Karaoke Forums

Please!!! Someone help me. I want to go digital and I do not want to buy one of these computers that is already set up for karaoke. They seem to be getting way too much money for them and I think I can do better by putting my own computer together. My problem is that, although I am fairly computer literate, I am not sure exactly what I need to have in the way of sound card, video card, & speed. I know that I will need a large hard drive (250?) and a large external hard drive. I am thinking at least 1 gig memory and of course Windows XP (should it be XP Pro or will the home version work?). I know I will need a program to run the karaoke show and I am leaning toward Sax & Dotty. I already have a Plextor that will rip the cdg's which I plan to take out of my home computer and put in the one I build for karaoke.  All advice will be greatly appreciated. I tried finding the information I need in the archives, but couldn't find a post that had all the info.

_________________
Keep on Keeping On! It's never too late and you're never too old!!!!!

Again as has been said many times on here; you need to decide for sure what program you want to use and then design your computer around it.

Kelly

Magimae,

If you're leaning towards Sax... go to their site and read up on what specs you should have. Don't go for the minimum... but instead, build a workhorse that will last a bit!

You're absolutely right that there isn't a lot of posts out there with "a blueprint on how to do it". If there were, then EVERYONE would be doing it! Basically, you need to have a serious understanding on computers anyway, and then on karaoke anyway. If you go into this venture with half the information, how are you going to fix the occassional problem when they come up? You have to have SOME research under your belt, and then be able to apply it when the computer may mess up. Hey, they DO that! Windows is the only software I can think of that may suddenly burp without any updates or problems beforehand! OS fails... Memory fails... hard drive or cables fail... that's the nature of a computer.

I don't mind answering tech questions, but we're not going to give out the most basic information!

You're on the right track. Plextor is a standard for reading the subcode of karaoke tracks... keep up with it!

Look into video cards, what type of machine you want to build.

MTU makes a machine that has it all... if you look at the specs, you should be able to determine what they're offering and how best you can cobble together a system to do the same thing!

If you want something out of the box that is outstanding get a hp ZD-8000 and an external 500 gig drive. I am running one with 2 gigs of ram. and it blazes through the karaoke, and the video's. They can be had for less the $999.00

_________________
______________________________________
I'm Not Dead yet...... But every day Im getting Closer !

Magimae, welcome to our friendly Help Center.  

Here  are my recommendations to get you started:

1.  Laptop with dual-display, and at least 1 gigabyte of memory.
2.  External hard-drive.
3.  Roxbox hoster and KJAMP Rip-n-Zip.
4.  Plextor CD/DVD drives for ripping CDGs.

You may also want to consider getting an external audio card such as the Maya 44 USB, if you are not happy with the laptop's internal sound card.

Ripping your CDGs to MP3Gs is a very tedious process, and naming them properly can even be more daunting.  You will need CDG Autoname and KJ Pro to name your MP3G songs to a standard format.

Good luck.

Going Digital?

Let's start at the beginning -

What type of computer you want to use
Desk Top,Lap Top,Rackmounted. Each has its advantages and disadvantages.

Will this be for home/hobby or are you a working KJ ?

Which Hosting Software are you leaning towards - Visit there site and poke around and read their forums.

The basics for hosting a Karaoke show would be a PC with dual display and a decent graphics card -nothing fancy required for JUST karaoke.  You want a pro type sound card or usb external device. There are plenty out their GIGA PORTS  / Maya 's  /
DO a search and anyone of them would be fine.  - Harddrive space you will need plenty of depending on your library and also if you do DJ work also.

Once you decide on your software - SEE what type of equipment people on THOSE forums are using - Your a computer GUY> - Bigger isn't always better  / Faster isn't always better if the program can only goes so fast / more expensive isn't always better .  If you are just using to host and play karaoke MP3+G OR EQUIVALENT it doesn't have to be a very fancy setup -  YOu can spend all kinds of money getting the fastest most powerfull pc out their and you will be wasting good money

This is a true statement as far as the power needed for karaoke, However.........

