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Avisoft-RECORDER - Versatile Harddisk Recording
The new dimension of PC-based
Multichannel Triggering Harddisk
Recording
Avisoft-RECORDER is a versatile multichannel
triggering harddisk recording system. It was designed for the
special needs of bioacoustics, but it can also be used for any other
audio signals. Possible applications are:
- Long-term monitoring and recording of acoustic events both in
the laboratory and in the field.
- High-speed harddisk-recording with sampling rates up to 1 MHz*
with various data acquisition boards (Avisoft-UltraSoundGate, National Instruments,
Data
Translation, Measurement Computing (formerly ComputerBoards),
ines) and
soundcards (up to 192 kHz).
- Pre-trigger recording of sporadic animal vocalizations in the
field (either manually or automated using one of the various
triggering options : threshold / manual / digital input / timer /
... ).
- Individual triggering and saving of single channels from
multichannel soundcards or data acquisition boards.
- Multichannel real-time spectrographic display.
- Real-time acoustic monitoring of ultrasound signals by using
heterodyning, aliasing or envelope tracking techniques.
- Real-time frequency measurements, that can also be issued by
voice messages.
- Recording front-end for Avisoft-SASLab Pro.
- Playback with both standard soundcards and high-speed output
streaming devices.
- USV monitoring option for counting and measuring rat or mice ultrasonic vocalizations.
- Batch mode for processing large numbers of animals in USV drug testing procedures.
- Acquiring GPS location data from NMEA 0183 compatible GPS receivers and logging the geographic locations of the recorded .wav files into .gpx or .kml files.
* The maximum sampling
rate for real-time display and streaming to disk depends on the type
of acquisition board and computer performance (USB, PCMCIA or PCI
board, processor speed, graphics adapter, disk transfer rate,
...) |
Data flow scheme |
Avisoft-RECORDER
screen shot |
configuration diolog
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Up to 8 channels, each
sampling at up to 1 MHz can be monitored simultaneously. Optionally,
Avisoft-RECORDER can record from up to 32 audio channels. Each
channel can be triggered separately by different trigger events. An
trigger event can be the exceeding of a certain energy threshold
within a pre-defined frequency interval. This mechanism prevents
triggering caused by undesired disturbance signals outside the
frequency range of the animal vocalizations. Additionally, an
entropy parameter can be used to discriminate between noise and
pure-tone signals. For more sophisticated signal filtering, the
Avisoft-SASLab classification facility may be used.
Alternatively, trigger events can be keystrokes, joystick
button hits or timer intervals. Once a trigger event has occurred,
the assigned channel(s) will be written into numbered WAV-files onto
the hard drive as long as the trigger event is active. In order to
capture sounds preceding the trigger event, a pre-trigger duration
can be specified. Additionally, a hold-time can be defined to
prevent cutting up of related sound elements.
The
created event files are time-stamped (at sample clock resolution)
enabling subsequent re-assembling into larger continuous files for
precise temporal analysis. Sound-activated recording can be
restricted to user-defined periods of (day-) time.
The
adapted Avisoft-SASLab Pro sound analysis software and the LOG-file
output support quick navigation through the captured sound files.
For single-channel applications a special low-cost version is
available.
Both standard soundcards and high-speed output
streaming systems (National Instruments DAQCards) can be used for
playback of .wav files with the integrated playback feature. For
ultrasonic playback experiments, an appropriate power amplifier and
speaker can be provided. Playing a .wav file can be initiated simply
by dragging the desired file into the RECORDER application window.
There is also a powerful play list feature enabling automated
playback of long file sequences. Several sound files can be selected
into a play list that defines the playback sequence. The play list
is constructed by simple drag&drop operations. A loop option
enables long-term playback. A "randomize" option allows playing the
selected files in a random sequence. The playback features can be
used in parallel and independent from the recording mode of
Avisoft-RECORDER. |
play list screen shot
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The USV monitoring option provides instant results on the acquired ultrasonic vocalizations. Various descriptive statistics items such as the total number, total duration, mean duration or standard deviation of the detected USVs can be reported.
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USV monitoring screen shots
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GPS data logging screen shots
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System Requirements
IBM-compatible PC, Pentium running at 133MHz or more
At least 16MB of RAM, 32MB or more are recommended
Harddisk space: > 2GB, depending on the amount of sound files
to be captured
VGA-Display with at least 256 colors
Soundcard compatible to Windows (MME driver is required),
Avisoft-UltraSoundGate or data acquisition boards by National
Instruments (E- and M-series models, e.g. DAQ Card 6062E), Data Translation (e.g. DT303),
Measurement Computing (e.g. PC-Card-DAS16/330) or ines (e.g.
DAQ-PCMCIA i508) *
For GPS data logging, a GPS receiver complying with the NMEA-0183 data prototol is required (either a Bluetooth GPS receiver, a USB GPS mouse or a handheld GPS unit)
Operating system: Microsoft Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows ME, Windows NT, Windows 2000, Windows XP or Windows Vista
* Please note that the operation of these data acquisition
boards is not always straightforward. Depending on the specific
laptop computer, PCMCIA-based data acquisition cards do not always
work reliably (certainly at higher sample rates). Some knowledge and
experience in electronics is required to connect the analog inputs
(and outputs) properly. In contrast, common soundcards and the
Avisoft-UltraSoundGate devices are much easier to handle. For
more details on the RECORDER software consult the DEMO version with its online help system, the
tutorial and the User's Guide.
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avisoft.com