Frequently asked questions!

When you are in your simulation, you should see the "+New" button in top right corner.

There you can choose "Material" and create your material adding your Absorption Coefficients.

As 0.95 absorption is the theoretical upper limit of random incident absorption coefficients and our wave based solver does not support perfectly absorbing boundaries we have capped the absorption coefficient input to this limit. For material datasheets that give 1 as absorption coefficient, you can input 0.95 and that will be within limits of absorption measurement errors for materials.

The material fitter will find a vector of reflection coefficients which best represent the input absorption coefficients, taking into account the random incidence angles of the absorption. The fitter will also construct a continuous function to represent the reflection coefficients as this is needed for the wave-based solver. The continuous function has a strict format and thus cannot always capture the exact behavior of the reflection coefficients. This can cause deviation from the input values. This mostly happens when there is a high variance between the absorption of the octave bands. Keep in mind, though, that the uncertainty of the measured absorption coefficients of materials is very high (>± 0.1) and the resulting curve is usually well within those uncertainties.

You can download your results for the different acoustic parameters as an excel sheet and download Irs for a selected sources as a zip file.

When viewing point receiver results you will have the option to either select a single receiver or multiple ones. If multiple receivers are selected, average results over the selected receivers will be displayed for each acoustic parameter.

To toggle between a single selection and multiselect the user will need click the Receivers input which will open up a select list. If there were more then two point receivers in the selected simulation a toggle will be displayed at the top of the list. To switch between single or multiselect mode, click the toggle.

If values are missing in your results, we suggest increasing the impulse response length to a number high enough for all of the values to be calculated. To edit the impulse response rate, you go to ‚Settings‘ in your simulation settings, choose ‚Advanced‘ and there you can increase the number for the Impulse response length.

• EDT (Early Decay Time) is a reverberation time measure based on the slope of the 10 dB drop of the calculated energy decay curve. EDT is often more closely associated with the perceived reverberance of a space. See Reverberation Time. Note: if the energy decay curve is linear (a straight line), T20 = T30 = EDT 
• T20 is a linear estimate of the reverberation time based on the time it takes to decay 20 dB after the first 5 dB in the energy decay curve. i.e. T20 = triple the time it takes to decay from -5 dB to -25 dB. See Reverberation Time. 
• T30 is the similar to T20 except it uses a 30 dB decay instead of 20 dB to linearly estimate the reverberation time, i.e. T30 = double the time it takes to decay from -5 dB to -35 dB. See Reverberation Time. 
• C50 is a measure of speech clarity. C50 is the ratio of the early sound energy (between 0 and 50 ms) and the late sound energy (that arrives later than 50 ms). Measured in dB. See Clarity and definition. 
• C80 is a measure of music clarity. C80 is the ratio of the early sound energy (between 0 and 80 ms) to the late sound energy (that arrives later than 80 ms). Measured in dB. See Clarity and definition.
  Note: a low C50/C80 value indicates poor speech intelligibility since details in the speech will become masked by the long reverberation time. 
• D50 or Definition is the ratio of the early-to-late arriving sound energy, where the early sound is defined as the energy within the first 50 milliseconds of the impulse response. This can be calculated from C50 and is measured in percentage. See Clarity and definition. 
• TS Centre time is a measure of centre of gravity of the IR. It is measured in ms. See Centre time. 
• G (sound strength). Sound strength is the ratio of the sound energy of the measured impulse response at a certain distance to the response measured in free (anechoic) field at a distance of 10 meters from the sound source. It other words, it measures how much a room amplifies the sound. See Strength.
  Example: a calmer sound environment calls for a low G value, while a lecture hall or a concert hall calls for a higher G value. 
• STI (Speech Transmission Index). STI is a numeric representation measure of communication channel characteristics whose value varies from 0 = bad to 1 = excellent.
  Example: a good STI should be at least 0.6. Above 0.75 it is considered excellent.

In the user menu in the top right corner, you can go to "Administration" where you can there see all of the users within your organization.

It is possible to read multiple receiver coordinates from a text file by pressing the three dots in point receivers and selecting Load from file. The receiver coordinate values must be separated with commas and each receiver should be in separate lines.

Receivers should be placed inside the model, at least 0.15 meters away from any surface

A source needs to be placed inside a model and a minimum 0.5 m away from any surface.

A source needs to be placed inside a model and a minimum 0.5 m away from any surface. Receivers should be placed inside the model, at least 0.15 meters away from any surface and 0.5 meters away from any source.

94 dB at 1m distance on axis from the source, You can find more info here: https://docs.treble.tech/user-guide/simulations/sources_and_receivers#source-details

Those who are admins within your organization can add new users by clicking on the user menu in the right corner, go to ‚Administration‘ and there you can press ‚add users‘.