It is suggested to get a fairly current mobo, processor, and cards. the way things are outdated, what you buy today you can't add to 18 months from now, or update.  I wouldnt buy the lowest standard you can go with.

example: I built a state of the art system 18 months ago, 3.2 ghz processor etc. I had to upgrade the video card to be able to play videos with good hardware video acceleration. The video card cost me a small fortune, because the type was out dated, and hard to come by.

this is a lot like the hosts who buy a 500 watt amp, because that is the most they can ever see them needing. later to find out it is too small. Then find out for another 100 bucks they could have had a 2000 watt amp.

Buy Smart!!

_________________
______________________________________
I'm Not Dead yet...... But every day Im getting Closer !

Software first!  Figure out what you need the software to do and then check the feature lists. Sax & Dotty's does not impress me to say the least.  You don't really need much of a computer at all to run karaoke.  However, if you need to beat match you're going to need some serious computer power.  Check out all your software options.  You can go digital for cheap and have a wonderful sounding system.

elvis

I agree - The most important thing is to decide WHAT DO YOU WANT TO DO
are you building a system for NOW or do you plan to do some DJ or now VJ'ing in the future...  I would agree that you should get "more" than the minimum but you don't need to spend $3000 for a hosting computer.

Again, this has been mentioned before but you should choose your system based on your needs. I personally went with a custom built (build myself) 3U rackmount system with an AMD processor. I have 2 GB of memory and have NVidia 7300GS PCI-X video card. I also have 750GB NAS unit for my external storage needs. I have everything mounted in a rack. It's a bit of an overkill but it's what I want for my business. I also have AMD based laptop as a backup, which is essential for business just in case the computer goes down.

If you are using for home use, I would recommend one of those small form factor desktop unit. It takes up less room near your media center area and it does the job. If you get wireless networking, you may not need external storage, just use another computer on the network as a backup for songs. It's not as fast as having storage directly connected but you save some money on it.

Software is the same. I use MTU Hoster for my business but if you want for home use, there are free software using Winamp you can get and it does the job.

If you know what you want to do with it, it make the choices a lot easier.

_________________

Seize the day and SING!!!

FOr the computer techs out there.  I am finally taking the plunge.  I've been taking notes over the last year or so on pieces & parts & have come up with this combo.  Please don't talk about overkill, or wasting your money.  I would like constructive critisism, advice, what you would change & why.  Below is the future plan.  Thanks in advance.

Karaoke Computer Build Sheet

Rackmount case w/500watt power supply
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6811192025 $170

AMD Processor
AMD Athlon 64 X2 3800+ Windsor 2.0GHz 2 x 512KB L2 Cache Socket AM2 Processor
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6819103735 $154

Motherboard
ASUS M2N32-SLI Deluxe Wireless Edition Socket AM2 NVIDIA nForce 590 SLI MCP ATX AMD Motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6813131011 $200

Memory 2GB
(x2)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6820161669  $180

Hard Drives
(x2) Seagate SATA 200 GB - 2 for music storage / Seagate SATA 80 GB for programs
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6822148146  $160 each
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6822148148  $45

CD/DVD drive
(x2) Plextor 716SA/SW DVD/CD ROM burners
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6827131351  $200

Video Card
ATI 100-437510 Radeon X1600PRO 512MB 128-bit GDDR2 AGP 4X/8X Video Card
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6814102678   $175

Audio
Ego Systems Maya 44
http://www.floridamusicco.com/proddetai ... maya44.htm  $130

Display
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6824112175  $150

Keyboard/Mouse/Misc. Cables needed

Plan on using MTU Hoster, have my mind set, have already tested demos on the others & I preferred this over the others.

_________________
[shadow=deepskyblue]I'm impressed, I've never met such a small mind inside such a big head before.[/shadow]

sweet!

