Karaoke Forums

Why use that newfangled telephone at all, when you can send a telegram?

My personal mantra is that when you let technology pass you by...you begin to age rapidly. I did a 80th birthday party over the weekend and the guest of honor had a Blackberry and was messaging her grandkids. I predict she will live to 100+.

That's just way too cool! Got her email? Maybe I will marry her?

_________________
KingBing Entertainment C'mon Up! I have a song for you!!! [font=MS Sans Serif][/font]

Ok ya'll funnys. Ya'll run your computers and I'll run my cdg's with my tripple tray. Just answering the question. Yes, I can multitask just fine and have no problems. I have most cdg's with definite endings to them;no fading out. I've been to shows where I have a certain song with a clean ending and it was strange to sing a song without one. It's like most of the kj's have the same fade-out versions and more than likely got it the same way.

I used to work with a triple tray only. There was no difference in down time for me. It's just more work on my end.

I work with a computer and the triple tray now. Some nights I may have as many as 5 people bring in CDGs. It makes no difference in the quality of show I give if it's a CDG or off my computer. If people feel more comfortable using their version that's fine. A lot of the time I have the same exact version, but the people are scared to use anything , but their own stuff. No biggie.

_________________
[shadow=pink][glow=deepskyblue]. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
[updown]~*~ MONKEY BUSINESS KARAOKE~*~ [/shadow][/updown][/glow]

1. I have seen several disc based shows that do not know how to run their player fluently. There is usually SEVERAL seconds (and in some cases minutes) of dead air between songs while the host is trying to ge tthe disc cued up. No way a disc based show can run faster than a computer UNLESS 2 players are being used & one is always cued up for the next singer & you are crossfading songs. Otherwise there will always be down time between singers - even with a multi tray player. No getting around this.
2. Problems for computers, sure! Most of the time it's simple compatability issues or not having knowledge of the program. But there are problems with discs too ie skipping, graphic garble (which many times the computer can rip these discs to play perfectly). Cracked/scratched discs (usually due to improper storage/handling).
As far as spending tons for computer, not sure why you stated that, my computer the only thing I really spent any large dollars are on the sound & video cards - $350 for both. The computer system itself cost around $500 in a kit form in which I assembled. The players I would need to purchase would run around $800 since I still run laserdisc & Pioneer is about the only company that still makes these players for karaoke use.
3. Backed up, yes. You have a complete set of original discs to match your library or you made dupes - just curious, most do not have original sets for backups - especially on discs that aren't in productions anymore?
4. Exactly.

Just curious why didn't you like the computer route. I would switch back to discs only if I had major issues with the computer but only until I got the computer repaired or replaced.

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

I'd just rather not have to go through the extra expense now of using a computer for shows. I'd rather use discs. I only have 3 large books full. I do have a cheap computer just to keep the songs and the discs # for quick look-up. To each their own.

Egads, my worst nightmare when I was using discs was going to grab a disk in a sleeve and it not be there! Who know WHERE i misfiled it! Usually a popular disk too. I know I reconstituted at least three disks only to find them weeks later in another sleeve....

An, yes, there were time where I inadvertently stopped a song that was playing while inserting a disk... man did I feel bad! Especially when the performance was good and the crowd was getting into it... Yikes! Good thing they don't sell fruit at the bar eh?

_________________
Good music, good friends, howling good times!

Each his/her/their own. Agreed.

I paid $220 for my laptop which I do not use for anything else. To me it wasn't an extra expense because I had nothing before.

No dead air space at all, how much would a triple player or two players cost? Less than $220?

I take my hat off to disk hosts that can keep things hopping!

_________________
KingBing Entertainment C'mon Up! I have a song for you!!! [font=MS Sans Serif][/font]

Okay, so here's another one besides pushing the wrong button that I will admit--we had a busy (for us) 20 singer rotation and much to our panic, the sleeve for the disc for the next song was empty. It was a brand new Custom with songs on it to fulfill requests but we were sure we packed it. I broke my leg a few weeks ago and it was my first night back so I couldn't help much on crutches. Never the less I hopped on to the stage and was frantically checking every sleeve for that disc while balancing on one foot. Yeah--duh--you guessed it--the boyfriend suddenly remembered that every one was singing their new songs off that new disc and it was in the player playing at that very moment. And did we wise up during the night? no......it didn't take any time from the show but it did take a year or two off our lives.

Barry, I don't let new technology pass- I'm and Electronics Engineer, with an EE and an ET. I CREATE a lot of new technology.

The thing is, I see people jump into new stuff ( of course the karaoke stuff isn't really new) without even thinking.

A great example is HDTV ( which has actually been around in other countries for around 35 years, and yes I have one- received as a gift).

The new TVs were barely out and people were shelling out thousands for them. Okey dokey.

However, there were very few HD channels available ( and STILL less than 50%).

This means that most of the shows being watched were standard def (SD), which appears as an inferior picture on an HD set.

Also, by the time all channels are HD, the HD sets will have dropped in price dramatically from the initial offerings.

SO: People who ran for the bandwagon overpaaid for an HD set where MOST of the the channels produce a picture inferior to the old SD sets. Pretty dumb, huh?

