Echolocating bats have among the finest ears in all animals. They are capable to resolve ultrasonic signals far beyond 100 kHz. We investigate the bio-acoustics of the bat ear and explore neuronal mechanisms of ultrasonic perception. Critical for our research is high quality ultrasonic sound stimulation with lowest possible distortion.
After testing several DA converters, we found that exaSound e18 DACs are optimal for this task. We use them to play back high fidelity echolocation and communication signals of bats. At a sampling rate of 384 kHz the e18 DAC offers high temporal precision and low distortion in the ultrasonic range up to about 160 kHz.
Our bats deserve the best possible acoustic treatment and we are happy to have come across exaSound hardware.
Prof. Dr. Manfred Kössl Institut für Zellbiologie & Neurowissenschaft Goethe-Universitä Frankfurt / Main Germany