Inspiration is fragile. Remember those songs you lost when you couldn’t record an idea in time, the great riff that came and went, or the computer crash that trashed a fantastic solo? The Memory Cable would have remembered—it’s your personal backup service that runs constantly in the background. This premium, 16-foot cable has a built-in, solid-state recorder designed by TASCAM’s engineers. Plug the cable into your guitar, press a button, and the cable records everything you play. It’s that simple.
It’s So Easy
If you play something you really like, press a button to close the existing file and start recording a new one. That way you’ll always know your best inspirations are at the file’s end. Total recording time is over 13 continuous hours with the included 4GB microSD card, but a second mode can record only while you’re playing. The uncompressed, WAV-format files feature 44.1kHz, 16-bit resolution; thanks to the studio-quality A/D converters, if you record a “keeper” you can bring the file into any recording software, then build the song from there.
Charged Up
Battery life is 8 hours from a rechargeable or standard AA battery, but there’s also a small battery that, while not necessary for operation, lasts for a year and powers an internal clock to time-stamp your files.
Computer Ready
Although the Memory Cable doesn’t play back by itself, transferring files to a computer is easy. Most card readers can read a microSD card, and the Memory Cable includes a microSD-to-SD adapter (most computers have SD card slots). Many smartphones can also read a microSD card, as well as transfer the card data over USB.
All Round Value
What’s best about the Memory Cable is that you’ll always have it at your fingertips—you need to use a cable anyway. You don’t have to grab a box, find another patch cable, hook it up, and navigate an operating system—plug in, turn on, done. The Memory Cable also works with keyboards, bass, electronic drums—even a mixer bus output to record a rehearsal session. And it’s ideal for re-amping, which we’ll cover in a future article.