Download section¶

Get Virtual Acoustics (VA) for Windows

Full VA package for Windows¶

Build name: VA_full.v2024a.win64.vc14
Includes VAServer, VC14 C++ programming libraries, all bindings and Unity scripts.

Quick user guide:
A quick guide can be found in the documentation section.

Binary package license / sharing:
GNU General Public License v3.0 or later

Details:
+ VABase, VANet and VACore* C++ developer packages for Visual C++ Compiler Version 14 (Visual Studio 2019)
+ VAMatlab and VAC# bindings
+ VAPython binding wheel valid for Python >= 3.8
+ VAUnity
+ VAServer command line interface application
- Redstart VA GUI application [DEPRECATED]

*includes FFTW3 (GNU GPL)

Referencing via DOI¶

All official VA versions are now published via Zenodo and therefore can be referenced using a digital object identifier (DOI).

Important changes¶

2023 & 2024

In 2023 and 2024, respectively, the network communication underwent two major reworks. As a result, there is no backwards compatibility between respective versions as well as to previous versions regarding the network communication. For example, controlling a VAServer of version 2024a with VAMatlab v2023a will not work. The same holds for version 2023a and 2022a.

2022

In 2022, we introduced major changes in our build system. This allows us to use compilers newer than VC12 for all VA components. Generally, this lead to the following changes for newly deployed VA versions:

VAPython is now part of the VA_full build. The VA_bindings build is not shipped anymore.
VAPython is now included as wheels which makes installing much easier
We stopped developing the Redstart GUI and removed it from the packages

Changelog¶

v2024a

Sound-path-based renderers

Now allows changing the default reflection factor in VACore.ini
Enhancement of gain fading between audio blocks
- Now uses cosine-squared instead of linear fading
- Now also works with Ambisonics spatialization

VANet

Cleanup: removed irrelevant/unusable interface functions, which raised a 'not-implemented' error.

VAPython

Got reworked as pure Python package (no C++ bindings anymore)
Now has NatNetTracking support
See detailed changelog on git

v2023b

General

Now default paths (data and conf) are automatically added and do not need to be added to VACore.ini
The data folder now contains additional signals and directivities (e.g. for car pass-by and aircraft noise).

AirtrafficNoiseRenderer

Now allows real-time auralization with inhomogeneous medium
Data histories for simulation results can now be configured to select interpolation method

VAMatlab

Significant rework/extension of examples: Now most examples
- ...come with a VACore.ini file
- ...automatically start the VAServer for you
- ...have detailed comments and cross-references

Bugfixes

General
- Fixed several bugs regarding the calculation of air attenuation: in some cases attenuation values could be significantly off
- The lock_scene() and unlock_scene() did not work anymore due to change of VANet in v2023a, which is fixed now
VAServer
- Now properly cleans up the core if closing the window
- run_VAServer_recording.bat now works again: fixed start argument for remote control

v2023a

Network communication rework (VANet)

Now based on gRPC
No backwards compatibility (e.g. VAMatlab v2022a won't work with VAServer v2023a)

General

New thread-safe logging system with improved formatting and file log
VAServer: Improved command line interface, with backwards compatibility
Now all coord transformations are unified throughout VAServer and bindings

Rendering (VACore)

Sound-path-based renderers now use one SIMO VDL per source instead of one VDL per sound path
AirTrafficNoiseRenderer now allows scheduling of ART simulations for real-time purposes
New OutdoorNoiseRenderer which allows binaural, ambisonics and VBAP signals (replaces BinauralOutdoorNoiseRenderer)

VAMatlab

New setup function (VAMatlab_setup()) adding relevant folders to Matlab path
Now has a set of convenience classes to render dynamic scenarios
Supports multiple tracked sources

VAPython

Now comes with a single, version independent wheel for Python >= 3.8
Fixed a bunch of bugs leading to increased robustness

Bugfixes

Fixed a bug where third-octave band magnitude spectra were not parsed correctly when calling SetParameters()
Fixed a crash that could occur when using the Burg algorithm for IIR filtering
See VAPython

v2022a

VACore - Rendering system rework

Now distinguishs between FIR-based and sound-path-based renderers
Sound-path-based renderers are not restricted to binaural output anymore but can choose from binaural / Ambisonics / VBAP
e.g. FreeField renderer replaces AmbisonicsFreeField and VBAPFreeField

VAMatlab

Tracking now works with AR-Tracking (in addition to OptiTrack)

VAPython

Is now installed using wheels
Now shipped with version 3.8 to 3.10

Bugfixes

Undesired default receiver position ([0 0 0]) removed
Fixed performance issues of Windows timer used in VAMatlab
Fixed CTC crash that could occur if utilized HRTF did not cover a full sphere
Fixed bug in ITASimulationScheduler where mainly a single source-receiver pair was simulated disregarding other sound sources

v2021a

General

Now a receiver becomes active as soon as it has a valid position. The set_active_listener function should not be used anymore was removed from all bindings.

