Karaoke Forums

Hello all,
I have a couple of questions for the pros.

1. I would like to know if there is a place similar to Columbia house, but for cdgs. Not the 12 for 1 thing, but the part where they ship you a cdg every month or so, and decide whether you want to buy it or not. The problem I am having with cdgs, is that there are so many of them, and its hard to keep up. This way I can keep up, and get cdgs that I need.

2. I am wanting to add some bass to my current setup which is a yamaha setup. I would like to get a powered sub, and do not want to spend more than say 200?? Is this feasible? Right now I have a 10 inch powered sub that was used for a home entertainment system ( the suround sound with the bass speaker kind), and it works ok except that it muddles the singing, because I do not believe there is any crossover on it.

Thank you all!

If you check to the left of your screen, in the lower left hand corner, you will find several of our vendors that offer a monthly program. SoundChoice and  Top Hits Monthly are the first that come to mind. Top Hits offers them in Country, Pop, Rock and Urban if I'm not mistaken. If I am wrong, I'm sure there will be others that will come along and correct me on this. But yes to your answer, there are companies that do this.
Good luck and happy hunting.

James
Maninblack

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I serve no man and am loyal to only one God.

Being critical of a person's success in any respect speaks volumes about the lack of your own.

Love as though you've never been hurt, Dance as though no one's watching, Sing as though God Himself were listening.

$200 - powered sub, no not feasable!  The powered sub you have now is voiced for music reproduction only, not live vocals.  Depending on your other speakers (size & power going to them) will depend on the size sub & power rating you'll need.

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$200 - powered sub, no not feasable!  The powered sub you have now is voiced for music reproduction only, not live vocals.  Depending on your other speakers (size & power going to them) will depend on the size sub & power rating you'll need.[/quote]


I have this setup http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/ ... sku=630197

And I am looking to fill in the bass a bit.

Thank you all for the links. I knew they were there, but did not know that they would send cdgs on a monthly basis. Thank you for that.

BlackRose:

Just to add to maninblack's answer to your CDG question, those monthly subscriptions ARE NOT exactly what you asked for above. You indicated that you want something where they send you a disk every month that you can return if you don't like it and keep the ones you NEED. You prepay for those monthly services and they send you the disks, but you certainly can not return them just because you don't like them. They are already paid for once you receive them and they won't refund your money if you don't like the songs they picked that month. I don't think there is one that will let you "try it out" and return it if you don't like it.

Many KJs love those subscription services because they get the most up-to-date music and have it before anyone else. HOWEVER, I find that SINCE each disc has up-to-date music, you find that after about 2-3 months you are stuck with a disc that has one, MAYBE two songs that are LASTING hits, i.e., something anyone will ever sing or even remember ever again. For that very reason, these monthly discs usually sell for about $2-4 each after they are about 6-8 months old, whereas they are around $20 each through the subscription service. ALSO, the top subscription services (TOP TUNES MONTHLY and POP HITS MONTHLY) only sell monthly discs in GENRE form (POP, ROCK, COUNTRY, URBAN), so you have to subscribe to ALL FOUR in order to really fill out your collection with all of the genres, so you are talking about spending about $240 each PER GENRE (up to $960 for all 4 yearly) for discs that contain alot of songs that no one remembers after a few months!!

For my money, I just wait until SOUND CHOICE and CHARTBUSTER release their yearly and bi-yearly compilation discs. In about October they'll both release discs of the biggest hits from the first half of the year, then in about late January they both release discs that are the biggest hits from the entire previous year. That way, you are getting discs that have ONLY the top hits from the year, which are far more dense and long lasting than the top 20 from any given month. Both companies do these releases both by genre and in mixed-genre discs and disc sets.


