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BassBox
Pro™ is a state-of-the-art speaker enclosure design program. It is
used around the world by professional and amateur speaker system
designers to design worldclass speaker boxes. BassBox Pro is very
versatile and can be used to design speakers for a wide variety of
applications including home hi-fi, home theater, car, truck, van,
pro sound reinforcement, recording studio monitors, stage monitors,
PA, musical instruments, etc.
Easy to Learn and Use
BassBox
Pro has many features that make it very easy to learn and use. For
example, when the program is first run, a Welcome window (shown
below) will appear to help you configure the program and introduce
you to its on-screen manual.
The on-screen manual (shown below) is
extensive and contains most of the same information as the beautiful
364 page printed manual. Both the on-screen and printed manuals are
the best in the industry and include a "Box Designer's Guide",
"Sample Designs" and "BassBox Pro Reference".
BassBox Pro also includes a "balloon"
help feature (shown below). When the mouse pointer hovers over a
control or label, a small text box will appear to provide a
definition or explanation of the object below.
Box Design is as easy as
1-2-3
There are many ways to begin a speaker design with
BassBox Pro, including the use of its innovative Design Wizard. In
general, speaker design involves the following
steps:
- Enter the driver parameters such as
Fs, Vas and Qts. BassBox Pro's driver database contains parameters
for thousands of drivers.
- Calculate the box volume and tuning.
This is very easy with the program's helpful "Suggest" button. It
will cause BassBox Pro to recommend a box that will produce a
smooth bass response.
- Evaluate the performance with the
graphs. This can include the effects of the acoustical
environment. For example, BassBox Pro can estimate the in-car
response in the graphs to show how the speaker will sound to
passengers inside a car.
Each box design can be saved and
re-opened or re-used later. As many as ten different designs can be
open at the same time. Box designs can also be duplicated so that
driver or box information does not need to be
re-entered.
Design Wizard
BassBox Pro
includes a powerful Design Wizard (shown below) to help new users
quickly design a speaker. It can start with either the driver or the
box and then it will walk you through BassBox Pro as it prompts you
for information in an orderly progression. In this way it serves as
a "smart" assistant to help you use the program.
Main Window
The centerpiece of
BassBox Pro is its resizable main window (shown below) that includes
a summary of all open designs. Up to ten designs can be open
simultaneously.
A mini preview graph is provided for each
design to show its amplitude response. These preview graphs are
automatically updated whenever a design is altered, providing "real
time" feedback. A small picture beside each mini graph displays the
box type that has been selected (closed, vented, bandpass or passive
radiator). A summary of the driver and box parameters is listed in a
text box.
Largest Driver
Database
BassBox Pro includes the world's largest database of
driver parameters! Users can add, edit or delete drivers and the
database can be searched by manufacturer, driver model name, driver
parameters or suitability for a closed or vented
box.
Driver Properties
Information
about a driver is contained in the Driver Properties window. The
driver information can be entered manually, imported from another
BassBox Pro or BassBox Lite speaker design file, imported from the
CLIO or LAUD measurement systems, or it can be loaded from BassBox
Pro's extensive driver database. Like many windows in BassBox Pro,
the Driver Properties window uses tabs to organize the information.
Three of its six tabs are displayed below. The first illustration
shows the "Configuration" tab where the number of drivers and their
mechanical and electrical configurations are set.
Notice above that the mechanical
configuration settings include compound or isobaric and
push-pull.
The second illustration shows the
"Parameters" tab containing the driver's Thiele-Small and
electromechanical parameters. "Net" parameters are displayed when
more than one driver is specified. If the driver has a dual voice
coil, separate parameters can be entered for each of the three voice
coil wiring methods (separate, parallel and series). An "expert
mode" is available to analyze driver parameters for
errors.
The third illustration shows the
"Dimensions" tab containing the driver's outer shape, piston type,
dimensions and volume settings.
Not shown are the "Description",
"Response" and "External" tabs.
