Adapter
An adapter joins a probe package to a headstage or acquisition system whose input the package was not terminated for, either by remapping the pins of one connector type onto another or by breaking one dense connector out into several standard ones; it changes which pin carries which channel, so the site-to-channel map is confirmed through it before the first recording.
Two kinds. A remap adapter has one input connector and one output connector, pin for pin: Omnetics 32 in, Omnetics 16 out, or A32 (Samtec 40) in, Omnetics 32 out. A breakout adapter takes one dense connector, a micro-HDMI on a Matrix package for example, and fans it out to several standard ones, four or eight Omnetics 32. In both, the order of channels on the output side is set by the adapter's wiring, not by the package drawing, so the map on the headstage side differs from the map on the package and nothing in the physical fit shows it. Confirm the map against a known signal and record it in the session's channel configuration.
An adapter name reads input to output. The input is the package side, in the NeuroNexus package connector codes: A16 is the 16-channel A-series package on a DIP-16 Mill-Max connector, A32 the 32-channel package on a Samtec 40-pin, A64 two Samtec 40; OM16, OM32 and OM64 are Omnetics nano connectors with 16, 32 and 64 channels; Z16, Z32 and Z64 are Hirose ZIF connectors for TDT ZIF-Clip headstages; CQ4 and Q4 are the edge connectors on Q-Trode packages. The output is the headstage or system side: a NeuroNexus headstage input, an X-Series X3, X3SR or X6 input, or a third-party input such as Intan RHD evaluation, Blackrock Cerebus, A-M Systems, BrainAmp, Plexon or TDT ZIF-Clip.
Which adapter joins a given package connector to a given headstage is a lookup, not a judgment: the connector-pair adapter covers the NeuroNexus package connectors in 79 pairings, the X-Series adapters cover inputs to X-Series headstages, and the Kontex system adapter brings a Neuropixels probe into XDAQ. The connector vocabulary itself is under connectors; which headstage mates each package connector without an adapter is under probe package. A headstage with fewer channels than the package carries connects only that many: Omnetics 32 → Omnetics 16 onto a 16-channel headstage records 16 of the 32 sites.
Typical values
| Kinds | remap (one input connector to one output, pin for pin); breakout (one dense connector to several) |
|---|---|
| Name reads | input → output; input is the package side |
| Package connector codes | A16 = DIP-16; A32 = Samtec 40; A64 = 2× Samtec 40; OM = Omnetics; Z = Hirose ZIF; CQ4/Q4 = Q-Trode edge |
| Always | confirm the site-to-channel map through the adapter before the first recording |