC GmbH for many years and used computer models to bring their loudspeakers to be the number two in Germany.

He started ELAC Technische Software as a spinoff dedicated to his computer programs associated with loudspeaker modelling and room acoustics. CARA 2.0 is the product.

Rather than get into too many details here, I'll send you to www.cara.de where they have lots of information regarding CARA and a walkthrough. The site is in both English and German.

Early last year, Rhintek became the US representative for ETS and CARA. We have a strong background in software development, but are relatively new to the high-end audio industry. Our website is: www.rhintek.com

Thanks for your time, I'll probably be lurking around here on occasion as it looks like this forum is a good place for me to gain more understanding.

Kristin VanVranken,
Rhintek Incorporated
kristin3e25

Showing 4 responses by kr4ef94

kr4ef94
208 posts
 
1. CARA can accommodate open doorways.
2. Unlike most other programs, it can handle non-rectangular rooms.
3. Computation can be long but there are strategies for that.
4. Real measurments are, of course, better but that means moving real objects for the measurements.
5. I did not see any models for Vandersteen but you should check the CARA websites or ask Vandersteen for the info to make your own model.
kr4ef94
208 posts
 
Albertlu wrote: "My question was more along the lines of whether or not the SPL diagrams were editable, given that
you actually have the measured frequency response of each driver."

CARA does not measure anything; it models based on input data.
kr4ef94
208 posts
 
"Are there any ways of actually defining a custom loudspeaker with its actual SPL diagram?"

Inadequate. You need the spatial information as well. You need to know all the dimensions of the speaker (you can measure them), the frequency bands for each driver, the crossover slopes, and the bass loading.
kr4ef94
208 posts
 
"Would I give Cara all the dimensions and positions, and then have it tell me what I get? Or, would I give Cara all the dimensions and peices of furniture, etc, and then have it tell me where to put things?"

The former. OTOH, you can restrict the pieces, limiting it to speakers and room dimensions/materials and get an optimum placement. Then you can add each piece of furniture, testing for best positioning.

In the long run, an intermediate strategy is preferred where only the essential furniture is included. Then you can study the 3D graphs to see what places are good/bad for the other stuff.

Easy? No but it works better than actually moving furniture and trying to remember if it sounds better or worse.
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