Direct-to-disk Recorder User's Guide Version 1.10 June, 2004

WaveDisktm Direct-to-disk Recorder User's Guide Version 1.10 June, 2004 Engineering Design

This document is provided for the sole purpose of operating the WaveDisk system. No part of this document may be reproduced, transmitted, or stored by any means, electronic or mechanical. It is prohibited to alter, modify, or adapt the software or documentation, including translating, decompiling, disassembling, or creating derivative works. This document contains proprietary information which is protected by copyright. All rights are reserved. ENGINEERING DESIGN MAKES NO WARRANTY OF ANY KIND WITH REGARD TO THE MATERIAL CONTAINED HEREIN, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. Engineering Design shall not under any conditions be liable for errors contained herein or for incidental or consequential damages arising from the furnishing, performance, or use of this material. The information in this document is subject to change without notice. 2002 Engineering Design, Belmont, MA. All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. SIGNAL, Real-Time Spectrogram, RTS, RTSD, WaveDisk, Event Detector, and Experiment Maker are trademarks of Engineering Design. The following are service marks, trademarks, and/or registered trademarks of the respective companies: Computer Boards: Computer Boards Data Translation: Data Translation, Open Layers Frequency Devices: Frequency Devices Gateway: Gateway 2000 HP, LaserJet, and DeskJet: Hewlett-Packard Microsoft, Windows, Windows 95, Windows 98: Microsoft Corporation Sonagraph: Kay Elemetrics Corp SYSTAT: Systat Engineering Design 43 Newton St Belmont, MA 02478 USA Tel 617-484-3520 Fax 617-484-6559 Email info@engdes.com www.engdes.com ii

LICENSE AGREEMENT THIS IS A LEGAL AGREEMENT BETWEEN ENGINEERING DESIGN AND THE BUYER. BY OPERATING THIS SOFTWARE, THE BUYER ACCEPTS THE TERMS OF THIS AGREEMENT. 1. Engineering Design (the "Vendor") grants to the Buyer a non-exclusive license to operate the provided software (the "Software") on ONE computer system at a time. The Software may NOT reside simultaneously on more than one computing machine. 2. The Software is the exclusive property of the Vendor. The Software and all documentation are copyright Engineering Design, all rights reserved. The Software may be duplicated ONLY for archival back-up. 3. The Software is warranted to perform substantially in accordance with the operating literature for a period of 30 days from the date of shipment. 4. EXCEPT AS SET FORTH IN THE EXPRESS WARRANTY ABOVE, THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED WITH NO OTHER WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED. THE VENDOR EXCLUDES ALL IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. 5. The Vendor's entire liability and the Buyer's exclusive remedy shall be, at the Vendor's SOLE DISCRETION, either (1) return of the Software and refund of purchase price or (2) repair or replacement of the Software. 6. THE VENDOR WILL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY SPECIAL, INDIRECT, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES HEREUNDER, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, LOSS OF PROFITS, LOSS OF USE, OR LOSS OF DATA OR INFORMATION OF ANY KIND, ARISING OUT OF THE USE OF OR INABILITY TO USE THE SOFTWARE. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE VENDOR BE LIABLE FOR ANY AMOUNT IN EXCESS OF THE PURCHASE PRICE. 7. This agreement is the complete and exclusive agreement between the Vendor and the Buyer concerning the Software.

Table of Contents 1. Overview... 1 2. Hardware and Software Installation... 2 3. Operation... 4 4. Operating Hints and Troubleshooting... 8 5. Technical Notes... 9 6. Using WaveDisk and SIGNAL... 9

1. Overview WaveDisk tm provides direct-to-disk data acquisition and playback using any Sound Blastercompatible sound card, including the sound chip built into most notebook computers. Program capabilities include: Recording at 11025, 22050, and 44100 Hz sample rate One-channel recording and playback Recording and playback duration up to the capacity of the hard disk Records and plays sound data in either SIGNAL or Wave file format Operates with Sound Blaster-compatible sound cards, external USB sound card units, and notebook sound chips Runs under Windows 95/98/2000/XP WaveDisk supports both desktop and notebook computers. Sample applications include: Use with a notebook computer to perform continuous data acquisition in the field up to ultrasonic frequencies, replacing an expensive ultrasonic or multi-channel recorder Use with a notebook computer to perform field playbacks up to ultrasonic frequencies Use with a desktop computer to provide an inexpensive I/O workstation for streaming data collection in the lab, for later analysis in SIGNAL or RTS WaveDisk can store acquired data in either SIGNAL or Wave file format. Both file types can be read directly into SIGNAL or RTS for display and analysis. Applications for WaveDisk sound files within the SIGNAL family include: Review, measure, and edit sound data in the RTS Produce continuous hardcopy spectrograms in SIGNAL Automatically analyze recorded files for sound events using the Event Detector Read file segments into SIGNAL for precision display and measurement