As far as PCs for karaoke? Believe me when I tell you that within a year or two new technology will make them look like toys. THAT is when I might make changes. No need to waste my time now.

_________________
"No Contests, No Divas, Just A Good Time!"

" Disc based and loving it..."

You definitley have to keep your mind agile and learning new tech helps but if you sit and stare at screens all day instead of get out there and hike or camp or some other crude backward activity then you don't last very long either.

Awesome. What new technologies have you created lately? Just curious.



Not if you have one of those newfangled satellite dishes.



IF you are watching the original over-the-air analog signal, yes...the SD picture on an SD TV is smoother and you will see less artifacts, due to the dramatically decreased resolution. But who still uses rabbit ears? Besides, an SD signal isnt somehow being degraded on an HD set. The HD resolution is simply magnifying the existing flaws. It's the same argument that people had when CD's came out of Analog recordings. If you know where to listen, you can actually hear SPLICES on Dark Side of the Moon, or studio chatter on Beatles recordings. It was always there, you just never heard it.

That being said, sports fanatics have been enjoying HD broadcasts for quite some time and DVD's have been available for over a decade so your argument probably held water in 1999, but is wearing thin today. If you only watch Meet The Press however...stick with your Quasar.

Cell phones are another example. I have an iPhone that I absolutely love. Could I wait 3 years and get one free? Probably, but I would miss out on those three years of enjoyment. Did I overpay by standing in line and paying full price? You probably think so. I don't for a moment and if I dropped it in the toilet today, would run out and buy a replacement that afternoon.



So says you! Never! I will never leave the comfort of my K-WAX Cylinders.

Seriously...some people (like me) are early adopters. Some, never adopt at all. The majority are somewhere in the middle.

Yep, you hit it Barry, 3 types of people when it comes to change. Those who jump right in (the pioners) those who wait til it's been perfected and those who will never change.

I bought one of those early hd plasma tv's but I had just moved to Indiana, was living alone and wanted to reward myself. I got to enjoy it for those years and do to this day. Of course I paid more, but it beat watching a 20" set. Besides, if you always wait for price reduction or perfection of the technology, sooner or later you die and miss it totally. I live to live. That's why I am PC based.

_________________
KingBing Entertainment C'mon Up! I have a song for you!!! [font=MS Sans Serif][/font]

Win Lame should let you convert the wma file to mp3 with a good Lame encoder

http://winlame.sourceforge.net/

Keep in mind that ideally is to choose the proper software to extract in wave and than encode with Lame. Not all software will perform the same when extracting the file, you can use 4 different software and they'll all will give you a different sound even on your wave files It really depends on the quality of the software sound engine If the software is built on BASS audio for example, you'll have the best sound available

Sounds like you're making this way more complicated than it is. Why don't you just get a 1 terra byte Seagate External drive for $149.99 and use that?

As far as a back up goes, just cut and past the file with all your music in it, done.

If you're using a standard USB 2.1 connection it may take a while. If you're using fire wire it will take considerable less time. With that much music, you should have a fire wire connection anyway.

_________________
Good music, good friends, howling good times!

Are you sure firewire is really faster For best, eSata is the way to go

I jumped right into buying a Sony Betamax because I was sure it was the better technology. Now the VHS is a dinosaur. I think Joes is just holding out for the Blue Ray of karaoke machines. Me to.

You can even be an early adopter in some areas and not in others. I make my living by technology, and undoubtedly some of you have used things I created. But I don't have an HD TV, and don't see a need for one. I don't watch TV. I don't have the latest cell phone -- I don't have a need. I don't text -- I am far too in touch anyway.

Anyway, computers are no longer in the early adopter phase for karaoke. The majority of shows out there are now using them.

There is nothing wrong with using a disk. I don't happen to personally like most of the shows I see that employ them, because I don't like the way they run. I frequent zero shows that use them on a regular basis, and there are a couple I would have went to if they didn't waste my time with filler music. Apparently enough felt the same way -- they have died. Except for the one guy who listened to complaints, got Compuhost, and converted. His shows thrive.

To me it's the same as the host who announces a 9pm start time, and then when you are there at that time says "I want to wait until we get a few singers". Excuse me? Do you think my time has no value and is something you can just throw away? Also, why would any singers show up early if they know they are going to have to wait to sing?

_________________
[color=#ffff55]Mickey J.[/color]
Alas for those who never sing, but die with all their music in them.
-- Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.

I use all discs. I don't waste time between singers, everything is queued up nicely well in advance. My rotation moves, usually 6-7 singers every half-hour.
Talk about obsolete technology, I even use Laserdiscs when I can for variety.
(I have a triple-tray, a single-tray and an LD/CDG player in my rack.)

I can play my singers' discs when they bring 'em in.
If a disc ever gets scratchy beyond repair, I can replace it (plus I usually have an alternative version of many songs).

My sound system is great for the clubs I play. I like my set-up, my singers like it, my bar owners like it, everybody has fun.

Sheesh, IF you can find a good player nowadays.

The karaoke disc players available if you had to replace one are either unrelieable new or used and you are taking your chances. Or you're buying the Pioneer v555 which is the only professional player on the market for purchase I trust to last!