Technical Note 09
Box "Sub-Volumes" in BassBox 6 Pro

 
Earlier versions of BassBox allowed the box to be divided into as many as twenty different "sub-volumes" so that complex box shapes could be broken down into smaller, simpler shapes. The total box volume was the sum of all the individual sub-volumes. We changed this in BassBox Pro for two reasons: 1) Some of our users found the sub-volume approach confusing. 2) Many of our users wanted us to add a scaled drawing of the box to the printouts.

Boxes in BassBox Pro are not based on sub-volumes. When you pick a box shape, BassBox Pro assumes that it represents the entire box. This simplification makes the process of box dimension calculation much more intuitive and it makes it possible for BassBox Pro to create a scaled three-dimensional drawing of the box and an illustrated box parts list. This is quite an accomplishment when you consider the many different box shapes that BassBox Pro supports.

Even though BassBox Pro uses this approach, it still provides a feature to allow additional volumes to be subtracted from or added to the total box volume. However, scale drawings of these volumes are not included in the printouts (but their dimensions are). These additional volumes are controlled with the "Interior" tab of the "Box Properties" window. It allows you to specify how much volume is occupied by a driver, an isobaric chamber, a vent and other objects like braces. Normally these volumes are used to identify objects that displace (subtract) from the net internal box volume. They can also be used to specify volumes that add to the net internal box volume and the user can select from a variety of volume shapes.