WaveDisk does not require SIGNAL in order to operate - it can be installed on any Windows 95/98/2000/XP computer for stand-alone data acquisition. 2. Hardware and Software Installation Installing Sound Blaster-compatible hardware WaveDisk requires a Sound Blaster-compatible sound card, external USB sound card unit, or the sound chip built into most notebook computers. The necessary drivers are usually supplied with the card or pre-installed in the computer. No card configuration is normally necessary. Installing WaveDisk After installing your Sound Blaster-compatible sound card (if not already installed), follow these steps to install WaveDisk. This will install WaveDisk into the default SIGNAL directory c:\program Files\Engineering Design\Signal 4.0. If you have installed SIGNAL in a different directory, unzip into a temp directory and manually copy the files to your SIGNAL directory. 1. Insert the WaveDisk floppy or CD in your disk drive. 2. Open the disk in Windows Explorer and launch the file (by double-clicking on it) wavedisk_pgm_xxx.exe, where "xxx" is the version number, e.g., wavedisk_pgm_1.01.exe. 3. The WinZip self-extractor will open. 4. Enter "c:\" under Unzip to folder. 5. Select Overwrite files without prompting. 6. Click Unzip. 7. The self-extractor should report "xx file(s) unzipped successfully". Click Close to exit. 8. To create a desktop icon, open Windows Explorer, locate wavedisk.exe in the SIGNAL directory (e.g., c:\program Files\Engineering Design\Signal 4.0), R-click on the file, drag to the desktop, and select Create Shortcuts Here. 9. To add WaveDisk to the Programs menu, right-click on the taskbar at the bottom of the screen and select Properties Start Menu Programs Add (Windows 95/98) or Properties Start Menu Customize Add (Windows 2000/XP). Click Browse and browse to the SIGNAL 4.0 root directory (e.g., c:\program Files\Engineering Design\Signal 4.0). Select the file wavedisk.exe and close the browse window (click Open or OK), then click Next. In the Select Program Folder window, select (or create) the Engineering Design 2

folder under Programs, then click Next. In the Select a Title window, enter "WaveDisk" as the shortcut name and click Finish. Click OK once (Windows 95/98) or twice (Windows 2000/XP) to exit the taskbar windows. 10. To add WaveDisk to the Start menu, right-click on the taskbar at the bottom of the screen and select Properties Start Menu Programs Advanced (Windows 95/98) or Properties Start Menu Customize Advanced (Windows 2000/XP). This will launch an Explorer window with the Start menu contents in the right panel. R-click on the WaveDisk icon on the desktop and drag into the right pane, and select Create Shortcuts Here. The (this document) is installed as a PDF (Portable Document Format) file in the \docs directory under the SIGNAL root directory (normally c:\program Files\Engineering Design\Signal 4.0). PDF files require the Acrobat Reader program from Adobe Corporation for viewing. If not already installed, this program is available for free download at http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep.html. Acrobat Reader is also required by Help User Guide on the WaveDisk menu. Acrobat Reader provides full text search capability, which can be extremely useful as a "super-index", to find all occurrences of a particular word or phrase in the document. To perform a text search, select Edit Find in the Acrobat menu. 3

3. Operation Signal connections The following diagram shows WaveDisk connections using one input and one output channel. The signal source, which might be a tape player or microphone, is connected to the sound card input for acquisition by the card. Output signals from the card are connected to a tape recorder or loudspeaker for recording or monitoring. An anti-alias filter may be needed with acquisition or playback to avoid sampling artifacts. See the SIGNAL Reference Guide for background on sampling issues. I/O Cables Sound card CPU Tape player / microphone Tape recorder / loudspeaker Starting WaveDisk To execute WaveDisk from Windows Explorer, navigate to the folder containing the WaveDisk executable, then click on wavedisk.exe, or click on WaveDisk via the desktop icon, Programs menu, or Start menu, as installed above. WaveDisk does not currently have a command line mode (like CBDisk, DartDisk, DTDisk, and NIDisk). 4

