LabJack USB Data Aquisition Devices
LabJack make a range of USB DAQ devices. Their advantage over other manufacturers are modern robust cross-platform drivers (Windows, OS X and Linux at least), and very knowledgeable and helpful support.
http://labjack.com/
For OS X and Linux, they use a unified exodriver that is based on libusb. The library is easy to build (universal 32/64bit for OS X, important for 32bit Matlab requirements) and use from within Matlab and PTB. Command-response times from Matlab are sub-millisecond (connected via a high-speed USB hub). For less demanding timing needs , they even offer a fuse filesystem interface, allowing one to use simple file system paths to interact with the LabJack!
http://labjack.com/support/linux-and-mac-os-x-drivers
http://labjack.com/support/ljfuse
OS X Specific Details
The exodriver and libusb are both available in homebrew, a lightweight and flexible package manager for OS X. With homebrew installed, installing the latest versions of libusb and exodriver for use with PTB is as easy as this terminal command:brew install libusb exodriver --universal
IanA: I am using a U3 to control a Plexon Omniplex electrophysiology system from OS X PTB. It was very easy to make an OOP interface to send both single TTL triggers, and also 12bit strobed words via the LabJack to the Omniplex. The command-response times of the U3 are sub-millisecond, and I've confirmed this for the duration of an experiment using a photodiode.