Treble is a cloud-based software, you can use Treble on multiple devices. Just make sure you are logged in to your account.

Simulation Time is defined as the active processing time of the „prominent solver“ during the successful processing of a Simulation Task. For a Simulation Task including both the Wave-based Solver and the Geometrical Acoustics Solver, only the processing time of the Wave-based Solver is accrued. If the Simulation Task only applies to one of the solvers, then the processing time of that solver is accrued. Only the „active“ part of the processing is considered, so enqueued time and processing time by Treble‘s pre- and postprocessing services are not accrued to the simulation time. The Simulation Time limit is defined at the organizational level, i.e., the time is accrued across all the users in the organization. Simulation Time will not be accrued if a Simulation Task fails due to internal processing errors or resource availability issues.

Concurrency is defined as the maximum number of Simulations Tasks that run simultaneously on the Treble Platform for a given license. The maximum number of Concurrent Simulation Tasks is set at the organizational level and shared between all users in the organization. Any requests to start Simulations exceeding the limit will be enqueued for processing in a shared organizational level queue.

Yes, you can find the validation paper on our website under Resources. Here is a link to the validation cases: https://docs.treble.tech/validation.

Here you can find possible causes and fixes for Treble plugin not starting.

If the geometry checking freezes or loads without results, it‘s most likely due to any of these or all:

-         The model has too many short edges

-         The model is not watertight

-         There are too many details in the model, such as table chairs, items on a table, door handles, etc...

Models imported from IFC are made of components which can lead to complex intersections issues, and can also cause a hang. A good practice is to Explode the components and then Intersect Faces With Model (both actions available by right-clicking on the component).

We suggest simplifying the model with these points in mind or redrawing it.
There are certain restrictions to the geometry that Treble can work with, generally:

-         The geometry must include a closed external volume (watertight outer shell).

-         Both “solids/closed surfaces” and “open surfaces” are allowed inside the external shell. When a surface is touching the external shell, the intersecting surface should be placed in a group (or a component) different from the outer shell. Make sure the group is tagged and placed inside the Treble Geometry folder.

-         Geometries protruding out of the external shell might be ignored.

Having very fine geometric details in the model can negatively impact the run-time of the wave-based simulation. It is therefore desirable to keep the details of the model fairly low. It is however important to make an assessment of whether a simplification will have an effect on the acoustic properties of the space.

 (Example: Tables and chairs, can be modelled as “open surfaces” because the legs and the thickness of the object do not affect the sound propagation very much, especially at low frequencies)

A general rule of thumb is to simplify objects to 2-dimensional if the thickness is within 5 cm, but one can additionally relate to the wavelength that is in focus for the study (where a rule of thumb is to not model objects that are smaller than 1/4 of the wavelength). A single tight spot in the geometry can slow down the process quite significantly.

There are certain restrictions to the geometry that Treble can work with, generally:

-         The geometry must include a closed external volume (watertight outer shell).

-         Both “solids/closed surfaces” and “open surfaces” are allowed inside the external shell. When a surface is touching the external shell, the intersecting surface should be placed in a group (or a component) different from the outer shell. Make sure the group is tagged and placed inside the Treble Geometry folder.

-         Geometries protruding out of the external shell might be ignored.

Having very fine geometric details in the model can negatively impact the run-time of the wave-based simulation. It is therefore desirable to keep the details of the model fairly low. It is however important to make an assessment of whether a simplification will have an effect on the acoustic properties of the space.

(Example: Tables and chairs, can be modelled as “open surfaces” because the legs and the thickness of the object do not affect the sound propagation very much, especially at low frequencies)

A general rule of thumb is to simplify objects to 2-dimensional if the thickness is within 5 cm, but one can additionally relate to the wavelength that is in focus for the study (where a rule of thumb is to not model objects that are smaller than 1/4 of the wavelength). A single tight spot in the geometry can slow down the process quite significantly.

Here is an extensive guide of a test case SketchUp model that needs fixes. You can see what changes are made according to what feedback you get from the plugin.

You can upload your own sound in the Auralizer by pressing the upload icon in the Auralizer window.

The file must be in .wav format. Keep in mind that the sound will not be saved in the sound library for a given simulation and has to be loaded again for each source, and after exiting and entering the Auralizer again.

We currently support a maximum of 5 sources playing all at once.

You can create up to 10 sources and sources can have different properties. For each source in the simulation, the simulation engine computes a separate set of results. Therefore the cost of each simulation scales with the number of sources in the simulation.

There are two types of receivers available: Point receivers and Surface receivers, which both are added in a similar manner to the sources. To add a new receiver, select the type you want (point or surface) and click the ‘+’ button. You can create up to 100 point receivers and have up to 300 points in total for surface receivers.

