Avisoft-SASLab Pro History

News and Revision History

Avisoft-RECORDER version 2.9 (14 August 2003)

32 bit format option for National Instruments DSA devices (NI 44xx) implemented
Delay option added to the Playlist feature
In the configuration dialog box, a new Copy button allows to copy the settings of one channel to all other active channels

Avisoft-SASLab version 4.23 (01 July 2003)

New editing commands (Cut & Paste) in the Graphics Synthesizer implemented.
An optional Y axis grid in the main window may speed-up the evaluation of sounds.
A new section label command allows transferring gate function analysis results into section labels.
An additional export parameter option ('hide y axis') in the one-dimensional transformation window adds more flexibily.
New horizontal cursors in the curve window provide enhanced measurement facilities on the One-dimensional transformation displays.
Improved facilities for comparing sound files: A cursor linkage option connects cursors throughout instances of the SASLab software (see example)

Avisoft-SASLab version 4.22 (28 April 2003)

A color mapping display showing the magnitude in dB has been added to the spectrogram window (see example)
The new spectrogram axis labeling option supports commonly used styles (see example)
Import of 24 bit .wav files (automatic normalization to the internal 16 bit format)

UltraSoundGate 124 P48 (22 March 2003)

The UltraSoundGate product family has got a new member, the UltraSoundGate 124 P48. This general-purpose USB audio-recording interface provides 24Bit/192kHz sampling and comes in the same compact housing as the other UltraSoundGate devices.

Avisoft-RECORDER version 2.8 (25 February 2003)

24 bit recording format added
Extended support for multi-channel soundcards

UltraSoundGate re-designed (12 February 2003)

The UltraSoundGate product family has completely been re-designed for improved performance and additional features (peak level meter; additional sampling rates complying with the audio standard : 96, 192 and 384 kHz; optional phantom feeding (P48) for high-quality condenser microphones; the trigger button is now represented as a standard joystick button)
At the same time, the prices of all UltraSoundGate devices have been reduced dramatically. Further educational discounts are also available

Avisoft-SASLab version 4.2 (09 December 2002)

Extended functionality for time-delay-of-arrival measurements (TDOA)
New "Magic reticule cursor" mode for measuring sound parameters interactively (see tutorial)

Avisoft-RECORDER version 2.7 (16 August 2002)

Acoustic monitoring options for high-speed acquistion cards and soundcards allows listening to inaudible ultrasound signals in real-time (heterodyne or aliasing technique)
Real-time frequency measurements can be issued by voice messages through the soundcard (suited for bat surveys)
New playback options for immediate playback (echo) of recorded sounds

Avisoft-RECORDER version 2.61 (19 May 2002)

Playback option supporting both soundcards and high-speed data acquisition boads (NI E-series, e.g. DAQCard 6062E and Avisoft UltraSoundGate Player)
Play list option for playing several files subsequently
Freeze display command for inspecting the real-time display
"Track peak frequency" option for real-time frequency measurements

Avisoft-SASLab version 4.14 (03 June 2002)

Improved real-time spectrograph : peak-hold recording level meter, max FFT size increased to 1024, frequency and time measurement cursor and buttons for quicker spectrogram contrast adjustment, the new option "File"/"Save into numbered .wav file and increment" will support quick pre-trigger harddisk recording of sporadic sound events
The main-window recording command now provides real-time spectrogram displays
The filter bandwidth of spectrograms can be set directly from the Spectrogram Parameters dialog
New editing commands: File/Specials/'Insert .wav file', 'Append .wav file', 'Swap channels' and special commands for UltraSoundGate Player
The Automatic Response option is now available in the standard version at no extra costs and a new option supports multichannel experiments
New classification method based on linear discrimination functions (LDA)
The recording buffer of the real-time spectrogram can now be captured by pressing a joystick button
The new option "File"/"Specials"/"Don't work on copies of opened .wav files" will accelerate opening large .wav files.

