Best Function Generator around $300-$500

[WVL_KsZeN]

Hi,

I'm looking for a function generator and am noticing there's plenty to chose from, and not so many reviews/tests around. Basically I'm looking for something in the 25Mhz area, dual channel and can play arbitrary waves (1 Mpts minimum for the samples I want to play) and has a way to send the arb. wave over from my pc. (I can make my own software to make the waveforms, if the pc software uses an understandable format). A USB connection is good enough, I don't need LAN. Also I'm not a time nut, I don't care if the frequencies are not 0.0001% correct. I don't like jitter though!

I've been looking at used equipment, but most only have sine/square wave and are not arb.gens. Also it's hard to find anything in the EU.

So I'm looking at these devices for the moment :

Rigol DG1022 (20 MHz, 4kpts?)
Rigol DG1022U (25 MHz, 4kpts? is there any other difference?)
Siglent SDG1025 (16kpts)
Hantek HDG2002B (64mpts? there's a topic on hacking this one, I do want something that's reliable though!)

Then there's these which are a bit over budget :
Rigol DG1032z (8 Mpts, hard to find anything about this one)
Rigol DG4062 (this one looks really nice, but it only has 16kpts sample memory!).
Siglent SDG5082 (512kpts, I saw Dave's teardown and am not repelled by the flimsy build, the electronics look good enough to me).

I don't want to try my luck with Atten/Owon...

Looking at the memory of all devices, the only ones suitable seem to be the hantek, dg1032z and sdg5082 (barely)..

Am I overlooking some devices? Anyone have some recommendations? Which ones to avoid? Which one really stands out from the rest given the requirements?

[mij59]

You may want to try this site.

http://www.batronix.com/shop/index.html

[HighVoltage]

You may want to try this site.

http://www.batronix.com/shop/index.html

What I find amazing is that you can spend up to Euro 10,032.- (US$ 14,045.-) on a China made function generator.
The Rigol DG5352 must be a very special unit.

[WVL_KsZeN]

You may want to try this site.

http://www.batronix.com/shop/index.html

What I find amazing is that you can spend up to Euro 10,032.- (US$ 14,045.-) on a China made function generator.
The Rigol DG5352 must be a very special unit.

That one is a bit over budget, yes :-) also a bit too large for my desk :-)

[Electro Fan]

I have had the same question(s) for some time.  As you say there aren't a lot of indepth reviews on arb generators much less ones that compare and contrasts arb gen models.  The models you have identified are most of the likely contenders; I think the winner is probably among the Siglents, Hanteks, and either the Rigol DG1032Z (or DG1062Z) or maybe the DG4062.  My guess is that the two Rigol Zs and the Siglent SDG5082 are the likely finalists.

The Rigol DG4062 could be a strong contender and possibly the winner; on the upside is the larger screen/nice User Interface; on the downside I think Rigol is trying to make a claim that their new "SiFi" technology (in their Z models) is an evolutionary advance over what is used in the Rigol 4000 series; additionally the Z series offers considerably more memory.

What is hardest to know is where the various specs turn into real world differences within and and between the Rigol, Siglent, and Hantek models.  The item that I think might be among the most practical to consider - if you want to not only use the internal arbs but also create arbs - is how easily or not so easily the models enable you to create custom arbs.  My guess is that it could be doable but tedious through the front panel.  So, that takes us to your comment:  "I can make my own software to make the waveforms, if the pc software uses an understandable format."

It would be great to hear from users who have created relatively long arbitrary waveforms.  The comparison example I'd love to see would be how easy or hard it is to make long strings of unique pulses that represent ASCII bits (specific patterns of 1s and 0s) so faithfully that when they are fed back into a scope with a decoder that the decoder would faithfully decode the ASCII bits without errors.  I'm sure it's possible, it's just the degree of ease of use offered by the various arb gen creation PC software provided with the various models. For example, is it a matter of using a pencil icon to draw hundreds of pulses or is there another even easier way to create unique and specific square waves (arbitrary pulses)?  And beyond simple pulse creation I'm sure there are tradeoffs among the models when creating less symmetrical and/or more complex waveforms.

