Customer Reviews

Alesis GuitarLink AudioLink Series 1/4-inch-to-USB Cable

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

I bought this cable to interface my electric guitar with my Macbook Pro in order to record using Garage Band.

Simply put, the device seems to technically work, but there is a split second delay between playing and hearing. It may be a half or quarter second delay, but it's enough to completely interfere with my timing while playing. I found it unusable and returned it.

Now I'm using a simple 1/4" to 1/8" mini plug into my computer's line in port without any problems.

I wanted a chord which would connect my guitar to my mac that I could use in Garage band. It did just that. No problems or complaints here!

No fuss with this little device. Just plug it in and away it goes. I used it with a laptop PC and Audacity 1.2.6 (from sourceforge). On my PC I set Control Panel > Sounds and Audio Device Properties > Audio. On Audacity I set Edit > Preferences > Audio I/O. It's been working ever since. No noise. Good sound. Good price. Transparent - as it should be.

Any review should probably start out with a disclaimer specifying that product review results for something such as a USB peripheral like this cable may vary from hardware set up to set up.

This cable is currently being used with a 2011 15" MBP, 2.2Ghz i7, 8 GB RAM and GarageBand 6.0.2. It was previously used with a 2009 15" MBP 2.4Ghz C2D, 4 GB RAM with virtually the same results. I won't vouch for the performance of this cable on earlier Mac hardware or pre-2010 versions of GarageBand.

First off in regards to the negative reviews: there is no perceptible latency when properly set up.

On the default settings with the original C2D MBP I used this cable with, there was a significant amount. Key word: default. After making the appropriate preference adjustments within GarageBand, there was none.

On the default settings with the i7 MBP, no adjustments needed to be made at all upon launching GarageBand. 100% plug and play. The program automatically recognized the USB link as the default input source and no adjustments were necessary to start recording. The monitor is off by default; clicking it on within GarageBand is the equivalent of flipping the power on a guitar amp if you want to use external speakers, or clicking on the headphone icon if you want to use headphones.

These are issues with GarageBand, not the cable. Any negative reviews based upon lack of basic user knowledge of how to use GarageBand (Apple's software) should be disregarded.

Granted, there was no documentation on how to use Alesis' product with GarageBand (which is Apple's software, not theirs) within the plastic bubble package the product ships in, I didn't personally have to download any of the PDF documentation available on their product support site to make the adjustments and start recording.

In short, with some hardware set ups, this cable may not be one step plug and play simple, but it does work exactly as engineered and without the latency quoted by any negative reviews.

On current Macs with the most recent version of GarageBand and OS updates, it works flawlessly without any set up and is essentially now an idiot-proof product.

Like others here, the latency was just too great for me to be able to use it.

I'm running a Macbook with Garage Band '09. Just as a solo or with a loop, delay was about a 1/4 second, which is ALMOST liveable, and you can get used to it somewhat after playing for a while. But when I imported a play along track into Garage Band, the delay increased to a second, making it completely impossible to play in time with the track.

The tone quality is improved using the guitarlink vs. just running straight through the line-in channel. (The line-in basically elminates the latency, but it impairs the tone and adds some unwanted distortion.) Nevertheless, latency issues trump tone quality, rendering the item unuseable.

From reading other reviews here and elsewhere online, some Mac users have not had the latency issue, even using the exact same setup I have. Go figure. So, for those who DO want to risk it, know that it really isn't just "plug and play." There are four simple but important steps to take before using it that are not included as documentation nor found on Alesis's support page. They are absolutely necessary to be able to hear other tracks and the guitar as you're recording. And they will save you hours of frustration trying to figure it out.

