Toolbox for acoustic scene creation and rendering (TASCAR)

Toolbox for acoustic scene creation and rendering

TASCAR is an open-source software platform for real-time interactive virtual acoustic environment rendering in laboratory environments, licensed under GPL-2.0. The source code is hosted at https://github.com/HoerTech-gGmbH/tascar/. Binary packages are provided by Hörzentrum Oldenburg gGmbH. For the current user manual (pdf) see manual.pdf. A video tutorial about setting up a session in TASCAR can be found here.

Installation on Ubuntu/Debian Linux

In Ubuntu 22.04 (jammy):

wget -qO- http://apt.hoertech.de/openmha-packaging.pub | sudo tee /etc/apt/trusted.gpg.d/openmha-packaging.asc
sudo apt-add-repository 'deb [arch=amd64] http://apt.hoertech.de jammy universe'

In Ubuntu 20.04 (focal):

sudo apt-key adv --keyserver keyserver.ubuntu.com --recv-keys B7D6CDF547DA4ABD
sudo apt-add-repository 'deb [arch=amd64] http://apt.hoertech.de/ focal universe'

In Ubuntu 18.04 (bionic):

sudo apt-key adv --keyserver keyserver.ubuntu.com --recv-keys B7D6CDF547DA4ABD
sudo apt-add-repository 'deb [arch=amd64] http://apt.hoertech.de/ bionic universe'

In Raspbian Bullseye:

wget -qO- http://apt.hoertech.de/openmha-packaging.pub | sudo tee /etc/apt/trusted.gpg.d/openmha-packaging.asc
echo "deb [arch=armhf] http://apt.hoertech.de bullseye universe" | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/apt-hoertech.list

In Raspbian Buster:

wget -qO- http://apt.hoertech.de/openmha-packaging.pub | sudo apt-key add
(echo "";echo "deb [arch=armhf] http://apt.hoertech.de bionic universe")|sudo tee -a /etc/apt/sources.list

In all systems, use

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install tascarpro

for installation.

Installation on macOS

For MacOS, currently no pre-compiled binary packages are available. However, it can be compiled from sources.

If not yet installed, then download and install 'homebrew' (https://brew.sh/). Then install all dependencies with:

brew install pkgconfig glibmm jack liblo libsndfile gtkmm3 eigen boost gsl fftw libsamplerate xerces-c libltc gtksourceviewmm3 coreutils adwaita-icon-theme jpeg libmatio

The next step is to download the code:

git clone https://github.com/gisogrimm/tascar

Finally, change to the tascar directory and compile the code:

cd tascar
make -j 8

Now TASCAR can be started from the local directory, using the wrapper script:

./tascar.sh

Alternatively, it is possible to install it in the system with:

sudo make install

Jack can be installed either from https://jackaudio.org/ or from brew. If you use the version from jackaudio.org, then please uninstall the brew version to avoid library incompatibilities.

Starting TASCAR

To start TASCAR, first configure and start your jack server. Then, in a terminal, type

tascar

or start from "Sound and Video" applications menu.

If you intent to use TASCAR in scientific research projects, please remember to cite our open access publication:

Grimm, Giso; Luberadzka, Joanna; Hohmann, Volker. A Toolbox for Rendering Virtual Acoustic Environments in the Context of Audiology. Acta Acustica united with Acustica, Volume 105, Number 3, May/June 2019, pp. 566-578(13), doi:10.3813/AAA.919337