Behringer Guitar Link

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BEHRINGER IAXE624-BK CENTAURI USB GUITAR, GUITAR LINK UCG102 £109 & £39

RECORDING

136 Guitarist December 2007

Behringer iAXE624

Centauri USB guitar &

Guitar Link UCG102 USB

interface cable

£109 & £39

Not yet into integrating guitar with computer? Behringer have

two cost-effective solutions to tempt you by Trevor Curwen

iAXE624BK USB Guitar

USB guitars are a bit thin on the

ground as yet. The JamMate

UG-1 (£189) is a similar S-style

package that comes with IK

Multimedia’s AmpliTube Live 2

software. More upmarket is the

USA-made Brian Moore iGuitar

range which features electric,

acoustic and 13-pin synth outputs

and can have USB fitted as a

£200 option.

hould you want it, plugging

your guitar into your

computer to take advantage

of software amp simulation has

become more streamlined of late.

Several companies offer products

that eschew the conventional

hardware audio interface in

favour of direct connection to the

computer, with the actual

interfacing that does the analogue

to digital conversion being built

into the connecting cable or the

guitar itself. Behringer has both

types of products available in the

form of their iAXE range of USB

guitars (including the iAXE624

Centauri on test here) and the

UCG102 Guitar Link cable. Both of

these come bundled with a version

of Native Instruments Guitar

Combos amp simulation software

and represent two different

approaches to accessing it.

iAXE 624

The iAXE 624 Centauri is the

latest USB-equipped guitar in

Behringer’s range. Looking at it

you might think it just a basic

S-type guitar and, indeed, it can

function exactly as one with its

standard three single-coil pickups

and jack output. Look closer,

other end and get on with it, the

driver situation being the same as

that described for the iAXE.

Software

Native Instruments Guitar

Combos are three separate amp

simulations derived from Guitar

Rig (the AC Box, Twang combo

and Plexi combo) presented here

as Behringer special editions –

though, and the difference is

apparent. In a neatly recessed

panel adjacent to the strap button

is the USB socket and a stereo

headphone socket for monitoring.

The A/D and D/A conversion

takes place within the guitar,

sending clean signal from the

pickups along the USB cable to the

computer with the sound

returning down the same cable

from computer to headphone

socket. No special drivers are

necessary for Mac users as the

iAXE works under Core audio and

once plugged in simply needs

selection from the list of available

devices. PC users will need to

install the low latency ASIO

drivers from the included disc.

UCG 102

The Guitar Link is a 1.5 metre USB

cable with an appendage about the

size of a mobile phone on the other

end with a guitar input and

headphone socket plus headphone

volume control and a switch to set

the input level to compensate for

guitars with high outputs.

Operation couldn’t be simpler

really, you just plug the USB end of

the cable into a computer, connect

guitar and headphones at the

Combo I, II and III. You get all

three with the package and can

use all for a trial period of 30 days

but only get to keep one of them

permanently after that period so,

at that point, you have to make the

choice of whether you want a Vox,

Fender or Marshall-alike as your

virtual practice amp.

All three combos have the usual

gain and tone controls and come

with adjustable effects – treble

boost, tremolo and spring reverb

for the AC-30-style amp plus a

Tube Screamerish overdrive;

chorus, vibrato (tremolo) and

spring reverb for the Fender. The

combo based on a Marshall gets

Big Muff- and Rat-style distortion,

delay and an on/off reverb.

One feature that all three guitar

combos have may be the most

important of the lot and that is the

‘Tapedeck’ facility as found in the

Guitar Rig software. Tapedeck

allows playback of audio files –

with the usual phrase training

facilities of tempo adjustment –

for half-speed playback without

changing the pitch, plus

Guitar Link UCG102

There are several interface cables

available. IK Multimedia’s

StealthPlug (£79) comes with

AmpliTube 2 Live Amp Simulation

software while the JamMate

Rock Frog (£89) comes with the

Plexi version of Native

Instruments’ Guitar Combos. The

M-Audio JamLab (£59) includes

GT Player Express software with

amp and effects simulation.

The Rivals

The sound from the three-pickup

configuration is distinctly Fenderish

GIT297.rev_behringer 136 5/11/07 17:42:59

Summary of content (2 pages)

PAGE 1
BEHRINGER IAXE624-BK CENTAURI USB GUITAR, GUITAR LINK UCG102 £109 & £39 RECORDING Behringer iAXE624 Centauri USB guitar & Guitar Link UCG102 USB interface cable £109 & £39 Not yet into integrating guitar with computer? Behringer have two cost-effective solutions to tempt you by Trevor Curwen S hould you want it, plugging your guitar into your computer to take advantage of software amp simulation has become more streamlined of late.
PAGE 2
BEHRINGER IAXE624-BK CENTAURI USB GUITAR, GUITAR LINK UCG102 £109 & £39 RECORDING iAXE has USB and headphone sockets transposition and fine pitch tuning if needed. Behringer supplies eight short mp3s of typical guitar playing in various styles, but you can select any songs lurking on your hard drive in mp3, .wav or .aiff format for playing and looping. Also included is a basic metronome and Kristal 16-track music production and Audacity editing software.