Recently added to the USB market are USB guitar cables. These cables feature a quarter-inch jack for the guitar on one end, and a class-compliant USB connector for the computer on the other end. The beauty of these new cables is that they allow you to use any guitar you like! For those of you who are really comfortable with your existing guitar, and don't want to spend a lot of money (yet) for a special guitar to plug into a computer, these cables are the answer.

The SoundTech LightSnake

The LightSnake cable is a USB cable for guitars or other musical instruments. The LightSnake instrument cable is essentially a sound card on a cable, and you can use this cable to record audio directly into your computer. The quarter-inch mono plug of the LightSnake cable plugs into your instrument and then connects the USB end to one of your computer's USB ports. This is a true USB plug-and-play connection. No additional drivers are needed for supported operating systems (Win 98 SE, Win 2000, Win XP, and Mac OS9/OS X). The LightSnake features SoundTech's patented “Live when Lit” technology cable ends that glow when connected properly and flash to indicate when sound is being transmitted. You can learn more about the technology at www.soundtech.com.

IK Multimedia StealthPlug

This specialized cable is designed to work primarily with the IK Multimedia's AmpliTube line for live playing, recording, or practicing anywhere at any time. Though the StealthPlug is large in size, it is feature-rich, with onboard volume controls and headphone. The StealthPlug requires software installation to work with the computer. You can find more info regarding the StealthPlug and other IK Multimedia guitar software online at www.amplitube.com.

DVForge GuitarPlug

The DVForge GuitarPlug is a small USB audio adapter for Mac OS X users that plugs right into the output jack of an electric guitar, bass, or dynamic microphone cable and converts the analog signal output to a high-quality USB audio signal. The GuitarPlug is cylindrical, 2.3- by 7-inches in size, USB bus powered, has an on-off switch, and a blue LED power indicator. It converts mono analog audio to 16-bit, 48KHz better than CD-quality digital USB audio, and is a class-compliant, plug-and-play device. This is the only Mac-specific product of the three cables described in this section.