Avisoft-RECORDER version 2.52 (14 March 2002)

Optional input from a WAV file for scanning large disk files (this feature may also be used for accelerating the process of finding the best trigger parameter settings)
Frequency and time measurement cursor
Event files are now saved with high-precision time stamps, enabling sample-precise re-assembling of consecutive files in Avisoft-SASLab Pro.
Maximum spectrogram FFT size is now 1024 points
Optional grid in spectrogram and waveform display
8-bit mode implemented for high-speed applications with USG 116 and US416
Peak-amplitude display for more precise recording level control

Avisoft-SASLab version 4.0 (26 November 2001)

Long filename support (up to 256 characters)
The FFT length in One-dimensional transformations, cross-correlations and FFT-filters has been extended from 32k to 2 Gsamples
New eraser cursor mode for improved editing of spectrograms (Tools/Cursors/Standard eraser cursor) and undo facility
New command for removing erased spectrogram structures also from the underlying .wav file (Tools/Remove erased spectrogram sections from waveform). This command will allow you to filter out single disturbance signals or harmonics manually, even if these are inside the frequency range of the signals you are interested in!
Several bugs have been fixed

Avisoft-SASLab version 3.95e (15 October 01)

Soundfile compression option for files with large silent sections between vocalizations (e.g. bat echolocation calls) for better handling and easier measuring of temporal parameters (Command 'Edit'/'Compress'). Fast switching between compressed and expanded view (see also the tutorial).
New way to input section labels more quickly by left-clicking plus shift key
New Browse command for comfortable navigation through sound files.
Labels and titles can now be saved directly into .wav files.
Event files created by Avisoft-RECORDER (version 2.4 or later) can be re-assembled into larger continuous files for precise temporal measurements (File/Specials/Re-assembling settings...).
New Automatic Response option (increment RECORDER file number) for event filtering in Avisoft-RECORDER.
New options in the Automatic Parameter Measurements: 'Location of measurements'/'regular intervals of duration / n' and 'Waveform parameters': root mean square, energy, peak-to-peak amplitude.
For more precise Automatic Parameter Measurements in signals with varying amplitudes a new element separation mode with two thresholds has been implemented. For better adjustment, the thresholds can now be modified incrementally by buttons (see also the tutorial).
New option for section labels: Section label grid for more precise temporal investigations
The spectrogram window reticule cursor can now be moved by the arrow keys (To enable this new option, the current configuration must be either reset 'File'/'Configuration'/'Reset' or the appropriate keyboard shortcuts must be defined manually for 'Tools'/'Cursors'/'(Move reticule cursor by one pixel)' .)

Avisoft-RECORDER version 2.3b (19 September 01)

Support for the new Avisoft-UltraSoundGate hardware implemented
An additional entropy parameter threshold allows to prevent triggering caused by broad-band disturbance signals (e.g. insect noise when recording bat echolocation calls)
Entering text comments into the LOG files is now possible for documentary purposes
Multichannel streams can optionally be saved into single multichannel .wav files (in order to ensure the phase relationship between channels)
A time program option allows to record (or enable sound-activated recording) according to a pre-defined time table (e.g. for recording each day from 5:00 to 7:30).

Avisoft-SASLab version 3.94c (6 July 01)

Support for the new Avisoft-UltraSoundGate hardware implemented
New option in the Automatic Parameter Measurements: 'Delete gaps between detected elements'
Improved spectrogram time axis scaling for very high sample rates (>500 kHz)

Avisoft-SASLab version 3.93d (18 April 01)

Main and spectrogram window display during scrolling (pan) improved
Frequency cursors can be added to exported spectrograms
New one-dimensional transformation option for extracting frequency response curves from sine sweep signals
Fundamental frequency output added to the Spectral Characteristics window. The synthesizer Scan spectrogram command now also supports fundamental frequency extraction.
New Import Format option for reading 32 bit floating point format files (e.g. for importing Canary files)

Avisoft-SASLab version 3.92 (12 January 01)

User-defined keyboard shortcuts and popup menus for easier access to frequently-used commands (Actions/Keyboard Shortcuts and Popup Menu).
Noise Reduction command for improving noisy recordings (Edit/Filter/Noise Reduction).
Lorenz plot for evaluating temporal patterns of pulse sequences
Entropy option added to the Automatic Parameter Measurements
Avisoft-RECORDER now supports high-speed data acquisition boards by Data Translation. Additionally, a low-cost version of Avisoft-RECORDER for single-channel applications is available now.

