LspCAD (Lite) questions

[Mazeroth]

Does anyone know the difference between LspCAD Lite and the Standard version? I know the Standard only allows modeling of 2-way speakers but can't find out if the Lite version is the same. You find the Lite version by trying to purchase the Pro version. At the bottom of the page it says that if you can't afford Pro then try the Lite version. The Lite version is also almost half the price of the Standard version.

http://speaker-parts.worldomain.net/...ml#aLspCADLite

Per the Lite page:

LspCAD6 Lite incorporates all the box alignment, crossover calculations and 'optimise' functions of the Pro version

I highly doubt the Lite allows modeling of more than a 2-way, but if it does I'm sold. :T

Edit by moderator to merge threads into a single reference thread

[ThomasW]

Does anyone know the difference between LspCAD Lite and the Standard version?

Looks like something new

I know the Standard only allows modeling of 2-way speakers

4-way systems can be modeled with the Standard version. Here are the differences between Standard and Pro

http://www.ijdata.com/LspCAD_feature_list.html

Why don't you download the 14 day trial of Lite and see what it does? You probably won't be able to save your models

[JJones]

Does anyone know the difference between LspCAD Lite and the Standard version? I know the Standard only allows modeling of 2-way speakers but can't find out if the Lite version is the same. You find the Lite version by trying to purchase the Pro version. At the bottom of the page it says that if you can't afford Pro then try the Lite version. The Lite version is also almost half the price of the Standard version.

http://speaker-parts.worldomain.net/...ml#aLspCADLite

Per the Lite page:

LspCAD6 Lite incorporates all the box alignment, crossover calculations and 'optimise' functions of the Pro version

I highly doubt the Lite allows modeling of more than a 2-way, but if it does I'm sold. :T

You can try them for FREE, the "demo" versions. The limitation of the demo is: you can't SAVE. But, at least you can check out the feature set. (And try the program too, of course)

I doubt that the Lite version limits the number of drivers, but, I don't know, so we'll wait for someone else's definitive answer, or, try the demo...

Oh, sorry, I spoke too soon, from the page about the Demo:

The LspCAD 6 demos contains all the functionality of the unlimited version with a few exceptions.

* It is not possible to save projects
* It is not possible export data
* Crossovers limited to two driver units


Here's where you can download the Lite Trial version:

http://www.speaker-parts.worldomain.net/lspcademo.html

[Mazeroth]

The LspCAD 6 demos contains all the functionality of the unlimited version with a few exceptions.

* It is not possible to save projects
* It is not possible export data
* Crossovers limited to two driver units

It says the demo has exceptions, one of which is two driver units (I think you guys can read, heh!). This is where I was getting hung up at. I'll dig deeper into the net and maybe ask on some other forums to see if anyone has an answer. I'll report back.

[TacoD]

lspCAD 6 standard can model > 2-way loudspeakers.

[Mazeroth]

Ahhh, now I see the light. I was thinking the XO Emulator = 2 outputs, was indicating that you can only build a 2-way with STD (and maybe Lite). Now I see the XO Emulator is the ability to use LspCAD and a sound card to emulate your crossover. Duh. ops:

Looking at the feature set again I'm sure a novice like myself would be just fine with the Standard or Lite version. Now, if only I could figure out what the difference between these two is. I may just e-mail Ingemar to find out.

[ThomasW]

lspCAD 6 standard can model > 2-way loudspeakers.

Excuse me for not being more specific.

Yes LspCAD 6 Standard will only do the fancy electronic emulation of a 2-way. But LspCAD 6 Standard disc includes the full version of LspCAD V5.25, and V5.25 will design 4-Way passive filters.

And the Lite vs Standard info maybe available at the LspCAD users group

http://launch.groups.yahoo.com/group/lspcad-users/

[TacoD]

Thanks Thomas! It's clear now .

[Dennis H]

He has the features of the Lite version listed now. The biggest deal is only 3 drivers while standard and pro can handle up to 100.

http://www.ijdata.com/LspCAD_feature_list.html

[Mazeroth]

Per an e-mail I just received from Ingemar:


Hi

Thanks for the reminder, I have updated the feature list
see http://www.ijdata.com/LspCAD_feature_list.html

Hope that it helps


//Ingemar



Maximum of a 3-way really isn't that bad, considering the price of the software. Is the inclusion of 5.25 really that important? I guess the best way to find out is to DL it and use it for the trial period. I'd do that now but my computer is disconnected as we're renovating the family room. Using the trusty old laptop for the time being. I may ask if one can upgrade from Lite to Standard.

EDIT: I see Dennis beat me to it! :T

[Dennis H]

Most of the 3-ways around here use at least 2 woofers and often a pair of mids so that would be at least 4 or 5 drivers. Jed's Maxx uses 7 drivers. You could sim the sets of drivers as a single driver but that's not really the JonMarsh/LspCAD way. It's soooo Speaker Workshop.

[Mazeroth]

I didn't even think about that. I had the 3-way mindset, not the 3 driver mindset. Makes the standard version all the more appealing.

[Saurav]

LspCAD (Lite) questions

Does anyone here use LspCAD Lite? If you do, can you confirm if the analog/digital tab has buttons for modeling a DCX2496?

I'm playing with all 3 demos, and the Lite demo does not have the DCX2496 modeling functions. Ingemar said in an email that they all handle the DCX, but that was before I downloaded the demo. I sent him another question asking him to confirm this, but I was wondering if someone actually had this software, and could confirm it for me.

