Development of the room acoustics software

The ODEON project was initiated as a cooporation between the Technical University of Denmark (Dpt. of Acoustic Technology) and a group of consulting companies in 1984 with the purpose of providing reliable prediction software for room acoustics. The years invested in the ODEON development has provided a reliable yet easy to use room acoustics prediction software. Today ODEON is used for a wide range of applications [1].

The first versions of ODEON was targeted at solving acoustic problems in concert and opera halls. The software was named after the ancient Greek odeon [2], that is said originally to have been roofed.   [2]

2011

The release of Version 11 [3] with increased calculation speed and a new acoustic parameter list for selecting or creating the wanted result-parameters.

2010

the SU2ODEON [4] Plugin for Google SketchUp was developed.

2009

Release of ODEON 10.0 [5]. ODEON 10 includes support for array loudspeakers and beam steered arrays (Auditorium and combined editions) and calculation of one and two point diffraction around objects according to A.D. Pierce. There are also improvements to the Extrusion modeller and the ODEON editor has been greatly enhanced.

2008

Odeon A/S moves to new premises at Scion DTU and starts selling the software directly with Brüel & Kjær as secondary sales channel. A new type of hardware lock is introduced for upgrades to version 9.1 and 9.2 [6]

2007

Release of ODEON 9.0 [7]. This version includes transmission through walls and improved diffraction handling. Professional audio formats are supported and the quality of auralisation is improved. A new 3D Direct Sound display is particularly useful for the design of loudspeaker systems.

2005

Release of ODEON 8.0 [8]. This version includes new calculation principles namely the Reflection Based Scattering method and Oblique Lambert for better handling of scattering. Support for the new open Common Loudspeaker Format (CLF).

2004

Release of ODEON 7.0 [9], including an initial version of the ODEON Extrusion modeller for graphical modelling of geometries, the ODEON GIF animation Workshop for editing of animations, Surround auralisation based on Ambisonics Techniques, multi surface source for improved modelling of industrial noise sources and a few improvements to the parametric modelling language.

2003

Release of ODEON 6.5 [10], Intensity decay curve for echo tracking, graph for comparison between measured and simulated parameters, improved modelling language for faster modelling, support for layers in the geometries when modelled in ODEON's own format and when imported from a CAD drawing.

2002

Release of ODEON 6.0 [11], with improved geometry debugging, streaming convolution for nearly real-time auralisation, enhanced tools in Quick estimate, Directivity plot editor. New utility for calculating delays and levels in a loudspeaker system according to the HAAS effect etc.

2001

Release of ODEON 5.0 [12], with improved graphing, printer dialogs etc. Coopration agreement with Brüel & Kjær about selling ODEON worldwide.

2000

Release of ODEON 4.2 [13] with improved calculation algorithms for early reflections. Angle dependent absorption and OpenGL displays for improved visualisation of the rooms. The concept of Acoustic Colours is introduced to visualise the acoustic properties of materials in a room model. A material editor is added to the material list. The modelling language is extended, and it is now possible to model shapes like Box, Cone, Cylinder, and Dome using a single line of code. Coordinate manipulation is extended in order to allow flexible use of these shapes and reuse of other geometries.

1999

Release of ODEON 4.0 [14] which includes desktop auralisation.

1998

Introduction of parametric modelling language and further development of ODEON 3.x.

1997

Verification of ODEON 3.0, conducted by ELSAM PROJECT DK. Release of ODEON 3.1 [15] for Windows95/NT.

1996

Project with ELSAM PROJECT DK developing algorithms for modelling of large sound sources for use in industrial environments [16].

1995

Vector based scattering [17] was implemented as a more efficient method in ray tracing. ODEON 2.5 participated in the 'International Round Robin on Room Acoustical Computer Simulations', conducted by PTB in Germany (Results were presented [18] at the ICA conference in Trondheim 1995). ODEON was one of three programs out of 16 to be judged 'Unquestionably reliable in the prediction of room acoustical parameters'.

1994

Release of ODEON 2.5, allowing multiple active sources. Release of ODEON-Sound software for auralization using hardware from t. c. electronic (DK).

1992

Release of ODEON 2.0, introducing the Secondary source [19] method for late reflections.

1991

Release of ODEON 1.0 and test with measured data (Royal Festival Hall, London).

1990

Use of ODEON in architectural competition for design of an opera house (Compton Verney [20], winning proposal by Danish architect Henning Larsen).

1989

Introducing hybrid models [21] for more reliable results and faster calculation. Ray tracing was combined with image source methods, different for early and late reflections. The cuboid net method was introduced to accelerate the ray tracing process.

1984

Development of ray tracing models [22].