System Design Guidelines; Aiming; Ease Focus - Community ENTASYS Application Manual

SYSTEM DESIGN GUIDELINES
Figure 23: Clarity (C50) of Point Source and ENTASYS Systems in the Same Room
Aiming any line array device is critical to achieving consistent coverage over the desired area. The opening (vertical coverage)
angle of a line array is typically very small, and without precise planning and aiming of the line array it is possible that a
considerable part of the audience area may not be adequately covered.
The preferred method for initially determining the vertical aiming of ENTASYS is with the use of EASE Focus. This will be
discussed in detail in the following section.
In the field, the preferred methodology to ensure that the aiming conforms to the system designer's specifications is with the
use of a laser. The laser should be mounted to the top of the ENTASYS systems, and the point of the laser should then be
compared between the projection in EASE and an actual reference point in the room.
In most applications, it is fairly important to avoid sound waves directly hitting a rear wall, as the resulting reflections can be
loud enough to cause comb filtering, late echoes and other intelligibility problems. Employing just a couple of degrees of down-
tilt can redirect the sound waves to the floor, where there is usually some absorptive and/or diffusive material including the
audience.
It is important here to note the distinction between EASE and EASE Focus. EASE is a commercial software application that
allows the creation of a 3D acoustic model of a room and a sound system within a room, while EASE Focus is a free generic
line array aiming software application that provides for a 2D modeling of the SPL and directivity of a sound source. Data from
EASE Focus can be transferred into EASE to facilitate whole-system analysis in an acoustical space (this will be covered in
greater depth later in this section).
EASE Focus may be downloaded at no charge from www.easefocus.com/downloads.html. It is an extremely helpful tool for
determining how many modules should to be used, where they should be placed, and how they should be aimed to quickly
achieve the desired SPL and coverage pattern for an audience area.
EASE Focus allows the user to enter the cross sectional elevation of the audience area for a venue (such as the sloped seating
on the main floor and the balcony area of a theater) and position the line array for optimal coverage of the entire area. EASE
Focus generates an SPL map of the sound coverage, which can be an excellent aid in visualizing and helping to understand the
radiation pattern of line arrays. A brief introduction to the software and tutorial can be found at www.communitypro.com.
A I M I N G
EA S E F O C U S
Community ENTASYS Application Guide - Page 25