Acquisition parameter screen To perform an acquisition, click I/O Acquire on the WaveDisk menu. WaveDisk then displays the Acquisition parameter screen. This screen allows the user to specify output filename, output file type, repetition mode, acquisition duration, sample rate, and buffer mode. These are described here. Acquisition begins when the user clicks OK. I/O device selects the I/O device to use for the acquisition. A computer may have multiple "sound card" devices, such as a built-in sound chip and external USB sound card unit. Filename specifies the name of the output sound file. Include file extensions, for example, enter "myfile.wav". Filenames may include a drive letter and directory path; otherwise files are stored in the directory containing WaveDisk. File type may be SIGNAL or Wave. Files are written in uncompressed 16-bit coding (0 offset, ±32768 range). For Wave files, this is the "PCM" or "type 1" standard Wave file format. Repetition mode indicates whether to acquire the specified duration and stop ("Single") or acquire the specified duration, then continue acquiring indefinitely, overwriting previous data ("Continuous"). Continuous mode delivers the most recent duration seconds of acquired data. 5

Duration is specified in seconds, and is limited only by the available space on the destination disk drive. Note: WaveDisk does not check for sufficient disk space for your requested duration. Acquisition length in seconds is related to disk space in MB as follows. For example, at 44100 Hz sample rate, 30 minutes of one-channel sound will require 151 MB of disk space. Disk space in MB = (Acquisition length in secs) * (sample rate in Hz) * (no. channels) / 525,000 Sample rate is specified in Hz, and may be 11025, 22050, or 44100 Hz. Buffer mode indicates where to store the data while it's being acquired in a temporary memory buffer ("RAM buffer"), in a temporary disk file ("Disk buffer"), or in the output sound file ("Direct to/from file"). The first two options require copying the temporary buffer to the output sound file after acquisition, which can be time-consuming for very long acquisitions (> 1 hour). The third option records directly into the output file, eliminating this step. Acquiring data screen During acquisition, WaveDisk reports the duration of sound acquired so far and displays a progress bar. Click Stop to halt the acquisition before it completes, and the sound data recorded up to that point will be saved. 6

Playback parameter screen To perform a playback, click I/O Play on the WaveDisk menu. WaveDisk then displays the Playback parameter screen. This screen allows the user to specify the name of the file to be played, repetition mode, and buffer mode. Parameters such as duration and sample rate are predetermined by the file. I/O device selects the I/O device to use for the playback. A computer may have multiple "sound card" devices, such as a built-in sound chip and external USB sound card unit. Filename specifies the name of the file to be played. Include file extensions, for example, enter "myfile.wav". Filenames may include a drive letter and directory path; otherwise files are searched for in the directory containing WaveDisk. Repetition mode indicates whether to play the specified file and stop ("Single") or play the file repeatedly ("Continuous"). In Continuous mode, WaveDisk reports the elapsed time since the beginning of playback. Buffer mode indicates where to cache the sound data while it's being played in a temporary memory buffer ("RAM buffer"), in a temporary disk file ("Disk buffer"), or direct from the sound file ("Direct to/from file"). The first two options require copying the sound file to a temporary buffer before playback, which can be time-consuming for very long playbacks (> 1 hour). The third option plays directly from the sound file, eliminating this step. 7

Playing data screen During playback, WaveDisk reports the duration of sound played so far and displays a progress bar. Click Stop to halt the playback before it completes. 4. Operating Hints and Troubleshooting Following are operating hints and troubleshooting guidelines for the WaveDisk system. Running WaveDisk with multiple sound cards installed If you have installed multiple sound cards installed in your computer, WaveDisk will always select the first available sound card, and will not be able to access other installed sound cards. Currently the only remedy for this is to uninstall the undesired sound cards. I/O errors Acquisition and playback errors can arise if the I/O process cannot store or retrieve data from the hard disk at the requested sample rate. This can happen when other demanding processes are performed while WaveDisk is running, but this this should be rare. The remedy is to terminate other processes. Notebook power management Some notebook computers (such Toshiba models) optionally reduce processor speed when running from batteries, to conserve battery life. If this reduces the maximum achievable sample rate, reconfigure the computer s power management program (usually available from the Control Panel) to run at full processor speed on battery power. This should be rare. 8

