The SoundTech Lightsnake is a cable that lets you record sound on your computer without needing to buy a separate audio interface — actually, the cable is the audio interface. This 3 metre cable has a 6.3mm stereo plug at one end and a USB2 plug at the other. Cunningly hidden somewhere in the cable is a 16 bit analog to digital converter sampling at 48 KHz.

As another nice feature, the ends of the cable glow when they’re connected and flash when sound is pulsing down the wire. This will look great at your next laptop gig. I have an FM transmitter attached to my computer that flashes like this as sound is being transmitted, and the flashing light is often far more interesting than the music.

Other goodies included are demo versions of some Sony software (including Acid) and some plug adapters, so you can connect anything from an old cassette Walkman to an electric guitar to your laptop.