Karaoke Forums

I'm looking for some audio effects on my mics, mostly a decent reverb but a little compression would be nice too.

I know there's a lot of units out there now that do this, but seeing if anyone has any recommendation?

Ideally looking for inexpensive (under $150), since mine is far from a professional rig.

My amp (Fender Passport) has an effects send, or, preferrably, can put it inline with my mics (GTDAudio G-380), which send out a single 1/4" mono signal, so should be easy enough to route through a processor.

You probably are not going to find an effects processor and compressor in one unit.

Here you go - nice basic effects processor
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Lexicon-MPX100- ... SwoudW281T

nice compressor
http://www.ebay.com/itm/DBX-166XL-Compr ... SwxvxW8Xl~

These are Buy It Now options so need to be quick. About $150 plus whatever shipping costs for both!

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LIKE Lonman on Facebook - Lonman Productions Karaoke & my main site via my profile!

Thanks those look great.

Have you used them before? Fairly decent sound? Some reverbs sound pretty rough.

And am I barking up the right tree, thinking reverb + compression make the vocals sound a lot better?

Compression won't make the voice sound any better, but it will make a screamer easier to handle.

Compression used correctly can bring out certain dynamics of vocals that will sound better (provided the vocals are decent to begin with ).

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LIKE Lonman on Facebook - Lonman Productions Karaoke & my main site via my profile!

Ha well put on both of the above.

Thoughts on reverb? And/or other vocal processing?

Every recorded piece of music in history has SOME kind of reverb or delay - even if you don't think you hear it - it's there. Singing without at least a basic reverb is harsh.

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LIKE Lonman on Facebook - Lonman Productions Karaoke & my main site via my profile!

> Singing without at least a basic reverb is harsh.

Agreed. My amp (Fender Passport) has echo but not reverb. It helps a lot but is a little on the cheesy side when you add enough to get rid of the harshness.

Thoughts on reverb versus echo?

They both have their uses. Reverb is probably more common especially in karaoke because a lot of kjs (not all) don't really like to fiddle with other effects.

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LIKE Lonman on Facebook - Lonman Productions Karaoke & my main site via my profile!

Thanks, compressor ordered!

I think that's going to be really helpful with my microphones (GTDAudio), since you really do have to get super close to them. Its a very very fine line between too close (boomy) and too far (faint).

As mentioned the DBX166

Try to avoid the 266 model, for some reason, they just not the same as the 166 models although the noise gate is not necessary for karaoke, but if you got a few extra dollars check out the Quad DBX 1046 comp

Awesome. I bought both the compressor and fx rig. Super psyched to try them.

Now remember these aren't plug in, set & forget. Learn what they do, how they should be set (every rig can differ), what each different effect does, etc.

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LIKE Lonman on Facebook - Lonman Productions Karaoke & my main site via my profile!

Good tip, and thanks.

> http://www.tc-helicon.com/en/products/mic-mechanic/

Interesting. Have you used it? Do you recommend it?

Would you need compression with it as well, or is it all you think you'd need?

TC-Helicon makes a whole range of vocal processing devices. The box I posted fits at your price point, but is limited in scope. You get into the $300-$400 range and there are many more options.

I got all 3 gizmos this weekend and tried them out.

This really isn't a review since I have no clue what I'm doing yet, but my no-idea-what-I'm-doing-yet first impressions are that the Mic Mechanic did a good job without having to do any tweaks. I was able to get at least as good a sound from the compressor + fx rack, but it took a lot more study to get there. I'm really glad to have both since the compressor is an interesting thing to learn, and its probably necessary to understand compression in order to get good results from gizmos like the Mic Mechanic.

Anyway, thanks hugely for the recommendations, was all exactly what I was looking for. And now off to watch more YouTube videos on using the DBX166...