UltraVox XT analyses sound, including ultrasonic vocalisations made by rodents. You can select calls visually in a spectrogram and categorise similar calls based on frequency, amplitude, duration, and time gaps. Easy export to EthoVision XT and The Observer XT allows you to combine the acoustical events with other behavioural data.
How does it Work
UltraVox uses full spectrum microphones to capture all emitted calls. Acquisition can be started manually or can be triggered by EthoVision XT. The easy to use software allows the user to categorise calls based on amplitude, duration and frequency.
Features and Benefits
Feature
Benefit
Analysis of calls
Quickly identify the total number of calls, the total, mean, min. and max. of call duration; also the standard deviation of the mean duration and the dominant frequency (frequency at maximum amplitude); statistics related to the individual calls include; duration, start and stop time, dominant frequency (frequency at maximum amplitude) and the mean amplitude
Spectrograms
While the sound is being recorded, UltraVox XT shows it in real-time as a time-amplitude waveform and time-frequency spectrogram; while the waveform tells you when sound was made, the spectrogram gives you much more information; from the spectrogram, you can select and zoom in to study the characteristics of each call, such as its shape and temporal structure. You can name each call and define labels yourself (for example: chevron, two-component, downward, short, flat). UltraVox XT uses these labels for analysis and provides statistics.
Compact set-up
UltraVox XT works with a compact, plug-and-play USB ultrasound microphone (max sampling rate 250 kHz) that captures the full acoustic spectrum and is sufficient for one testing arena; you can connect up to four microphones to one UltraVox XT setup; this compact setup makes UltraVox XT easy to work with and creates a very cost-efficient solution
Present your work
When it is time to show your work, spectrograms might be very informative; in addition to a PDF report, you can export the images such as the spectrograms from UltraVox XT to use in publications and presentations; to let others hear the vocalisations, UltraVox XT offers pitch reduction that makes the ultrasonic calls audible to the human ear
