Several distinguishing characteristics of the systems are described here. Most systems can store the collected acoustic data in the international SEG-Y standard. An advantage of this is that the survey data can be analysed and used by third-party software. Applied Acoustics uses CodaOctopus systems for data recording which can record in SEG-Y as well as XTF, QMIPS and CODA formats. According to the data provided by the suppliers, GeoAcoustics and C-Products do not have their own data processing system, which means the software used should be sourced from third parties. Edgetech, Innomar, Meridata and SyQwest supply all-round systems that can be used with third-party software.

Looking at the data storage capabilities, C-Products and GeoAcoustics do not mention including data storage solutions, and the other suppliers record the survey data on (external) hard disks. This may be useful when a project requires a lot of data to be collected.

Further, it seems that manufacturers are likely to keep to one general technology for the products, and then make variations for specific devices. This explains why we refer to the manufacturers rather than to specific products when specifying characteristics.

Please feel free to send us any comments or suggestions you may have to help us improve this Product Survey. Your opinion is important to us. And finally, as previously noted, all the surveyed instruments are listed on our website, where you also have the opportunity to share your opinion on the individual products.