Product Reviews

Input devices

Behringer iAxe 393 USB Guitar [Computer Shopper]
COMPANY: Behringer	PRICE: £100 inc VAT
RATING:	ISSUE: 232 DATE: Jun 07

The iAxe is a decidedly unfashionable but decent-quality electric guitar that includes a built-in USB audio interface for easy connection to a PC. The ASIO driver avoids appreciable delays between striking a note and hearing it, but using it means that the sound appears from the guitar's headphone out, rather than the PC's speakers. With the right cable you can route it to your speakers' aux input.

The supplied guitar-amp software sounds great but it doesn't work with audio-production software. Certain pickup selections were excessively noisy, and the USB port's position means it risks being damaged when the guitar is sitting on its end. Still, as we surrendered ourselves to the power of USB rock, we soon reached nerdy nirvana.

The guitar is worth £100 on its own, and its USB interface means that tight-fisted parents might be able to wangle their way out of buying their kids a guitar amp.

By Ben Pitt

SPECIFICATIONS:
22-fret maple neck, three single-coil pickups, instrument/headphone outputs, USB interface