Just curious why you want 2 plextor burners... I can see having one as a backup, but for me, I might have waited a bit to do that.

Congrats on your decision. You've done a good job with the research. I personally think the vid card is a bit overexcessive, but I can see you're building this with room to grow!

I would recommend one more purchase... or two.

One more hard drive, and a usb or firewire enclosure. After you have your stuff ripped, make a backup of your music drives, and put it on the shelf! There are some good sales on 300GB IDE drives for $100, and enclosures for $20!

Other than that, dude, I'm droolin'! Nicely done! I wish you the best of luck!

I was figuring for direct cd back ups w/o having to drop to HD first.  I have Clone CD & GoldenHawk software right now & like to be able to do direct copies of my discs.  Although thinking about it now, I probably won't need to make anymore back up discs as it will be on hard drive.   OK, $100 saved!

I already have an external 250gb for just that purpose.  Actually it's kind of my master now as i've been starting to practice with the computer at home so i've already got half my library into it already.  So when I get this thing built, I will transfer my library from that & store the external.

_________________
[shadow=deepskyblue]I'm impressed, I've never met such a small mind inside such a big head before.[/shadow]

yeah, that was my only real concern!

Good for you dude!

And to be honest, after seeing MTU's Hoster in action, I'll probably go that route myself!

Does it play .mpg or .mpeg files? I have my pioneer's ripped that way, and I'd hate to have to use winamp or windows media to play those 2,000 files!

one more question... you ripping to 192 or higher? I found that Audiograbber is best for ripping straight to hard drive... it'll rip straight to .mp3+g. SOME of the discs of karaoke are in the database, but since many of the discs I buy now are custom, that's a moot point anyway!

Being Hoster is based on Windows wma, the rip is highest at 192 & that's where they all are converted.  There is absolutely no sonic loss.  I have tried the mp3's at the same & have heard slight noise in the background...now granted, it probably wouldn't make that much difference in a bar, but I am an audiophile at heart & like as clean as possible.
Don't know about the video, but here is the blurb from their site on those.

Play VIDEO
You can play these file types directly from their discs in the drive, or copy them to the hard drive and play from there without the discs. All play controls (Start, Pause/Resume, Stop, Restart, Skip, Multiplex, and live Key Change) work on Video files, which include the following formats: .dat (VCD and DVD), .VOB (DVD), .wmv (WMV video), .avi (AVI), .qt (QuickTime), .mov (Movie), .mpg (MPG compression), .mpeg (MPEG compression), and .m1v.

_________________
[shadow=deepskyblue]I'm impressed, I've never met such a small mind inside such a big head before.[/shadow]

That system is very close to what I have running and I have been very happy with it. Good choices. One thing to add is the two displays you will need. Yes, you can use the main output for control screen and use the S-Video output for the singer screen. Or you can do like what I do, use two LCD screens. One for the control and one for the singer. I use the DVI connector for the main screen. The DB9 connector, which is the singer screen, goes through XVGA to Video converter. That has direct through for DB9 so you can connect a flat panel LCD screen for the singer and it will also convert to NTSC signal so you can connect a TV to it. Or you can take the S-Video signal and split it to two TVs. Either way works.

_________________

Seize the day and SING!!!

You have to be careful when choosing your video files. I ran in to this issue as well. It's not the file format but codec issue. Some codec works and some does not. You will definitely need to use another program to rip the video files and import them to MTU Hoster. Once I had figured out which one works with which, it's been pretty smooth. I believe I used MPEG format with DIVx codec and it worked.

_________________

Seize the day and SING!!!

Oh, I'm not reripping these! I just want to play the files I have! !

That seems like a wonderful computer!
You commented in a post up the list a ways that you tested a few software packages and went with MTU.  Since the question comes up a lot on these boards, would you mind detailing which programs you tested and why you selected MTU?  Inquiring minds want to know!