MCC USB-1608G Series: High-Speed Multifunction USB DAQ Devices

Measurement Computing hits a sweet spot in value with their products in general, and this DAQ system is no exception. 16-bit, fast sampling, convenient USB interface, 2 analog voltage outputs, free LabView interface software, and under $1000...what's not to like? You would spend upwards of $5000 for the same functionality with other brands. These systems run 24/7 without problems. If you do have a problem or just need help with some LabView control software, customer service is absolutely excellent: responsive and helpful. The only improvement I can see is in the hardware initial interface setup. If you switch DAQ systems or are running this sytem for the first time on a computer, you must use the Instacal software to recognize the hardware so your computer can "see" it. It would be nice to not have to remember to do this.

This USB device installs easily and fits nicely with our infrared thermal imaging camera system. The software loads efficiently and is a product that we rely on for the specialized device we produce. The technical support is unparalleled in the industry.

Order process simple

My lab builds laser-based sensors for atmospheric and combustion diagnostics. For years, I have been eyeing MCC products, and finally took the plunge. The unit we bought replaces several XY-DAQ units that were built into last year's model. Perhaps due to our own deficiencies, we never succeeded in getting those units to run using a very popular ARM-based linux micro controller. Thanks to the hard work and documentation of Warren Jasper of NCSU (https://github.com/wjasper/Linux_Drivers) we have succeeded in replacing three XY-DAQ systems with this one MCC unit and removed the dependency on a Windows-based laptop for our field instrument, reducing our system power burden to <15 W AND improving performance. We are ordering a second USB-1608GX-2AO today so that we can rebuild the 2016 model of our instrument to enjoy the same benefits.

We've purchased quite a number of this item, and they always operate reliably. We've used Measurement Computing products for many years, and whenever technical phone support is needed, it's always excellent.

We've had a long-standing experience with MCC products and this item continues that tradition of excellence. It has enabled us to improve the performance of our device and help us move forward with the technology. The technical support with this company is beyond comparison, always friendly, and extremely helpful.

Caveats: I have experience with only a handful of daq devices, and this is the first USB one I have used. Don't give any respect at all to those bar graphs under "product rating" in this review. Physical: convenient, well designed, screw terminals easy to use Hardware: I'm not equipped to verify all the specs, and have not tried all features, but it works as expected. With 16 bits in ADC and DAC rather than 12, it much easier to do some things with this, compared to my old equipment. The USB interface is much easier to use than a PC card interface for which one has to write and maintain a kernel driver., and deal with interrupts. Firmware: It would be very helpful if mccdaq would publish the code and FPGA config, so users could try modifying it. Larger FIFO buffers would be desirable for some uses. There is an issue with control transfers being ignored after a scan has completed but before data has been read out. Continuous scanning is of limited utility because the sample rate cannot be changed (at least I could not do it) without stopping, reading ADC FIFO, reloading DAC FIFO, and restarting, which all takes tens of milliseconds-- enough to make a highly annoying transient when I am trying to evaluate a resonance. Documentation: The manual needs explanations. There are various reset actions, with no hint besides the command name to tell what they do or when to use them. One thing I wrote did not work because I had two of these in the wrong order. A state diagram would be very helpful.