AS FOR YOUR SUBWOOFER QUESTION - you are not going to get a PA sub that is worth anything for less than $450-500, and that is pushing it!! Look at this page below. Keep in mind that unless you get a POWERED subwoofer with the amp already built in to the speaker, you'll need to purchase a separate matched amp as well for PASSIVE subs.

http://www.americanmusical.com/sort.asp ... =06_76_387

The reason I linked you to the AMS site instead of Musician's Friend is that AMS will let you pay for most purchases in 3 monthly installments free of charge, so instead of having to pay $500 up front for a decent subwoofer, you can get the same sub and pay it off in 3 installments of $167.

Another option is to just get a BBE 362 Sonic Enhancer, which will allign your frequencies, maximize your headroom, and make your bass sound more full using your current system. It is nowhere near the effect of having a sub, but it will fill out your current sound for a fraction of the cost of a sub ($99). These can also usually be found on EBay new for around $60-70, but find a trustworthy site with good feedback!!

http://www.americanmusical.com/item--i- ... 7_145.html

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C Mc
KJ, FL

TopherM, hey great follow up to my post, I appreciate it as I'm sure Blackrose does as well.
Bot my AMS catalog the other day, some very cool stuff in there, payment plan can't be beat, and free shipping over $99, can't go wrong with that. Thanks for the tip.
James
Maninblack

_________________
I serve no man and am loyal to only one God.

Being critical of a person's success in any respect speaks volumes about the lack of your own.

Love as though you've never been hurt, Dance as though no one's watching, Sing as though God Himself were listening.

Yeah again, you aren't going to be able to find a powered sub for that cheap.  Your system is too small to create good bass on it's own, 12" speakers are generally considered midrange speakers in PA systems.
http://www.americanmusical.com/item--i- ... 7_586.html
This is one of the cheaper powered subs, it would be a good match for your system & You would only need 1 to really hear a difference.



Most of the monthly based subscription services mentioned you can buy, but you can't return if you don't like.  They automatically send you  the latest releases each month.  Returns MIGHT be possible on unopened items but that would be up to the individual stores offering the services.

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

Another Alternative Is The YORKVILLE-Y118PW. It Has A 200 Watt Built-In-Amplifier, and Can Be Daisy Chained From A Main Speaker Or A Mixer. I Have One And I'm Happy With It. COST ABOUT $525.00.

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Man Must Know His Limitations -Clint Eastwood

Subs are a tough issue.

I have 2 Mackie SWA1501's and I don't think that I have enough bass.
Normally for Karaoke I use 1 SWA1501. I'm upgrading to 18" subs for my Karaoke / bar system. I currently use 18"s for school dances and I am very happy with the results. It is a matter of finding a 18" sub that fits in my car.

Space is a big issue for me, I save money by not having to take a van everywhere I go on a nightly basis. I have 5 nights a week in bar work If I were to drive the van everynight my fuel cost would almost triple.

Powered subs are not cheap. I'm looking at the new QSC Powered subs they are $1200 with a $100 rebate and have a 6 year warrenty.

http://www.pssl.com/bitemdetail.tpl~waG ... R181W%2001

I believe to have big bass you need a big amp while 700 watts is not the biggest powered sub qsc amps are extremly efficent.

That amp will be under powered even for the 12" speakers, let alone adding a bass cab.

It would be a better match if he was running a powered sub, the mixer/amp wouldn't be pushing the power to the sub at all, just a line signal.  
But you are correct the amp is technically underpowered for the 12" speakers he has now.  The amp only pushes 180 watts into 8 ohms & they require (to be most efficient with less chance of blowing) 350 watts each into 8 ohms.

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Sorry for the lateness, was out of town for a week.


I knew that it was underpowered! Argh! The guy at guitar center would not sell me the bigger amp for these speakers, because he said it could blow them and they would be responsible. I went back a week or so later and said that the amp was to weak, and all he did was say that I could buy the next size amp and speakers, as an upgrade, but would not sell me the higher amperage with the speakers I have. I feel hornswaggled.

The disk deal is not so much to return them if I dont like them, but just to have them sent to me, and then charge my card. This way I do not have to go to the site and try to pick from 87348423 disks, then add CC info and then wait for shipping. I want to compare it to 401k or something you get taken out of your check. They take it and you never miss it.

