Spider-80Hi Compared With Spider-80Xi
The Spider-80Xi was first released in 2015. Crystal Instruments leveraged all the latest advances in electronics to develop the Spider-80Hi with major component upgrades, completed and released in 2025, delivering the following major upgrades:
Sampling rate increased from 102.4 kHz (Spider-80Xi) to 512 kHz (Spider-80Hi)
Spider-80Hi has ultra-low noise floor and significantly higher dynamic range of 175 dB
Substantial performance improvements on both input and output channels
Output DAC upgraded to 32-bit output at up to 768 kHz sampling rate, yielding very low output noise and high amplitude accuracy
Amplitude linearity refined to 0.05 dB across the entire frequency range
Additional signal integrity and noise improvements include:
Isolation of digital and analog circuitry, combined with input channel front-end enhancements, minimizes ground loops for higher signal integrity
Refinements in the IEPE constant current power supply significantly reduce noise at low frequencies
Together, these enhancements improve the system's precision and overall performance, making it well-suited for even the most demanding measurement applications.
Given the significant improvements across all performance specifications, Crystal Instruments chose to implement the best possible hardware — even though the upgrades make the new hardware incompatible with older counterparts. Existing customers and those looking to add channels are encouraged to upgrade to the v8.9 Spider-80Hi to take full advantage of the v8.9 hardware's performance and efficiency gains.
|
Specification |
Spider-80Xi Version 7.7 |
Spider-80Hi Version 8.9 |
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|
Maximum Sampling Rate |
102.4 kHz |
512 kHz |
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|
Noise (at 1 kHz) |
80 nV/√Hz |
23.9 nV/√Hz |
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|
Dynamic Range |
160 dBFs |
175 dBFs |
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|
Harmonic Distortion (2 V Input Signal) |
Frequency |
THD |
Frequency |
THD |
|
1 kHz |
-94 dB |
1 kHz |
-105 dB |
|
|
8 kHz |
-83 dB |
8 kHz |
-97 dB |
|
|
Crosstalk |
-100 dB |
-120 dB |
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|
Common Mode Rejection Ratio |
-70 dB |
-120 dB |
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Amplitude Linearity |
Amplitude Range (dBFS) |
Amplitude Error |
0.05 dB for entire amplitude range |
|
|
0 to -80 |
0.1 dB |
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-20 to -100 |
0.25 dB |
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|
-120 to -120 |
0.5 dB |
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|
-120 to -140 |
1 dB |
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Table 1. Input Channel Specifications
|
Specification |
Spider-80Xi Version 7.7 |
Spider-80Hi Version 8.9 |
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|
Maximum Sampling Rate |
102.4 kHz |
512 kHz |
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|
Output Resolution |
24-bit |
32-bit |
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|
Dynamic Range |
120 dB |
127 dB |
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|
Harmonic Distortion (1 V output) |
Frequency |
THD |
Frequency |
THD |
|
1 kHz |
-91 dB |
1 kHz |
-97 dB |
|
|
8 kHz |
-78 dB |
8 kHz |
-94 dB |
|
|
Crosstalk |
120 dB |
132 dB |
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Table 2. Output Channel Specifications
Spectrum plots regarding the improvements to noise floor and THD can be found below. Full details regarding all specifications can be available upon request.
Comparison of Noise Floor:
Figure 1. Noise floor with the Spider-80Xi V7.7 and the Spider-80Hi V8.9. The 80Xi is in purple and 80Hi is in blue. dB reference is set to 20V (the full range of input)
Comparison of Total Harmonic Distortion:
Figure 2. THD with the Spider-80Xi V7.7 and the Spider-80Hi V8.9. The 80Xi is purple and the 80H is in blue.
Figure 3. CMMR at 1kHz with the Spider-80Xi V7.7 and the Spider-80Hi V8.9. The 80Xi is purple and the 80Hi is in blue.