What DAQ System?

[Stuart255]

Hi Guys,

I'm looking to purchase a DAQ system for the attached piece of equipment. 

What would be best?

[Kevin_Price]

That's a pretty open question.  What are you planning to *do* with this equipment?  What kind of measurements, what accuracy and resolution do you need, what kind of signal bandwidth, etc., etc.?

That aside, I've used other models of similar equipment from the same mfgr.  It's generally some good stuff.  I've only used the analog output signal and haven't ventured into trying anything with the S/P-DIF interface. 

Given the 24-bit DAC in the instrument, you *might* benefit from a 24-bit analog input DAQ card.  Or maybe not so much, depending on your needs and how well you can isolate yourself from microvolt level noise.

Given that one of the attractions of this instrument is the portability and the option for battery power, you may further want your DAQ choice to follow suit and also be portable.

-Kevin P

[Stuart255]

I'm thinking of this

http://www.ni.com/pdf/manuals/375939b_02.pdf

NI-9239

Seems a good match?

[Kevin_Price]

A. I have a bias toward favoring desktop PCIe boards over boards connected by USB.  From within the USB family however, cDAQ seems pretty solid though I haven't used it an awful lot myself.

   cDAQ gives you lots of future flexibility and expansion options and connects to a laptop.  Stick with it if those are important.

B. The 9239 is a good choice if 24-bit resolution is more important than signal bandwidth *and* you have a considerably lower-than-typical noise floor.   In the presence of electrical noise or if you need to measure (for example) a full acoustic range up to 20 kHz, you might be better off with the 9222 or 9223 which offer 16 bits and 500 kHz+ sampling rate.

C.  Note that if you're going for a high sample rate, you should also go back and reconsider a desktop PCIe board.  High throughput is more reliable on PCIe.

-Kevin P