Our release notes can be found in the Treble app under the user menu in the top right corner as well as in the Knowledge base. Here is a link to our release notes: https://docs.treble.tech/release-notes

Our roadmap can be found on our website under Company. Here is a link to our roadmap: https://www.treble.tech/roadmap

When you are inside your simulation, you can press the three dots next to the name of the simulation and choose ‘Delete’.If you wish to delete your project or space, you should press the three dots next to the name of the project/space and choose ‘Delete’

You can either press ‘Don’t remember your password?’ on the login page or, if you are an admin, you can go to ‘Administration’ and hover over your name. Select "send set password email".

You can discover our different licenses on our pricing page. If you are a trial user, you can view more information in our documentation.

Yes you can share an auralization with a client. Please view our documentation for more information.

Unfortunately, it‘s currently not possible to download an audio clip of the auralization. You can however generate a shareable link of your auralizations to share with anyone. Please view our documentation for more information.

You can download the Treble extension for SketchUp here.

You cannot create a model in Treble. You can import your models via our SketchUp plugin or by uploading your OBJ, DXF, and 3DS files straight from the Treble app.
More information on importing a model into Treble via Sketchup can be found here

You can import your model into Treble in two ways:

Directly in Treble:

• Prepare Your Model: Ensure your 3D model is in a supported format (DXF, OBJ, or 3DM).
• Upload Your Model: Go to the Treble web app, click the 'Import model' button on the home page, select your file, and click 'Upload file.'
• Automatic Geometry Check: Treble’s automatic geometry checking tool will process your file. Review any warnings or errors and make necessary adjustments.
• View and Verify Your Model: View your model in the 3D viewer within the Treble app. Check the model’s layers, surfaces, and additional information.
• Finalize the Import: Choose a project and space to import the model into, or create a new one. Click ‘Import model’ to complete the process.

Using the Treble Plugin for SketchUp:

• Install the Plugin: Download and install the Treble plugin for SketchUp from the Treble documentation.
• Prepare Your Model in SketchUp: Open your 3D model in SketchUp and ensure it is ready for export.
• Export and Import: Use the Treble plugin to export your model directly from SketchUp to Treble. Follow the prompts in the plugin to upload your model to the Treble web app.

For more detailed instructions, please visit the Import Models in Treble and From SketchUp pages.

You can find the user guide both in the Treble app under the user menu in the top right corner and on our website under Support. Here is a link to the user guide: https://docs.treble.tech/user-guide.

Our knowledge base can be found in our documentation. The knowledge base can also be found on our website under Resources or here: https://docs.treble.tech/intro.

Your account administrator can make you an admin. Please contact your account administrator.

All fees are included in the subscription price unless otherwise specified. Any additional purchase of tokens or seats beyond the plan limits will incur extra charges. 

Your data and projects will be retained for 30 days after cancellation. After 30 days, all data will be permanently deleted.

You can cancel your subscription at any time by selecting your current subscription in the administration portal, selecting your current subscription and choosing "Cancel subscription." Your access will continue until the end of your current billing period. Please see our documentation for more information.

Yes, we offer a 20% discount for annual subscriptions. Please see our pricing page for details. 

Refunds are handled on a case-by-case basis. Please contact our support team with your request. 

If you are an account administrator, you can view your billing history by clicking the cogwheel in the upper right corner of the Subscription section and selecting "Billing history."

Yes, you change your subscription plan at any time through your account settings in the admin portal. Only admins have access to the admin portal. 

We accept major credit cards (Visa, MasterCard, American Express) through our payment portal in the admin section. For yearly subscriptions, we also accept direct bank transfers. 

We offer two subscription plans: Flexible and Unlimited, both with monthly and yearly payment options. 

• Flexible License: Includes 1 seat and 10 tokens on signup. Additional tokens and seats can be purchased as needed and paid for instantly with the additional seat then rolling over on each subsequent bill. 
• Unlimited License: Designed for frequent users. Includes 1 seat with unlimited simulations. Additional seats can be purchased as needed and paid for instantly with the additional seat then rolling over on each subsequent bill. 

Opting for yearly payments provides a 20% discount compared to monthly payments and enables you to pay through wire transfer (wire transfers are not available for monthly subscriptions.) 
 
Bills will be sent to your account administrator monthly or yearly depending on your license and can be accessed by the administrator in the admin portal within the Treble app. 

One token is defined as one hour of utilization of Treble’s cloud services performing simulation tasks. Tokens must be purchased upfront prior to usage of the software (can be purchased through the software interface). You can estimate simulation token expenditure via this calculator: https://docs.treble.tech/compute-time-estimate

No, the Treble SDK is a separate product. Pricing for the SDK is available upon request through the form at the bottom of this page. Please note that the pricing plans shown on this page only apply to the Treble web application. The Unlimited and Flexible license plans do not include access to the Treble SDK.