Design Many Different Box Types &
Shapes
BassBox Pro models a wide variety of box types
including closed, vented, vented with active HP EQ filter (B6),
single-tuned and double-tuned bandpass and passive radiator boxes as
shown below:
Twenty-two different box shapes are
available as shown below:
Box Properties
The information
about the box is contained in the Box Properties window. Three tabs
are displayed below. They depict a single-tuned bandpass box with
three chambers (using two drivers). The first illustration shows the
"Box Design" tab where the box type, shape, volume, tuning and
dimensions are set. Notice that it includes a scaled drawing of the
box. This drawing automatically updates in "real time" whenever the
box is changed.
The second illustration shows the "Vents"
tab which contains the vent parameters and dimensions. The vent
parameters include the number of vents, their shape and end type. If
a passive radiator box is selected, this tab will appear as the
"Passive Rad." tab.
The third illustration shows the "Parts
List" tab with a scaled drawing of each box part, a list of
dimensions and, if appropriate, cut angles.
Not shown are the "Description",
"Damping" and "Interior" tabs.
Acoustic Properties
BassBox Pro
accepts two different types of acoustic data. It can be entered
manually or imported from several popular measurement systems
(B&K, CLIO, IMP, LMS, JBL/SIA Smaart, MLSSA, Sample Champion and
TEF-20). This acoustic data is added to relevant graphs to improve
their accuracy.
The acoustic response of the listening
environment is entered into the Car/Room Acoustic Properties window
(shown below). For example, the acoustic response of a motor vehicle
interior can be entered to show how a speaker will sound to a
passenger inside a car.
The normalized acoustic response of the
driver is entered into the "Response" tab of the Driver Properties
window (not shown). The driver's acoustic response is normalized to
its predicted Thiele-Small response.
Performance
BassBox Pro
provides nine graphs to evaluate the performance of a speaker
design. The Normalized Amplitude Response, System Impedance, Phase
Response and Group Delay graphs are provided for small-signal
analysis. The Custom Amplitude Response (shown below), Maximum
Acoustic Power, Maximum Electric Input Power, Cone Displacement and
Vent Air Velocity graphs are provided for large-signal
analysis.
The graphs include numerous options.
There are two graph modes: a combination graph window which displays
graphs one at a time for computers with low VGA resolutions and
separate graph windows for simultaneously displaying multiple graphs
for computers with higher XGA resolutions.
The graphs can display the "pipe"
resonance of vents, the estimated piston band on-axis amplitude rise
of a driver and the estimated diffraction response shelf (of
selected box shapes) that can result from the front-panel
circumference of the box.
Other options include two vertical and
two horizontal scales, seven graph memories, cursor and an export
(copy) function via the Windows clipboard.
Custom Printouts
Custom
printouts can be created which include the box and driver
parameters, a three-dimensional box drawing with internal and
external dimensions, a parts list with two-dimensional box part
drawings, dimensions and cut angles, an English fraction-to-decimal
conversion table, wiring diagram with an external network parts list
and nine graphs. A custom logo or graph can be imported and printed
in the title block.
Test Procedures
Driver and
passive radiator test procedures are included in the program to help
you measure most Thiele-Small parameters. (Requires test equipment
such as: sine wave generator, frequency counter, power amplifier,
1000 ohm 2-watt resistor, voltmeter, ohmmeter, test
box.)
Passive Network
A passive
network (high-pass, band-pass or low-pass filter, impedance EQ
network and/or L-pad) can be entered or imported from X•over Pro to
display the system impedance.
Compatibility
BassBox 6 Pro can
open speaker design files from BassBox 6 Lite and older versions of
BassBox (versions 5.1, 5.0, 4.0 and 3.0). Passive network
information can be imported from X•over 3 Pro.
BassBox Pro includes:
A BassBox
Pro license includes a CD-R disc with the BassBox Pro computer
program, driver database and online manual. A beautiful 364 page
printed manual is also included. (Note: The program is also
available on 3.5-inch 1.44 Mbyte
diskettes.)
System Requirements
Microsoft®
Windows® 95, 98, Me, NT4, 2000 or XP and a compatible computer (IBM®
PC with a Pentium processor or equivalent) with at least 16 Mbytes
of RAM (recommended: 32 Mbytes or more as appropriate for the
Windows version), 35 Mbytes of free hard disk space and a CD-R
compatible CD-ROM or DVD drive. Also, the Arial and Symbol TrueType
fonts must be installed (both fonts are a standard feature of
Windows). | 
