USB Instruments “Stingray” Oscilloscope Review

Introduction:

I have been using an oscilloscope dating back to the late 60’s for most of my audio diagnosis needs.  Its slow warm up time, massive size, massive weight, lack of features, and poor grounding have always left much to be desired.  I have planned for sometime to purchase a nice digital phosphor model, but I just don’t happen to have $4,000+ burning a hole in my pocket.  Well, I started looking for a nice used model about a year ago with minimal success, and about a month ago stumbled upon the USB based instrument market.  I started comparing models, reading reviews, and making some decisions as to what features I was after.  I finally settled on the “Stingray” from USB Instruments.

The Unit:

I purchased my unit online at http://www.easysync-ltd.com/.  They sell the Stingray for $220.  While I was at it I picked up one of the cheaper probes they had to offer.  This is very affordable considering the feature set the Stingray includes.  Here are some photos.

A very nice case is included for storing the unit.  I also was impressed with their choice of a 3.5" CD-ROM, vs the standard 5.25".  The software and drivers are not large files, and the smaller CD can easily be kept with the unit in the case so you never loose it.

The Stingray is USB buss powered, and pretty small.  It is very well suited to car audio measurements.  With a laptop, you can go anywhere with this unit and measure things.

The Stingray has two input channels and one output channel.  You can use this to measure the right and left channels of an amplifier for example, or measure the input signal and compare it to the output signal to diagnose problems.  It also has data logging capabilities, so I have future plans to fiddle with this ability.  I think I could connect my microphone to the unit and use the data logging features to run FFTs on actual in car music recordings to get an idea of what the frequency response of my system is without synthetic signals such as pink noise.

The Stingray also has an output.  I believe it is capable of outputting signals of your choice, maybe even music tracks, a feature which would really come in handing if making some specific audio measurements.

One detail I was a bit disappointed with was lack of labels as to what the inputs and outputs are.  There are only three, so once you use the unit you figure this out quickly, and there is a little memo included in the package explaining what the connections on it are.  I just feel actual molded in labels, or at least some label stickers would be most useful.

I have to also note that easysync-ltd where I purchased my unit is very easy to deal with, and goes the extra mile.  I ordered my unit and specified three day shipping.  Well when it did not show up for almost two weeks I emailed them.  Within 24hrs I had a response back explaining how my order was somehow lost in the process, so they refunded my shipping costs, and bumped the shipping up to two days on them.  I was pretty impressed, considering they could have just sent the item out as I ordered it.  Also, they take PayPal, so keep that in mind if you are a fan of PayPal (as I am).

Testing:

I need to put into perspective just how easy this thing is to use.  I stepped in my house at 4:11PM, had the scope unboxed, up and running, plus all my photos taken, and drank a glass of milk all by 4:44PM.  With that in mind, one can see just how convenient it would be to measure something in your car with a laptop and his unit.

The channels have LEDs to let you know what is active, a nice bonus.  Since it is USB you could have a series of hubs and long cables and pretty much have your computer anywhere with the scope right where you are working.  It really takes up a heck of a lot less space than your typical all in one bench top type oscilloscope.

The unit is good out to 250kHz, so any of us working with audio will be more than satisfied.  It is limited to +,-50V, but with a 10-1 probe, you can measure pretty much any car audio signal.  I compared its results to my DMM as far as voltage is concerned, and it was within about 0.2V.  At this point I would trust the o-scope over the DMM.  The interface is very easy to use, as it is just like having a bench top unit in front of you.

In case you were wondering, the amp I am testing is a Rockford 120X, which I bead blasted all the powder coat off of.  It is slated to go into a Harley installation, and I removed all the paint so it will wick off heat better.  Yeah my workbench is a mess, considering it is just a piece of MDF sitting on some scrap wood in my basement.

Conclusion:

This is the oscilloscope I have been searching for.  It meets all my testing needs, and likely my needs into the future.  If you are looking for a easy to use, powerful, and compact oscilloscope, I cannot stress enough how much you should consider giving this unit a try.

More information regarding the Stingray can be found here at USB-Instruments web site.

Thank you for reading my review,

Eric (email me)