VAServer / VACore

Now comes with VACore.recording.ini file for offline rendering. Use run_VAServer_recording.bat to start VAServer with this configuration.

VACore - AirtrafficNoiseRenderer

Now can switch between homogeneous and inhomogeneous medium
Homogeneous medium: straight sound paths calculated within VA
Inhomogeneous medium: curved sound paths simulated with Atmospheric Ray Tracing framework

VAPython

Previously only working for Python 3.6, now only works with Python 3.7 and higher
Now shipped with version 3.7 to 3.9

Snapshots¶

The following builds include the VAServer application as well as all bindings. They are distributed under the GNU General Public License v3.0 or later.

Note: Versions prior to 2022a do not include VAPython. See historic binding-only builds.

Version	Build name	DOI
2024a	VA_full.v2024a.win64.vc14
2023b	VA_full.v2023b.win64.vc14
2023a	VA_full.v2023a.win64.vc14
2022a	VA_full.v2022a.win64.vc14
2021a	VA_full.v2021a.win32-x64.vc12
2020a	VA_full.v2020a.win32-x64.vc12
2019a	VA_full.v2019a.win32-x64.vc12
2018b	VA_full.v2018b.win32-x64.vc12
2018a	VA_full.v2018a.win32-x64.vc12

Historic binding-only builds

The following list include static builds of VA's bindings (excluding the VAServer application). They are distributed under the Apache License, Version 2.0.

Note: Binding-only builds are not published anymore, after version 2021a

Details	Build name
v2021a bindings (static)	VA_bindings.v2021a.win32-x64.vc14_static
v2020a bindings (static)	VA_bindings.v2020a.win32-x64.vc14_static
v2019a bindings (static)	VA_bindings.v2019a.win32-x64.vc14_static
v2018b bindings (static)	VA_bindings.v2018b.win32-x64.vc14_static
v2018a bindings (static)	VA_bindings.v2018a.win32-x64.vc14_static

Linux, Mac OSX and other¶

From the very beginning, Virtual Acoustics has been developed and used under Windows platforms. If you do not have a Windows system, you can still use VA. Unfortunately, we are not experienced in building binary packages for other platforms than Windows, hence you will have to build it from the source code. However, we can't guarantee smooth performance on those systems. For more information, read the developer section.

A common alternative way is to run the VA server application on a dedicated remote Windows PC with a proper ASIO interface, and control it from any other platform. This way, you can use the Windows download package and you only have to build the remote control part of VA (the C++ interface libraries and/or bindings). You will require no further third-party libraries except for the binding interface you choose (usually Matlab or Python). You can also run a Jupyter notebook along with VA on the Windows machine and remotely control everything using a web browser on any mobile device connected to the same network.

Some hints on VA packages¶

VA is always in development and we constantly add new features or components. Therefore, we chose the version identifier to reflect the release year and added an ascending alphabetic character, like v2018a. This makes it easier to determine the release time, just like in Matlab and other applications.

We cannot guarantee compatibility among VA versions! The reason is, that we still update the interface for new powerful features. This is unfortunate, but can not be achieved with the resources we can afford. If you are interested in new features, you will have to pay the price and update everything, including the bindings you use.

We adopt naming conventions for platforms and compiler versions from ViSTA VR Toolkit. This way, one can easily extract the target platform, such as win32-x64 for a Windows operating system using a mixed 32 bit and 64 bit environment, or vc12 to indicate that the binary package was built using the Microsoft Visual C++ Compiler Version 12. If you are missing redistributable libraries you can identify the required Microsoft installer by this suffix.

The build environment of VA provides configuration of the underlying components. This may or may not result in a binary package that links against GNU GPL licensed libraries. For this reason, VA is either licenses under the favored Apache License, Version 2.0 or under the GNU General Public License, as required by the copyleft nature.