Hello Sue,
Another option for #2 is using a National Instruments sound acquisition card
(www.ni.com) combined with Ishmael software for doing the recording. Ishmael
does triggered recording, based on when it detects a sound, with pre- and
post-buffering of the detected sound in the recorded file. You can time-stamp
the recordings by having Ishmael make the time be included in the file name.
Ishmael interfaces to E-Series boards/cards from National Instruments. The
E-Series includes a lot of boards, some of them with 32 channels, which is the
maximum number of channels Ishmael can handle. (Beware that sound boards often
have a maximum aggregate sample rate, so that as you add channels, you
necessarily lower the frequency range of each channel.) There are also
64-channel E-Series boards; if you want 64 channels in Ishmael, let me know, as
this is easy to change.
Ishmael is free.
Caveat: I wrote Ishmael, so I like to tout it.
Dave
From: "Susan_Bertram" <>
To: <>
Sent: Tuesday, November 14, 2006 3:25 PM
Subject: Record multiple crickets simultaneously
Hi all,
I am looking to purchase a system that will allow me to record the acoustic
signals of several crickets simultaneously. I wish to quantify several
aspects of their acoustic signalling displays including dominant frequency
(4-6 KHz). I need to record as many crickets as I can simultaneously
(recording 50 individuals at once would be idea). In total, I will be
analyzing the signalling behaviour of several thousand individuals, so the
more I can record at once the better. Crickets will each be housed in their
own container, and the containers can be acoustically isolated from one
another and each fitted with their own microphone (either wired or
wireless). Because crickets do not call on command, I may have to record the
individuals for several hours at a time. I do not require continuous
recording, provided I can get a time stamp of when the channel is recording.
I am looking into several different options at this time:
1) Purchasing a few Zaxcom IV, but they only allow 8 channels to be recorded
simultaneously (they are also fairly expensive at $12K each).
2) A computer based recording system but am having a hard time determining
if it is possible to record more than two channels simultaneously.
3) A Tascam X48 which is a 48 track hybrid hard-disk workstation.
Can anyone recommend other equipment to do this on, or does anyone have
experience putting together such a system?
Thanks - Sue
Susan M. Bertram, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Department of Biology
245 Nesbitt Building
Carleton University
1125 Coloney By Drvie
Ottawa, Ontario
Canada K1S 5B6
613-601-0699
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Subject:
Re: Record multiple crickets simultaneously
From:
"Raimund Specht" <>
Date:
Wed, 15 Nov 2006 10:41:23 +0100
To:
<>
To:
<>
Hi Sue,
I would recommend option #2 because this is probably the most flexible
and least expensive solution. It is indeed possible to record more than
two channels simultaneously onto a computer-based system. The
Avisoft-RECORDER software (http://www.avisoft.com/recorder.htm) for
instance can handle up to 32 channels (from a single application
instance). There are both sound-activated and timer-controlled
triggering modes available. The recorded wav. files itself and a
dedicated LOG file will contain exact time stamps.
This software is compatible to any multichannel audio interface or
soundcard. A well-suited model would be for instance the
M-AUDIO Delta1010LT
(http://www.m-audio.com/products/en_us/Delta1010LT-main.html) You could
install 4 of these 8-channel boards into your computer, which would
provide a total number of 32 simultaneous channels.
Another solution would be to use several cheap external USB or FireWire
audio interfaces (preferably with integrated microphone preamplifiers)
than could be attached to a single PC via an external USB 2.0 HUB:
- M-AUDIO Mobil Pre USB
(http://www.m-audio.com/products/en_us/MobilePreUSB-main.html)
- Aureon 5.1 USB MK II (http://sounden.terratec.net/)
- MAYA44 USB (http://www.audiotrak.net/maya44usb.htm)
Note that you will need additional microphone preamplifiers for those
audio interfaces that only provide line inputs. A suited 8-channel
preamplifier would be for instance the SM Pro PR8
(http://www.smproaudio.com/PR8.htm).
Best regards,
Raimund Specht
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tel +49 30 48476986
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