Hello,
I am conducting a speech production experiment using PsychoPy (version 2024.2.4), where participants are required to name a picture aloud. I would like to accurately measure the vocal response time — from speech onset to offset.
I am considering using the Cedrus SV-1 Voice Key device for this purpose. I understand that it outputs a TTL pulse upon voice detection, but I would like to ask:
Is it possible to use the SV-1 with PsychoPy directly, or is additional hardware required (e.g., StimTracker, DAQ device, or parallel port)?
If extra hardware is needed, what setup would you recommend for reliable TTL detection and compatibility with PsychoPy?
Are there any working examples or code snippets available that demonstrate how to integrate a voice key into a PsychoPy experiment?
Additionally, I would appreciate a detailed explanation regarding the pricing of the SV-1 Voice Key and any additional hardware required. Please include the prices for both the Voice Key system and any other hardware components that may be necessary for integration with PsychoPy.
A clear and detailed response would be greatly appreciated.
System details:
PsychoPy version: 2024.2.4
Operating system: Windows 10/11
Interface used: Builder
Best regards,
Nadowa
Hello @Nadowa
You will need to contact Cedrus for this information. Notice that SV-1 Voice Key is no longer available.
I have used this VoiceKey with some other software and found it rather unreliable. In the end, we recorded the VoiceKey trigger on one channel of an audio recording and the participant’s response on the other channel. We then manually measured the delay between the VoiceKey trigger and the speech onset.
I suspect that the poor quality was due to the poor quality of the microphone supplied with the Voice Key. Using a better microphone might improve the quality of the measurement. Cedrus now offers an RT device called Riponda, which has voice key support (3.5 mm jack). It allows you to connect any microphone. An alternative to Cedrus is Black Box (I have never used Black Box).
Have a look here and here to get a better understanding of the problem.
Best wishes Jens
One of the features we added in 2025.1.0 (the current beta release) is a dedicated Sound Sensor Component for interfacing with this kind of device. It also has the option to use a regular microphone as a voicekey, essentially it regularly samples the volume and triggers a message when it exceeds a given threshold.
I can confirm this Component works with the Riponda, StimTracker and Black Box Toolkit’s TPad as we have all of these in the office so I was using them to test while developing it. I’ve not used the SV-1 so can’t vouch for it, whether it works with PsychoPy will depend whether it’s supported by Cedrus’s pyxid2 package as that’s what we use under the hood.
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