ODEON / EASE
The acoustic simulation platforms used to model how sound behaves inside auditoria, concert halls, theatres, classrooms, and offices — predicting reverberation time, speech intelligibility, and sound system coverage before a space is built.
What it is
About ODEON / EASE
ODEON (by ODEON A/S, Denmark) and EASE (by AFMG, Germany) are the two leading room acoustics simulation platforms, each with a distinct primary focus. ODEON is a ray-tracing and image-source hybrid simulator that predicts the room acoustic parameters of a space — reverberation time (T20, T30, EDT), early decay, clarity (C80), definition (D50), strength (G), and speech transmission index (STI) — across the frequency spectrum from 63 Hz to 8 kHz. It is the primary tool for concert hall, theatre, lecture theatre, church, and classroom acoustic design: the architect's 3D model is imported, surface absorption and scattering coefficients are assigned to every material (carpet, acoustic panels, upholstered seats, concrete), and the room acoustics are simulated under different occupancy and absorption conditions before any physical material is specified. ODEON's outputs directly inform the acoustic consultant's recommendations to the architect — which surfaces need treatment, what absorption coefficient is required, whether a diffusing geometry is needed. EASE adds the electroacoustic dimension: it models the directivity of real loudspeaker cabinets (imported from manufacturers' GLL files) within the room geometry, predicts coverage uniformity across the audience seating area, and calculates the expected SPL and STI at every audience position with the sound system active. This makes EASE the tool of choice for projects where a sound reinforcement system is a primary design requirement — auditoria, conference centres, places of worship, transport terminals, and sports venues. EASE's room acoustic calculations are less sophisticated than ODEON's for unamplified performance spaces, but its loudspeaker modelling is unmatched. In practice, acoustic consultants often use ODEON for the room acoustic design phase and EASE for the sound system specification and verification phase.
What you can do with it
Capabilities
Import an architect's SketchUp or AutoCAD model of a 500-seat lecture theatre into ODEON, assign absorption coefficients from the ODEON material library to each surface finish (carpet, upholstered seats, painted blockwork, acoustic panel), run a ray-tracing calculation at 500 Hz and 1 kHz, and check whether the predicted T20 reverberation time of 0.8s at 500 Hz meets the BB93 target for a UK university lecture theatre
Run an ODEON multi-point calculation with 50 receiver positions across the audience seating area of a concert hall — computing T20, EDT, G, and C80 at each position — and identify which seating areas have poor intimacy (low G) or excessive reverberation (high T20) so the acoustic consultant can recommend geometry or absorption changes to the architect
Model the effect of adding 50mm acoustic panels to the rear wall of a drama studio in ODEON — comparing the T20 with bare hard plaster versus the panel installation by assigning the measured NRC absorption coefficient of the panel material — to quantify the reverberation time reduction and confirm compliance with BB93 before specifying to the contractor
Build a loudspeaker model in EASE for a large conference centre — importing the GLL directivity file for the proposed line array system, positioning the array at the correct height and aim angle, running a 1 kHz SPL map across all audience positions, and checking that the coverage uniformity meets the ±3 dB requirement before the AV contractor finalises the tender specification
Calculate the Speech Transmission Index (STI) at audience positions in EASE with the sound reinforcement system active — setting the background noise level from the M&E noise survey, running the STI calculation at a grid of receiver points, and producing a colour-coded STI plan showing whether speech intelligibility achieves "Good" (STI ≥ 0.60) throughout the venue for BS EN 60268-16 compliance
How to learn it
Learning Resources
ODEON tutorial videos and documentation (odeon.dk/support) — free with licence; official tutorials cover the full workflow from 3D model import to acoustic parameter analysis; the ODEON manual is the definitive reference for absorption and scattering coefficient assignment
AFMG EASE training courses (afmg.eu/ease/training) — official training for EASE covering room geometry setup, loudspeaker import from GLL files, coverage mapping, and STI calculation; online and in-person courses available
Institute of Acoustics (IOA) room acoustics training — IOA short courses and the Diploma Building Acoustics module cover room acoustic parameters, BS EN ISO 3382, and the theory underpinning ODEON/EASE calculations; acoustics.org.uk/training
Auralisation in ODEON — ODEON's binaural rendering feature lets you export a sound sample convolved with the impulse response of a simulated space and listen to how a speech or music signal will sound in the designed room before it is built; this is one of the most powerful client communication tools in acoustic design and is covered in intermediate ODEON training
Pro Tip
Set scattering coefficients as carefully as absorption coefficients — they are at least as important for simulation accuracy and are consistently underestimated by first-time ODEON users. A smooth concrete ceiling with a scattering coefficient of 0.05 and a coffered ceiling with the same material but a scattering coefficient of 0.3 will produce meaningfully different predicted T20 values in a large space. Measure or source the scattering coefficient for every significant surface from the ODEON material database or published literature, not just the absorption coefficient.
Skills that use this tool
Roles that use this tool
Alternatives