FREE Live Sound Reference Calculator from HK Audio

Today's live sound has changed a lot from what it used to be in the early days of the showbiz; the more complex the demands - the more complex the gear and the more knowledge must a sound engineer/ professional possess about how things are and work, especially in the modern huge sound arrays. Even more, "some" knowledge isn't by far enough as we're dealing with a heap of extremely precise electronic equipment and computers that help the modern sound professional get things done the way they should be done - hence the need for precise and accurate data to be fed to the system or worked on.

The sound arrays are getting bigger year by year, as technology is getting cheaper and buying huge systems is now a bit more affordable. Shows and festivals involving from tens of thousands (let's say the Wacken Open Air festival) to millions of people (Rolling Stones in Rio de Janeiro) are some challenges way different from what you're supposed to do when throwing a backyard party.

The sound professional has to face zounds of challenges and have answers ready in minimal time, from the simplest coverage problems to the high-complexity calculations of wavelengths based upon frequency and the pure-math and physics equations involving ohms, amperes, volts, watts, decibels and everything else there is to music.

Thanks to the HK Audio guys, we all can benefit from a most useful tool that will do the math for us: the Live Sound Reference calculator. The German reinforcement specialists at HK managed to bring together some 15 of the most common formulas used in the audio reinforcement industry and grouped them in 7 categories; they will allow you to instantaneously perform complex operations relating to volt and dB; watts, volts and ohms; frequency and wavelength; SPL and distance; delay; near-field line array; frequency-dependent damping at distances.

Cool thing is that the Live Sound Reference Calculator is being offered in both German and English and it can run on both PCs and Java-enabled mobile devices, including phones. Get it here.

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