Open Ephys Acquisition Board¶

This is the documentation site for the Open Ephys Acquisition Board, an open-source interface for acquiring up to 512 channels of extracellular electrophysiology data over a USB connection.

Key Specifications¶

Headstage connectors: 4 (up to 2 64-channel headstages per connection)
Maximum channel count: 512
Data interface: USB
Analog inputs: 8
Digital inputs: 8
Supported operating systems: macOS, Linux, and Windows

Where to buy one¶

You can order an assembled Acquisition Board from Open Ephys Production Site , and headstages and cables can be purchased from Intan. You can also order an Open Ephys Starter Kit, which contains everything you need to get started (except for electrodes and a computer).

Because all the designs are freely available, you can also build the Acquisition Board yourself. We estimate you’ll spend about 2-3 days of work and about $1000. Follow the instructions here to learn how to build your own board.

Getting Started¶

Besides the acquisition board, you will need these other components to start collecting data. If you already have all of the necessary parts in your lab, follow the Quickstart guide to learn how to start collecting data right away. Otherwise, we recommend reading through the sub-pages to help you decide which components to buy.