In general, there are two approaches for creating a sound stimulus during an EthoVision trial. You can either use a sound-producing device that takes a TTL input or you can play a tone over the computer speaker. The latter is only a good choice when there is only a single arena or when sound presentation will be synchronized across all the arenas. Also note when using a computer tone that the volume level will depend on the volume set on the computer, and any other sounds produced by the computer will also be audible on the same speaker.
If you are using a PhenoTyper, there is a built-in tone stimulus which can be used instead.
To set up a TTL-controlled sound stimulus, you'll need the Trial & Hardware Control Module and either the USB I/O Box or Mini USB I/O Box. You'll also need a suitable cable to go from the RJ45 connectors on the I/O box to the input on your TTL device. As every device is different, consult Noldus technical support if you need assistance with this, or would like to purchase a cable.
In the Experiment Settings of your experiment, check the box for "Use of trial control hardware" (note: if this option is not shown, you do not have the Trial & Hardware Control Module) and then click the Settings button next to it. Select the USB I/O Box or Mini USB I/O Box depending on which device you have. For the TTL port that is connected to your sound device, set the device type to "Custom Hardware."
In the Arena Settings, click the Arena-Hardware Mapping button in the lower right corner of the screen. If you have a single arena, each device should show up on its own line. If it's not listed, click the Add Device button to add it. Make sure the device is listed in the column for Arena 1. The Device Name shown here is how it will be displayed in the Trial Control Settings.
If you have multiple arenas, each type of device should have its own line. So for example you would have one line for a Tone device, with the individual devices selected in the column for each arena. The Device Name shown here is how they will be displayed in the Trial Control Settings.
You can test your device here. Select the device in the column for the appropriate arena, then click the Test button. Select "Output 1 High" and click Test to turn on a device on output 1, and "Output 1 Low" and Test to turn it off. "Output 2 High" and "Output 2 Low" will similarly control a device on the second output for a given TTL port (each TTL port on the I/O box has two outputs).
In the Trial Control Settings, add a Hardware Action, select the device, and Output 1 (or 2) High to turn it on, or Output 1 (or 2) Low to turn it off. Insert these events into the trial control settings as appropriate.
To create a tone using an external command, you'll need these files to create the tone: Beep files
Right-click the downloaded file and pick Extract All. Copy/move the three files it contains to this folder:
C:\Users\Public\Documents\Noldus\EthoVision XT
(Note: you can use a different folder, but you'll need to edit the "beep.bat" file to specify the correct location in that case.)
Edit the file "beep.ps1" if you want to change the frequency (the first number in the file, currently 1500 Hz) or the duration (the second number in the file, currently 1000 msec = 1 sec).
Then in the EthoVision trial control settings, add an "External Command" action. Click the ... button, change the file type (in the lower right corner) from "Executables (*.exe)" to "Batch Files (*.bat; *.cmd)", and then select the beep.bat file wherever you put it. You can leave the "Command line options" box blank.
In recent versions of EthoVision, you can use the Test button in that box to check that the sound is working.