Our history
In the early days of noise protection, expert noise reports were still processed with a pocket calculator.
Due to their interest in computers, Dipl.-Ing. Gert Braunstein and Arne Berndt, while working in an engineering office, came up with the idea that these calculations could be made easier with the help of a computer program. They put the idea into practice, with Gert Braunstein working on the technical side, and Arne Berndt on the programming.
They soon founded their own business, the "Engineering company for environmental protection - traffic planning - data processing Gert Braunstein Arne Berndt", in the house of Gert Braunstein in Leutenbach, Germany.
Timeline
1987
First sale of the software SCHALLPLAN - the program still fits on a 5 ¼" floppy disk.
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The computers used are computers of the 8088 series with mathematical co-processor, MS-DOS operating system, approx. 20 MB hard disk, a digitizer for input, dot-matrix printer and pen plotter for tabular or graphic output.
The identification mark is the "level chart" - a diagram that visualizes total noise and reflected noise. This was the inspiration for the company logo.
1989
Move to the first offices in Nellmersbach.
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Participation in the Inter-Noise 1989 in Newport Beach - establishing first contacts on the international stage. Since then annual participation.
1990
First user group meeting for Schallplan customers in Kornwestheim, Germany.
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This is an event that still takes place annually anywhere in Germany and includes a mixture of technical and legal topics - plus an accompanying program where SoundPLAN users can exchange ideas with each other and with the makers of SoundPLAN.
1991
Change of company name to Braunstein + Berndt GmbH.
Presentation of the first coloured noise map at the annual conference of the German Society for Acoustics, "DAGA" in Bochum. At that time, the maps were printed with an electrostatic printer. Since then annual participation at the conference.
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After the German reunification the number of customers in the "New Länder" is growing.
1992
First sales abroad.
1993
Move within Nellmersbach to larger offices, later renting a separate seminar room on the opposite side of the street.
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First training courses in South East Asia.
1995
Due to growing international importance, "Schallplan" is now called "SoundPLAN" - also in Germany.
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From 1995, regular user group meetings are also offered abroad.
1996
SoundPLAN 4.2 - the last DOS version, cherished by many customers for a long time, as it was already technologically highly sophisticated.
1998
SoundPLAN 5.0 - a difficult new start under Windows 95.
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Close cooperation with DELTA in implementing the Nord2000 algorithms.
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First noise maps for entire cities in Spain
1999
Arne Berndt and his family move to Washington, USA. He is managing the international sales and marketing but still continues to advise the programming department.
Foundation of SoundPLAN International LLC.
2000
We are moving to the new offices in Backnang near the train station.
2007 ...
Challenge to perform the nationwide noise mapping of the federal railways; successful realisation for the years 2007, 2012 and 2017. The second and third round of noise mapping 2012 and 2017 was carried out as a powerful team together with the project partners disy Informationssysteme GmbH and Pöyry Deutschland GmbH.
2011
Since 2011 a cooperation with d&b audiotechnik GmbH, Backnang, one of the world's leading manufacturers of professional sound systems for concert halls/operas as well as for open air concerts.
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An exciting experiment (a measurement of an entire stage on a glider airfield) results in the development of the software NoizCalc, which ensures that the music in the audience area does not become noise for the neighbourhood.
"More art. Less noise."
2012
SoundPLAN is now successfully used in more than 50 countries around the world.
2014
Due to the succession plan the company's name is changed to "SoundPLAN GmbH" . New managing directors are Dipl.-Math. (FH) Michael Gillé and Dipl.-Ing. (FH) Jochen Schaal, both long-term employees. This ensures continuity.
2017
Innovation prize for NoizCalc. Award ceremony during the Prolight + Sound 2017 in London.
New groundbreaking development for the calculation of room acoustic parameters with SoundPLAN 8.0 and the sound particle model; "We'll get the sound particles around the corner and through the wall"
2019
The international distribution is now managed from SoundPLAN GmbH in Germany. Arne und Elizabeth Berndt withdraw from the operative business.
Sarooma and SoundPLAN - two strong companies, one joint future!
Saaroma Details
Building bridges to go together even stronger into the future! We remain true to this philosophy and continue to expand our solutions in the field of room acoustic planning in order to become even better for our customers.
Sarooma still stands for the fast room acoustic planning of simple rooms according to many national regulations. SoundPLAN's sound particle model allows deeper analysis in this area. Linkage between both products: the state-of-the-art sound absorber database from Sarooma.
2020
Our new website is finally online!
2022
SoundPLANmanda, our mapping and analysis software for the assessment of occupational noise is now available!
2023
SoundPLANnoise 9.0 - SoundPLANnoise's current version 9.0 sets new standards for modern software.