Also, other than the 3 driver issue (and perhaps the DCX2496 modeling issue), the Lite seems to do everything the Std does. The Pro has other useful features, like polar / power response, and more control on the crossover optimizer (I like the 'limit crossover frequencies to this range) option.

Also, is there a 'proper' way to run the optimizer, say by picking a small frequency region and a subset of the crossover components? I've been setting up a flat target from 100 - 16000Hz and letting the optimizer run on the whole circuit. Sometimes it converges, sometimes it goes off into the weeds and I have to restart. So, questions:

* What have you found to be a good way to run the optimizer?
* For those who have Pro - how often do you end up using 'limit crossover range' or any of the more advanced optimizer settings?
* For those who don't have Pro - do you find yourself missing these functions?

Though that's academic, I can't afford Pro. I could go for Std if Lite doesn't do the DCX2496. Otherwise I think 3 drivers should be fine for me for now.

There's also SoundEasy... I read about that briefly. The price is comparable to Std, and I think it has more features? And everyone says it's harder to use.

[ThomasW]

'Standard' includes the functions for running the DCX.

I sold my copy of Pro to Jon in exchange for his standard version. I never used anything Pro had to offer.

I'll get Jon to comment on using the LspCAD optimizer. He uses it to good advantage. He's traveling so it will be a couple days before he can reply.

Jon gave up on SoundEasy around version 7-8, and is now the official LspCAD fanboy. He uses FuzzMeasure (Mac only program) for his testing

I have LspCAD Standard and SoundEasy. SE is a better measurement program, but it's so complicated one needs a PhD in engineering to understand how to use it.

[JonMarsh]

Most of the 3-ways around here use at least 2 woofers and often a pair of mids so that would be at least 4 or 5 drivers. Jed's Maxx uses 7 drivers. You could sim the sets of drivers as a single driver but that's not really the JonMarsh/LspCAD way. It's soooo Speaker Workshop.

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

How true!!!! Of course, different budgets, different tools! :T


Sheesh, am I getting the reputation of being some kind of wonking elitist or something?

Just for that, my next design will be a 7" two way! :B

[JonMarsh]

Also, is there a 'proper' way to run the optimizer, say by picking a small frequency region and a subset of the crossover components? I've been setting up a flat target from 100 - 16000Hz and letting the optimizer run on the whole circuit. Sometimes it converges, sometimes it goes off into the weeds and I have to restart. So, questions:

* What have you found to be a good way to run the optimizer?
* For those who have Pro - how often do you end up using 'limit crossover range' or any of the more advanced optimizer settings?
* For those who don't have Pro - do you find yourself missing these functions?

Pro has more functionality and control than standard for doing optimization, with features such as specifying an impedance minima for a resulting network optimization.

The main problem with optimizers is that it doesn't turn you into a filter engineer... but if you're experienced designing filters, a good optimizer allows you to derive real world solutions with complex load impedances much more quickly.

I use the Pro features in the Optimizer frequently, BUT, I'd MUCH rather design a system using LspCAD Std than any other tool besides LspCAD Pro.

All your questions can be answered by reading the manual.

Yes, the optimization can be run over a specified range of frequencies, for just specified components.

Frequencies within that range can be excluded (say, there's a bump you're going to deal with via a notch filter later and you want to exclude it from weighting the filter overall function fit).

I use the optimizer in a variety of ways- including using internal target functions or external target functions calculated in Excel or Numbers and exported as a PRN file-

Also, there are times one will use the optimizer after one transfer function is set to try a filter set for a total transfer function that is flat- a flat target, not a filter target. LspCAD is VERY flexible about the ways you can use the optimizer, it's mainly limited by your creativity and insight.

An example would be generated a best fit for an LCR zobel filter when you have an existing inductor you don't want to modify; same for a crossover transfer function; for example, using a standard commercial inductor value, then tweaking C or R+C to fine tune the net transfer function.

And ThomasW isn't crazy, I just happened to have a bit of spare time at the airport and new login info for T-Mobile.

[Saurav]

Thanks for the detailed reply. Since I'm currently (and for the foreseeable future) going to use this to design active crossovers for open-baffle speakers, the impedance handling and box modeling isn't of much interest.

I did run into some situations where the Pro optimizer might have been useful. For example, it chose a crossover frequency that resulted in pretty good phase matching, but I know my midrange won't want to play down that low, especially on a dipole baffle. I didn't spend much time trying to optimize the individual transfer functions before putting them together... that would be the approach to work around that problem, I think.

I guess the only remaining question is whether LspCAD Lite has the DCX2496 modeling capability of Std. The optimizer is the same as far as I can tell, though I'll double-check tonight.

[Dennis H]

If the pro version were more reasonably priced compared to standard and lite, I wouldn't post this and would encourage people to buy the pro version. But.... you can always load your file created in standard or lite in the demo version of pro and use its optimizer with all the extra features. You can't save the file but you can jot down the component values after optimization (or take a screen shot) and enter them manually in std or lite.

I don't know if lite models the DCX but you should know that the DCX shelving filters in LspCAD are wrong. Ingemar uses the standard center frequency to specify the filter but the DCX uses the upper or lower 3dB point. I made a little spreadsheet to convert between the two.

[Saurav]

I remember reading a post from you on that earlier, but it completely slipped my mind. That would explain why my speaker measurements after the fact looked nothing like what I saw on the computer screen Thanks a lot.