Anyways, I am wanted to get ahold of the best in rock cdgs to start with. This is only for my enjoyment.

Those 'guys' at guitar center can sometimes be idiots.....Too much amp is exactly what's called for especially when running subs, and whenever running tops in full range off builtin crossovers.

They have no business deciding you need them to 'protect you from yourself'.

Any experienced sound engineer will tell you that having too fat amps allow you more protection and control of your system that having amps that are too small.

Do your homework before you venture into guitar center or any music equipment store....Never ask them what you need, know what you need spec-wise before you walk in the door....Say, "I need a (example) 500 watt/chan @8 ohm stereo amp with builtin low cuts and neutric plus 1/4" outputs."...Then if the idiot asks you what speakers you plan to use it with, ignore the question and insist he show you the amps that meet those specs...From there ask him to explain why one amp is a better buy that the others that meet your specs. Know what you need before you walk in the door.

The only sales staff I would trust to suggest what I needed is the folks at Sweetwater.com....give them a call and ask to speak to a sales staffer who handles 'live sound reinforcement equipment'. They will not mislead you or oversale. Those guys must be experts and actually use that type music equipment before they are allowed to become sale staff at Sweetwater.

Thank you very much for your help! I am thinking I will buy the maximizer and hope that will fill my sound range for now.

Sorry, but the BBE will drive your amp into clipping faster than anything else possible.

There is no free way to get extra amp power short of using a larger amp.

The BBE manipulates phases/freqs in a wonderful way, but it cannot MAKE free amp power....In fact, the Low Contour boost on the BBE demands more amp power.

Once you connect the BBE, take care not to boost the Low Contour when playing above moderate sound levels or you will clip your amp instantly.

I have a BBE and I love it, but I also feed my 18" subs with a 1200 watt amp. They only require 200 watts each, but with 600 watts of headroom at the amp and the BBE I can actually rattle the windows and ceiling tiles loose without concern for my speakers.

Folks need to remember that music is not a continuous level signal...it varies greatly in amplitude and it does it at a very rapid rate....you are never sending a level signal to your speakers or all you would hear is a steady tone....instead, it is a signal that spikes and dips very rapidly.....Those spikes require lots of amp headroom or you can clip the signal.....That's why a 200 watt speaker needs 400-600 watts of amp to really sound it's best.....No, you certainly don't want to send a steady tone at 600 watts into a 200 watt speaker, but you do want it to have all the power it needs for the spikes in the music.

excellent point, Keith!

My advice is to go back to Guitar Center, and just buy the larger amp. IF YOU BLOW THE SPEAKERS, it's YOUR responsibility.

WHy those guys are doing it is someone somewhere decided they needed TIm Allen's course on Stereo useage... "more power"... and blew their speakers and came back complaining!

It's their job to protect their interests.

So yes, if you apply a bigger wattage to your speakers for what they're set up for, and are constantly pushing them, you're going to eventually blow them. That's the nature of sound in a business sense.

As long as you know what you're getting into Blackrose, do what you want.

But don't expect a guarantee / warrenty when you exceed their recommended levels!

I say blow the speakers with the smaller amp & bring then bring them back saying they sounded so distorted when I had them turned up.

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This is exactly what I tried to tell them when I bought it. I said that to much power is a whole lot better than not enough, and I will wager that these speakers will eventually blow because of the under powerage.  This setup is not for anything other than a glorified system in my garage, but I do like it to sound good.

So the maximizer will not do much for me? Fudge, I am not looking to get out cheap, I just want a small system that sounds good with a little bit of bass, right now it is kind of tinny.

You'd be better off keeping what you got & get a powered sub  This will give the added bass plus give some relief to the mains.

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The "TINNY" sound will still be there if you add a sub.  Perhaps a EQ is in order to better adjust the sound, or just messing with the mixer settings (hi/mid/low/fx) could get rind f the "TINNY" sound.