[nctnico]

If you are planning on making long arbitrary waveforms then there is only one factor to consider: the software to create waveforms and/or the import possibilities. If that is crap then the AWG function is just worthless.

[Electro Fan]

If you are planning on making long arbitrary waveforms then there is only one factor to consider: the software to create waveforms and/or the import possibilities. If that is crap then the AWG function is just worthless.

Thanks for the confirmation on that.  It looks like with some (most?) models you can just download the software to checkout the user interface.

[WVL_KsZeN]

Oh well, All I want/need is something that can upload a .csv file (or whatever kind of file that my own software has made) to the generatror. So I only need an understandable file format and software that can upload it.

[Electro Fan]

Oh well, All I want/need is something that can upload a .csv file (or whatever kind of file that my own software has made) to the generatror. So I only need an understandable file format and software that can upload it.

If software isn't a key consideration a next criteria to consider might be performance; how much bandwidth/speed do you need for various waveforms and which model will most faithfully render the waveforms (rise and fall time, etc.).

[WVL_KsZeN]

Oh well, All I want/need is something that can upload a .csv file (or whatever kind of file that my own software has made) to the generatror. So I only need an understandable file format and software that can upload it.

If software isn't a key consideration a next criteria to consider might be performance; how much bandwidth/speed do you need for various waveforms and which model will most faithfully render the waveforms (rise and fall time, etc.).

I need to 'play' waves of about 0.1s that contain up to 1MHz frequencies. Let's say I'd need 10Ms/s to play a 1MHz signal faithfully enough, that means I need 0.1s * 10Ms/s = 1Ms of memory. Considering this, I think the only options are the Rigol Z's, the Hantek and maybe the SDG5082..

All of these have 2 channels, and plenty of bandwidth. If I'd go for the Rigol Z, I'd probably take the 1062, since I don't mind paying a little bit more and get 2x the bandwidth.. The SDG5082 is looking the most interesting though. But like I said, I'd appreciate some advice from real users (sorry Siglent-punters on here  )

[Bored@Work]

It would be great to hear from users who have created relatively long arbitrary waveforms.  The comparison example I'd love to see would be how easy or hard it is to make long strings of unique pulses that represent ASCII bits (specific patterns of 1s and 0s) so faithfully that when they are fed back into a scope with a decoder that the decoder would faithfully decode the ASCII bits without errors.  I'm sure it's possible, it's just the degree of ease of use offered by the various arb gen creation PC software provided with the various models.

The graphical user interface drawing software that comes with some ARB generators is pretty useless for this. Even if it is not the typical Chinese crap.

This is when you turn to a programming language of your choice, and to the generator's programming documentation. The you write a simple program taking in a (ASCII) text file, and generating the input for the generator.

[edavid]

I need to 'play' waves of about 0.1s that contain up to 1MHz frequencies. Let's say I'd need 10Ms/s to play a 1MHz signal faithfully enough, that means I need 0.1s * 10Ms/s = 1Ms of memory. Considering this, I think the only options are the Rigol Z's, the Hantek and maybe the SDG5082..

Wouldn't you be better off with a USB or PCI DAC instead of a full function generator?

[Creep]

Just to confirm: I can make a waveform in MATLAB for example and import it to an arb wave gen, right?

[pickle9000]

I have a Siglent SDG1020 and it serves my purposes well, easily beats the Rigol that runs around the same price. The PC software is excellent. No quality or build issues at all.

[tautech]

You might track down some of the bundled software for these products
I have attached the help file from Siglent's Easywave.

Note
Change attached file extension to .chm

[pickle9000]

Easywave is here

http://www.siglent.com/en/server/download.aspx?nodecode=119004002003

[Wuerstchenhund]

I have a Siglent SDG1020 and it serves my purposes well, easily beats the Rigol that runs around the same price. The PC software is excellent. No quality or build issues at all.

Strange. I also have a Siglent SDG1020 and I don't think the PC software (EasyWave) qualifies as 'excellent'. In fact, I would rather call it 'a pile of crap written by someone who has no clue about how to do a proper user interface'. I haven't looked at the Rigol software but they would have a really difficult job to come up with something that is worse than Siglent's EasyWave.

Thankfully as the software can be downloaded from the Siglent website it's easy to evaluate it before buying.