Avisoft-SASLab version 3.91 (25 November 00)

Fundamental frequency option added to the Automatic Parameter Measurements
An autogain option in the spectrogram display parameter dialog box provides optimal usage of color tables
Avisoft-RECORDER, version 2.0 now supports sampling rates up to 500kHz with various high-speed data acquisition boards (National Instruments, ComputerBoards, ines)

Avisoft-SASLab version 3.9d (23 October 00)

The commands Change Volume, Time Domain IIR and FIR filter can now be applied to stereo or multichannel files. Processing of both single channels or all channels of a multichannel file is supported.
Optional axis titles now support more common graphic formats for one-dimensional transformations (see example)
3D Spectrogram (see example)
2D and 3D Scatterplots showing the distribution of Automatic Parameter Measurements are now available in order to support choosing class boundaries and exploring dependencies between parameters. (see example)
Optional Automatic Response facility supports automated playback experiments. The event classes determined by the Automatic Parameter Measurements can be connected to pre-recorded .wav files or different echo modes (filter, resynthesis for frequency shift and modulation). (see also)
Real-time classification facility combines the Real-Time Spectrograph with the Automatic Parameter Measurements
New HTML log file format allows to inspect measurements directly from a WEB browser.

Avisoft-SASLab version 3.84 (October 00)

A new peak frequency detection algorithm supports measurement precisions beyond the spectrum/spectrogram resolution
Automatic Parameter Measurements extended: sub-element counting for analysis of phrases, measuring the distance from start to maximum, derived element-based parameters for measuring the extend of frequency modulation (upward or downward, rising velocity).
New Save/Load command in the Classification Settings dialog in order to simplify the handling of classification settings.
Avisoft-CORRELATOR now supports aligned averaging of spectrograms previously saved in SASLab Pro from 'File'/'Save spectrogram...'. Averaged spectrograms can be opened in SASLab from 'Analyze'/'Open spectrogram...'
Configuration file handling improved.
New format options for section labels: layer1 | layer2 | layer3 | total, which support hierarchic or overlapped labels.
Label input and editing in the spectrum view
New options 'Actions'/'On program start', which automate some common commands.
Graphic Synthesizer / 'Scan Spectrogram': Accuracy of the fundamental frequency extraction improved, occasional bug fixed, optional static sample point reduction for regular spaced measurements of peak frequency and peak amplitude.

Avisoft-SASLab version 3.83 (September 00)

Statistics options added to the Automatic Parameter Measurements: minimum, maximum, mean, median, standard deviation and histogram display.
Interactive element separation added to the Automatic Parameter Measurements. Section labels can now be used to measure noisy elements, which can not be recognized automatically.
The results of the automatic element separation can now be used to save the detected elements into separated numbered .wav files and can also be used to automatically create section labels.

Avisoft-SASLab version 3.82 (August 00)

Classification facility added to the Automatic Parameter Measurements. This new option may be either used for automatic species recognition or note type classification.
New option in the real-time spectrograph automatic recording facility: Save all events into a single file
Adjustable vertical size of the additional spectrogram information along the time axis

Avisoft-SASLab version 3.81 (July 00)

Real-time spectrogram display improved: overlap, y-scale enlargement, down-sampling for low frequency signal analysis, recording level display, overload flag, unlimited streaming into WAV file
Spectrum level scaling for power spectrum display to the One-dimensional Transformation menu added
Zero-crossing analysis option to the One-dimensional Transformation menu added
New "File"/"Shred into numbered files" command for cutting of long sound files.
New "Tools"/"Zoom out time axis" command for better navigation in long and high-resolution spectrograms.

Avisoft-SASLab version 3.8 (April 00)

Labeling facility for displaying single point and time section labels (see spectrogram with labels)
High resolution scaling ticks in spectrograms
Title option in waveform and spectrogram output
Graphic editing of amplitude envelope files (.at) and userdefined frequency response files (.flf) in FIR and FFT filters.
Stereo->Mono command improved

Avisoft-SASLab version 3.75 (March 00)

Improved Automatic Parameter Measurement (Displacement for Start and Stop locations)
Enhanced resolution of x and y scaling ticks in the curve window
Redo command for repeating of previous commands (menu "Edit"/"Redo")
File properties and statistics function (menu "File"/"File properties...)"
New options for opening WAV files directly from the spectrogram window (menu "WavFile"). Additionally the buttons of the spectrogram window and the entire main window can be hidden in order to save space on the desktop for simultaneous spectrogram display (menu "Display"/"Hide buttons", "Hide main window").
Improved handling of configurations

Avisoft-SASLab version 3.74 (November 99)

Curve window export facilities improved (printing of waveforms spread over several lines and pages).

