Review: Elixir Premium Guitar Cable

A few months ago, Elixir sent me one of their new line of guitar cables for free, with the understanding that I write a review of it. Well, this may seem overdue but I'm finally getting around to it. The cable in question is one of their new premium instrument cables, specifically a 20-footer with straight jacks. (Normally $69.99)

In terms of construction, this is a very well made cable. Solid and substantial is how I would describe it, and yet it's not too thick or stiff, which would make it unwieldy when playing on stage. The cable is supposed to have a lifetime warranty, like Monster Cables, but I've had no need to test that, (and haven't with the Monsters either) and don't expect to. Still, it's nice to know the company stands behind its product.

Sound quality-wise, the Elixir is great. I've been using a Monster acoustic cable (one of the few free things I won while working for Musician's Friend...) for the past few years, and that's a cable I've learned to love for its clear sound, both on acoustic and electric guitars. The Elixir is basically on par with the Monster acoustic, although the Monster might have been a touch brighter.

Either cable would be a good choice in terms of sound, but the Elixir wins in my book for its flexibility as well as its lower price. A 20' Elixir runs $69.99 at Musician's Friend, while a Monster acoustic of similar length will set you back $99.95. Props to Elixir for making a solid, good sounding cable at a competitive price.

Of music and thrift stores.

Anyone who knows me knows quite well that I love music, and the gear involved in making it. Well, Monday I stopped by the Logan Deseret Industries on a whim. There wasn't anything all that interesting until I walked past the electronics section. Now, normally the electronics section is full of old TVs and stereos and a bunch of ancient computers that sketchy looking characters dig through. Well yesterday, lo and behold, what did my incredulous eyes find there? Oh, nothing much, just a Tascam US-122 USB audio interface sitting on the rack amidst a bunch of random computer parts. This does not happen, ever.

Now, given the condition of most of the computer gear found at the D.I., I was skeptical, but it looked undamaged, save for some scuffs and a missing knob, and at $2, it was a gamble I couldn't pass it up. I brought it home, and after a couple hours of reading tutorials, downloading drivers and fiddling with settings, I got Reaper to recognize the interface and made a couple of brief test recordings with my Seagull plugged straight into the guitar input.
The sound quality on this thing is actually really good! Noticeably better than just running into the mic jack on my laptop, which is what I had been doing to this point, and which had kept me from doing all that much recording because of the disappointing quality. Recording also seemed much smoother than before, although I also attribute this mostly to Reaper running much leaner than my old version of Cubase.

The verdict? It just doesn't get any better than this. Finding this little interface in a pile of junk saved me around $160, which is what I was planning to drop on a new M-audio interface. The sound quality and features are more than adequate for my current needs, and I got it all for less than I spent later that night at Carl's Jr. Best $2 I've ever spent.