Disk fragmentation and maximum sample rate On older hard disks, fragmentation can degrade the maximum sample rate. Disks can be defragmented in Windows 95/98/2000/XP by clicking My Computer Files Properties Tools Defragment Now. This process should be performed with care. 5. Technical Notes Technical Specifications for WaveDisk with SB16-PCI Card Following are technical specifications of the WaveDisk program, operating with a Sound Blaster SB16-PCI sound card (an older sound card) and an Audigy 2 NX external USB sound card unit (2004). SB16-PCI Audigy 2 NX Max input channels 1 1 Max output channels 1 1 Digital resolution 16-bit = 96 db 16-bit = 96 db Max signal level ± 100-150 mvolts (approx) ± 3.5 Volts Programmable input gain none none Sample rates 11.025, 22.05, 44.1 khz 11.025, 22.05, 44.1 khz Max signal length Limited by physical disk size Limited by physical disk size Input signal bandwidth 20 Hz - 20 khz (approx) 20-20 khz (± 0.5 db) Output signal bandwidth 20 Hz - 20 khz (approx) 5 Hz 17.5 khz (± 0.5 db) Anti-alias filter Internal Internal 6. Using WaveDisk and SIGNAL WaveDisk can be used in conjunction with the SIGNAL tm sound analysis program to record extended acoustic data sequences, then locate and analyze the sound events within them. This section describes the overall approach, basic tools, and important information sources. The two programs work together as follows: WaveDisk provides long-duration direct-to-disk recording, producing long continuous sound files in the SIGNAL or Wave sound file format. SIGNAL can display the entire sound file on screen or hardcopy (future), which the researcher can use as a roadmap to extract specific sound events. SIGNAL can manually extract, display, measure, and analyze these events and store them as individual sound 9

files. SIGNAL can also be programmed to perform acoustic measurements automatically on the stored events.!! Subject Microphone Record sound file in WaveDisk!! Continous sound spectrogram in SIGNAL using STRIP Edit and measure sound events in SIGNAL The above figure illustrates this process. Following is an overview of the steps involved. 1. Present the acoustic vocalization stream to the microphone or hydrophone. 2. Connect the microphone or hydrophone to WaveDisk. 3. Use WaveDisk to digitize and record the vocalization stream to one or more continuous sound files. Normally, set the WaveDisk sample rate to at least 2.5 times the desired recording bandwidth. 4. Start SIGNAL and use the STRIP command to view a continuous spectrogram of the recorded sound file. STRIP produces a multi-screen "strip-chart" frequency-time spectrogram (hardcopy will be available in the future), with typically 30-60 seconds of sound per screen. This allows the user to navigate through a long recording, spotting sound events and extracting them for detailed analysis. Settings such as frequency range 10

and spectrogram resolution can be used to customize the display. Note: STRIP settings can be collected in a SIGNAL macro for convenience. 5. After using STRIP to review the sound file and locate vocalization events, read individual events into SIGNAL using the R /Q command. 6. Use SIGNAL to measure and analyze the sound events. Events can also be saved on disk as individual sound files if desired. 7. SIGNAL can be programmed to perform many acoustic measurements automatically on an entire group of sound files. See the programming chapters in the SIGNAL Reference Guide 7. Using WaveDisk with RTS tm WaveDISK can be used together with the Real-Time Spectrogram tm (RTS) program to record and visually review, measure, and edit extended acoustic data sequences up to hours in length. The two programs work together as follows: WaveDisk can digitize an entire data tape to a sound file, or perform direct-to-disk recording, bypassing the tape entirely. RTS can rapidly page or scroll through the sound file on-screen, while measuring, extracting, and storing sound parameters and sound segments directly from the screen. Navigating a sound file on disk is much more efficient than playing, pausing, and replaying from a tape player! The RTS can scroll or page rapidly forward or backward through a sound file to search for events interest. For example, this 30-second sample screen was scrolled in 3 seconds a review rate of 10 times real-time! The user can also page through the sound file in either direction at 15 times real-time. 11

The wide screen and high-resolution spectrogram of the RTS can be used to locate events in sparse data sets. For example, the sparse sound file in the figure was displayed in 5-minute segments, in which the 3 events are clearly visible. With 3 seconds to draw or scroll a new screen, this allows sparse data sets to be analyzed at 100 times real-time. Once located, individual events can be zoomed for close examination. 12

The RTS runs within SIGNAL, so sound segments can be transferred easily to SIGNAL buffers for immediate analysis, and measured sound parameters can be stored in the SIGNAL logfile. In the figure, the RTS has saved 6 events in SIGNAL buffers and 11 measurement records have been stored in the SIGNAL logfile. Events can also be stored as SIGNAL, Wave, or AIFF sound files for later analysis. 13