Does the iStudioLink Instrument work with my guitar?

[Tigercat212]

Last time, I got just the iStudioLink but if I get the iStudioLink Instrument, will it work with my guitar to input audio into my Macbook?

Thanks!

[geoffreak]

It is a cable. It will work. Avoid Monster cables as they are crappy and overpriced. I'm sure someone can point you to a better brand of cable to connect your guitar to your computer.

Be warned that some guitars can max out the incoming volume so you get distortion, so a pre-amp is recommended.

[mchalebk]

First off, I could never recommend buying a Monster cable. They're outrageously overpriced and no better than moderately priced cables.

In particular, if you're planning on using the line/mic input on your Mac, it would be a tremendous waste of money to spend anything other than nominal amounts on a cable.

You really should use some kind of preamp between the guitar and computer. If you have a passive pickup, the signal is likely to be too low and if you have an active pickup (like most acoustic/electric guitars), you're likely to overdrive the input circuitry in the computer without some kind of preamp.

I would highly recommend looking at USB/Firewire interfaces for getting instruments/vocals into your computer. Also, if you're trying to record acoustic guitar, the sound will be a lot better with a microphone. You might want to take a look at something like the Blue Snowflake (nice USB condenser mic). It can be found for under $50.