Is there a DAQami for Mac?

Measurement Computing (MCC, now part of Digilent) makes some of the most common USB DAQ devices on lab benches: the USB-1208FS-Plus, the USB-1608G series, the USB-TC thermocouple modules and plenty more. Their free app for logging data without writing code is DAQami, and it is a good tool. It also only runs on Windows. Distributor listings give its requirements as Windows 11, 10, 8, 7 or Vista, with no macOS version.

If your desk machine is a Mac, you have three realistic options.

Option 1: Run Windows in a virtual machine

A virtual machine with USB passthrough lets you install DAQami and MCC’s Windows drivers as usual. On an Intel Mac this is a well-worn path. On an Apple Silicon Mac you are running the ARM edition of Windows, so check that every driver you need supports it before you count on this setup.

Either way, the VM sits between your device and your data. USB passthrough adds a layer that can drop or reset the device during long runs, files end up inside the VM, and you are maintaining a second operating system just to read a few channels.

Option 2: Write your own tool on uldaq

MCC publishes an open-source library called uldaq, the Universal Library for Linux and macOS. Its README describes it as a library “to access and control supported Measurement Computing DAQ devices over the Linux and macOS platforms.” It builds against libusb, which you can install with Homebrew, and it has Python bindings as well as the C API.

This is the right choice when you want acquisition inside your own code: a test script, a production fixture or a custom analysis pipeline. The cost is that everything a logging app gives you for free is now yours to build: channel setup, live plots, file writing, triggers, and recovering cleanly when someone bumps the USB cable halfway through a run.

Option 3: DAQAtlas (in development)

DAQAtlas is a native data acquisition app built on uldaq. It is in development, with a beta opening to early testers. The macOS build ships with libuldaq and libusb inside the app bundle, so there is nothing to compile and no Homebrew step. Plug in a supported MCC device and it shows up in the device list within a few seconds. Pick channels, set a rate and press Run.

• Hardware-paced scans on devices with an onboard pacer, software-timed polling on devices without one.
• Strip charts, a triggered scope view, FFT spectrum, XY plots, meters and gauges on a dashboard you arrange.
• Recording that runs on its own thread, so a busy screen never costs you samples.
• Export to CSV, MATLAB, NI TDMS, Parquet or HDF5.

It also talks to LabJack, Digilent and SCPI instruments, so an MCC module can sit in the same recording as the rest of your bench. The full list is on the supported hardware page.

Which MCC devices work on a Mac?

Anything uldaq supports. That covers the USB-1208FS-Plus and USB-1408FS-Plus, the USB-1608G and USB-1808 series, the USB-TC and USB-TEMP thermocouple and temperature modules, the USB-2400 series and more. One gap worth knowing about: the USB-231 is not supported by uldaq, so DAQAtlas detects it but cannot run it yet.

A few practical tips

• Only one program can hold an MCC device at a time. Quit DAQami, a VM with USB passthrough, or any script that has the device open before you connect from another app.
• Plug high-rate devices straight into the Mac rather than through a crowded hub.
• Thermocouple modules are slow by design. A few samples per second is normal, so don’t chase higher rates on a USB-TC.

If you have been keeping a Windows laptop around just to run DAQami, join the DAQAtlas beta and try your MCC hardware on the Mac you already use. No hardware handy? The app includes simulated devices, so you can build a dashboard before anything is plugged in.