Avisoft-SASLab version 3.73 (October 99)

Real time spectrum display implemented (menu option "File"/"Real Time Spectrum...").
Automatic parameter measurement improved.
Reduce image option in the spectrogram window implemented.
Pulse train generator added to the synthesizer module.
Time/Pitch Conversion allows to speed-up and slow-down sounds by none-integer factors without changing the sampling rate.

Avisoft-SASLab version 3.7 (September 99)

Automatic parameter measurement facility added (see menu Tools/Automatic parameter measurement setup... in the spectrogram window).
Improved scaling and new options in spectrogram output. (see menu Spectrogram Export Parameters)
Improved marker behaviour in both the main and spectrogram window (marked time sections can now exceed the visible section and will not be removed by scrolling).
Harmonic cursor in the One-dimensional window and new peak detection facility in the Spectral Characteristics window added.
Noise generator added to the synthesizer module.

Avisoft-SASLab version 3.6 (May 99)

Real-time display from *.wav file with simultaneous playback implemented.
Energy and RMS calculation from marked waveform sections.
ZooIn and ZoonOut functions added to the main window.

Avisoft-SASLab version 3.5 (November 98)

Remote control from Avisoft-RECORDER added.
Support for quick navigating through numbered WAV files generated by Avisoft-RECORDER. (File/Previous File, Next file)
Improved sampling rate conversion (up- and down-sampling to any rate).

Avisoft-SASLab version 3.4e (September 98)

Gate function for the analysis of temporal patterns implemented (One-dimensional Transformation).
New option in batch processing: Save ASCII/Binary spectrogram.

Avisoft-SASLab version 3.4 (March 98)

Enhanced resolution of envelope plots in printed spectrograms.
New sound file formats for reading and writing: NeXT/SUN (*.AU/*SND), Apple (*.AIF/*.SND).
'Scan Spectrogram' function in the Graphic Synthesizer allows resynthesis of spectrograms.
Time and Frequency parameters in the Graphic Synthesizer can be scaled independently using the new 'Time and Frequency Scaling' option.

Avisoft-SASLab version 3.3 (January 98)

Print option in the curve window implemented.
The appearance of exported curve window graphs can be influenced.
Problems in loading of some *.WAV file versions solved.
Conversion between 8- and 16-bit sound file formats

Avisoft-SASLab version 3.2 (December 97)

Improved printing: Very large spectrograms can be printed on several pages, absolute spectrogram size is adjustable in millimeters, the frequency range displayed on the spectrogram can be adjusted, optional signature, bug (occasional crashes after printing) fixed.
Batch processing supports printing and saving of spectrograms, filtering of sound files and saving of One-dimensional transformations.

Avisoft-SASLab version 3.1 (November 97)

Automatic Recording: Each time a predefined threshold is exceeded within a certain frequency range a new *.WAV file is generated and the signals will be saved onto the harddisk for a selectable hold-time. This mode of operation is useful for long term monitoring.
Normalizing of waveforms in order to generate comparable spectrograms from recordings made with different recording levels.
Trim function supports quick removal of undesired parts from the WAV file.

Avisoft-SASLab version 3.0 (June 97)

Real-time spectrogram scroll mode implemented
Manual Erase-mode in the spectrogram window. This allows to remove undesired structures from the spectrogram image.
Harmonic cursor in the spectrogram window. This supports the determination of the harmonic structure (fundamental frequency) of the spectrogram.
Enhanced amplitude manipulation (tapering, limiting, multiplying and dividing by files).
Manual sample point editing in the main window. Editing (cut, paste, ...) can be done more accurate.
Graphical input of cutoff-frequencies in the filter dialogues from the spectrogram or spectrum display using cursors. This improves the usability of the filter functions.
Undo of editing actions
Synthesizer: Generation of harmonic signals by mouse drawing of the parameter evolution (fundamental frequency, amplitudes of harmonics, frequency and amplitude modulation)

Avisoft-SASLab version 2.75 (January 97)

Memory allocation bug in Real-time display and Print function fixed
Bug in the userdefined file-import function of 10-, 12- and 14-bit binary data in offset format fixed.

Avisoft-SASLab version 2.74

Bug in "Save ASCII-Spectrogram" function fixed (caused an error in the Correlator module)

Avisoft-SASLab version 2.73

New FFT-windows: KaiserBessel and Gauss
FFT-window and Selectivity preview in the Spectrogram-Parameter dialogue

Avisoft-SASLab version 2.6

FIR filter implemented
Two-channel Real-time spectrogram display and stereo display in the main window introduced