Best PC arb waveform editor software???......... - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / projects

author: Smokey
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 15, 2017, 02:38:42 am
content: (I spent some time searching the form and I didn't come up with a dedicated thread on this. Sorry if my ninja search skills are just off today.)The PC software that comes with cheap arbs for editing the waveforms is damn near unusable. Since most arbitrary waveform generator hardware takes some sort of basic csv type file, you should be able to take advantage of the software developed to support one of the big name hardware players that actually works and then post process the output into whatever the Rigol/Siglent/Hantek stuff is looking for.So the question is:What is the best PC software program for creating and editing waveforms?Features should probably include:Output format you could post process if needed (not something binary or proprietary).Import option for taking a captured waveform and tweaking it.Canned starting functions, like the stuff built into the arb but with the ability to tweak in the PC software.Free would be nice.Thoughts.....

author: rs20
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 15, 2017, 03:11:29 am
content: MATLAB? GNU Octave? Excel? Google Sheets?At the end of the day, you're generating a sequence of numbers, and (for my applications at least) I want a particular mathematical formula, hence the tools listed above.If you want to to freehand draw your waveform, then I believe any sound editor worth its salt can do this -- Audacity, Adobe Soundbooth.In short, you're being very vague in saying that you "want to edit waveforms", the same vagueness as someone asking for a 3D editor who might equally want Blender or AutoCAD/OnShape. Not necessarily a bad thing though, this thread will probably provide a fascinating breadth of different options for different usecases.

author: nctnico
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 15, 2017, 03:18:24 am
content: Recently I tried to get the Siglent Easywave software going but it wasn't able to import anything. In the end I just copy&pasted the waveform into a dummy CSV file created by Siglent's software and fortunately it was accepted by my Siglent SDG1010. Ofcourse the instrument only accepts CSV files which have a specific header in the CSV file.I think Cooledit might be a reasonable waveform generating and editing tool. It can import/export text files which have a (sample) value on each line.

author: Smokey
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 15, 2017, 04:46:13 am
content: Totally good points. Should have specified I'm thinking about a GUI editor.Something where you can potentially drag and drop waveforms and drag the points around.I always consider arb's most useful for creating unique transients and sequences and stuff like that. Infinitely repeating sine waves and nice mathematical functions are easy.

author: voltsandjolts
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: January 15, 2017, 09:38:17 am
content: Keysight Waveform Builder saves to CSVhttp://www.keysight.com/en/pd-1962285-pn-33503A/benchlink-waveform-builder-pro-software?nid=-536902257.977229&cc=GB&lc=eng

author: Smokey
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 15, 2017, 05:58:10 pm
content: Yup. Thats probably the top. Also looks like its 800 buckshttps://www.amazon.com/Keysight-Technologies-33503A-BenchLink-Waveform/dp/B01D0R3T0CI wonder how the trial works with a virtual machine...

author: ADI8421
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: July 06, 2021, 09:19:57 am
content: Just in case someone is searching: Best I've found is Cool Edit Pro 2.1 Audio waveform editor. In fact, binary waveform files saved from a SiglentSDS1202X-2 scope load directly into Cool Edit or Audacity even. Using just the mouse wheel in Cool Edit you can zoom in and out of a 1mhz sine wave AM modulated with 1 Khz sine wave, right down to single scope samples. So cool. So that's an 8bit binary file of course. If you need .CSV format then Siglent does a bintocsv conversion utility.

author: Smokey
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 27, 2024, 01:34:32 am
content: I just tried both Siglent EasyWaveX and Rigol UltraStation (current versions as of now). Both still suck. Really Bad.Siglent actually sucks slightly less, but neither can easily do a non-RS232 digital bit pattern out of the box.

author: CaptDon
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 27, 2024, 01:19:01 pm
content: I think Tektronix or Agilent had 'ArbExpress' and dig around the Yokogawa stuff as I believe they had some offerings. I even found the Yokogawa unlock key online for some of their waveform viewers / editors. I use CoolEdit for my audio work and love it!! I have a licensed version with added features. Been using it since 1995 I believe.