1. Make sure the Input is set to the guitarlink (arbitrarily called C-Media USB Audio Device). System Preferences->Sound->Input->C-Media USB Audio Device. This step that tells the computer that you want the incoming signal to come from the guitarlink.
2. Make sure the Output is set to the computer's internal speakers. System Preferences->Sound->Output->Built-in. This step tells the computer that you want the computer's internal speaker to playback what you're recording.
3. In Garage Band's Preferences (NOT System Preferences) located in the upper left hand corner of the screen, do the following: GarageBand->Preferences->Audio/Midi->Audio Output:Built-in Output & Audio Input: C-Media USB Audio Device. It will ask you if you want to change the settings. Click yes. This will allow you to hear loops or other tracks.
4. Monitoring must be turned on to hear your guitar as you're playing. To do this, click on Guitar Track (near the upper right of the screen), then click Edit (next to the listing of amp simulators). Then make sure the Monitor is set to On.

I'm going to visit some more boards and see if I can't find a way to eliminate the latency. If I can, I'll add it to this review. If not, the thing is going back. :-(

Don't waste your money on this product. The latency makes it worthless for playing guitar. This product should be blacklisted.

Using this with a MacBookPro and Garage Band / Logic results in a great deal of electrically induced background noise and makes the cable useless for serious recording. Also, there is no way to adjust input level (which is way too high) except by turning the guitar volume down (which alters guitar tone to an unacceptable level). I selected 'monitor - no feedback protection' and set the softwares input level to zero and the signal was still too hot. However I did experience near zero latency with a low track count.

Using my PC first with NI Guitar Rig 3 (stand alone version) I was unable to select separate input and output drivers (a software limitation) and so there was no way to hear what I was playing. Ironic because the 'plus' version of this cable comes with Guitar Rig 4 LE! Perhaps GR4 allows you to select separate input/output drivers, if so then it may work.
Although I could see that the cable WAS working with NI Guitar Rig (input and output level meters were responding to signal) I could not verify if there was any background noise present like that experienced on the MacBook because there was no way to listen to the output signal.

Using a PC with Cakewalk Sonar I was able to see the device using WDM/KS drivers but I was still not able to run the output anywhere to monitor. The only output option I had in this case on my my computer was the onboard Realtec soundcard (which is junk) and I still couldn't hear anything.

After downloading ASIO4all I was unable to see the device in Cakewalk at all even after selecting it in the ASIO4all control panel. Also, ASIO4all took over control of my MBox Pro which is totally unacceptable for me.

A call to Alesis (20 minutes on hold) revealed that yes, they understand that background noise will be present using a MacBook! they blamed the computer and possibly the poor shielding of the Alesis cable. The tech suggested using a different computer (i.e. NOT a laptop that creates a lot of internal electronic interference).

Well, I purchased this cable to use as a quick way in to the MacBookPro and Garageband / Logic and it appears to be useless for this task.
I can get better results recording with an iPod touch using a Peavey/Agile Amp Kit with no background noise at all!

I suspect that the Behringer guitar interface may be better. At least it has an audio return to phones.
The Alesis shows up as a 1 in / 2 out device BUT IT HAS NO OUT!

I have not bothered to try with Pro Tools but why waste anymore time with this useless device? I purchased it to use with the MacBook and even Alesis agrees it's going to be noisy!
Basically a waste of 40 dollars.

While the Alesis Guitarlink cable seems to technically connect and provide some sound to Garageband, it also includes a high frequency beeping or pulsing overtone in Garageband that I conclude can only come from the USB circuitry in the cable.

I happened to recently receive the Ubisoft PS3 game "Rocksmith" that includes a guitar-to-usb cable of notably different construction that does NOT exhibit this beeping problem when used with Garageband and the identical instruments. The cable supplied with the Rocksmith game seems to be very high quality and provides a clean, crystal clear signal to GB. If i could figure out who the manufacturer is, I might just buy another one!

It took me a while to get the GuitarLink to work with GarageBand or Audacity. Out of the box the signal is too hot for the input of both programs. The answer ended up being opening up the "Audio MIDI Setup" (found in the Applications - Utilities folder), choosing the "C-Media Audio Device", then the "Input" tab and then taking the master slider down to zero. I found this answer through a lot of trial and error and I wish these directions came along with the device.

When I run a Garage Band with it, it works fine for a while. Then, sounds get noisy and cracking. When I go to Audio MIDI Settings and tune a volume, It backs working fine.