Karaoke Forums

Hello,
I have been researching CDG/DVD Players and after spending several hours at it I'm still a bit confused.  I'm hoping that someone here can take a moment to point me in the right direction.

At this point I am trying to determine what formats and software exist and what which would be best for my purposes.  If anyone knows of a good format FAQ for Karaoke please let me know.

What I am trying to do is to find a Karaoke player (and Microphone of course) to add to a small Stereo/Home Theater system.  I would like to buy this as a present for my wife and I want to make sure that I can add this to the home theater system (with an RCA Cable), buy some Karoake CDs and be ready to go.  So far the V2GO GO-100 Karaoke DVD/CDG Player appears to be my first choice, but I am open to any suggestions.  Since I'm not sure which players use what types of media (CDs/DVDs/MP3s?) I'm not sure I can make an informed decision about the hardware yet either.  I also want to make sure that the hardware I purchase will be compatible with whatever software is best suited for a very casual home user.  Thanks!

Mate they are not all here at the moment.
Give it 24 hours and you will have the best recomendations available.

First we need to know what your budget is.

Secondly you DO NOT want to run karaoke thru your home ster/surround sound system.  Tohes systems are not made to handle the abouse from live vocals.

As for format, the best, and most widely available, is CDG discs.  THis is IMHO of course.

I'm here.

BTW, MigLMart, this thread probably will get moved to the TECH forum.

Sorry Twan, Didnt realise...
No previous posts.

Thanks for the quick replies!
I don't have a specific budget, but I don't think I want to invest more than $500.00.  I have the space and the time and energy to learn how to build something cool, but if it gets too expensive (not including software) we may just have to go to the local Karaoke box instead.

here are some packaged PA systems....
http://www.americanmusical.com/sort.asp ... 06_77_1001

You could get one of thoes, and a CDG player for under $500

You of course would still have to purchaces discs.

Twans did you ever get the tv series allo allo over there? you type just like the "undercover" british french policeman  LMAO

_________________
"Be who you are and say what you feel... Because those that matter... Don't mind...And those that mind... Don't matter."

Loved that program.
 LMAO  LMAO  LMAO

Thanks,
Hmmmm, if I'm going to spend this much I'll have to make sure it will do everything I want and software will not be a problem.

Regarding software.  There seems to be a number of companies making CD+Gs.  Are all of these CD+Gs compatible with any player (excluding tech glitches etc.)?

Also, I have a feeling that it would be ideal to make a favorites CD or DVD once I get a decent collection.  Does this sound reasonably easy to do?

I also noticed that the player I was looking at has a USB port on it.  If possible, I would like to rip my cds to MP3 and make a "Favorites Flash Drive" for my wife to use (rather than switching CDs all the time).  Does the file that contains the lyrics cause any problems with this?
It seems like it should be no more difficult than ripping regular CDs for use on my PC etc.

I'd really like to get something set up for my wife, but I want to make sure that if we invest the time and money it won't be a lot of work for her to use.  I'm a big Home Theater buff and my wife won't touch my Home Theater stuff because it's "too complicated" to use (DVD, HD-DVD, Blu-ray, etc.).  She likes the old setup we have with a 27" TV and an old Pro-logic receiver because it's easy to use.  Since this is a present I am thinking about for her I want to make sure it will be easy or her to use.

Thanks again for any thoughts on this!  :D

Click on this URL... definitions of karaoke formats

It's an older document. I need to add in NEO+G and SuperCDG. Those are both DVD based formats, but they're proprietary to the manufacturers that released them.

Thanks you very much.  This will help answer many of my questions.  So most of the formats are compatible with all hardware, but there are some propritary formats too...

Are most songs available on CG+G?
That is, without hardware for NEO+G or SuperCDG will I be able to get pretty much any song?


Also, if anyone has any thoughts on making custom favorites CDs or DVD I would appreciate any feedback.  I would like to keep my setup as simple as possible, so I would like to make a favorites DVD or use rip MP3s to create a favories folder.  Is this something that is commonly (or easily) done?

Thanks again to the various experts for your help!  I've dealt with a number of hardware salespeople and none of them have offered much help so far.

for home use, on computer, I had a folder for stuff that was just for me, so I didn't have to go searching for it. To me, it was the same as having a compilation cd.

Audiograbber is a great ripper. rips directly to either .bin format, uncompressed (.wav) +G, and mp3+g. You'll need a mp3 encoder such as LAME, but it's fairly easy to find on the net. Audiograbber is free as far as I know. I haven't researched it for a long time.

To make custom discs, you'll need a burner software. I don't know if powerkaraoke has it or not, but I'd check there first. CDRWin from goldenhawk.com is free at 1speed, and if you want to unlock it it's $40. AND the software is only good for a year (as far as I know... it's been a while since I've messed with that).

There's a thread here about the NEO player and some problems one guy had. I've personally heard some horror stories about it, and the CAVS Supercdg player too.. so I won't venture an opinion. I know in some shows I went to the Supercdg player wouldn't accept some outside discs, and the next day, would! go figure!

Stick with the CDG format, and buy discs for the songs you want.  CD+G is considered standard format for karaoke, and has the widest selection of songs available.

If you are wanting to use your HOME pc for playing of the songs, all you would need is....
1. a CD drive that is capable of reading the CDG subcode (ie: the graphics part).  
2. a ripping program like Audiograbber to convert the CDG discs into MP3+G format.
3.  and WINAMP with the MP3+G plugin that will play the ripped track on your PC.


If you already have a HOME pc, that would be the cheapest route to go, since you would not have to purchase a CDG stand alone player.  At most you would have to buy ($20 to $50) a cd drive that is capable of reading a CDG disc.  WINAMP, the MP3+G plugin and AUDIOGRABBER are freeware.

I would say before you buy a PA system, get the PC part of it working first.  Go out and get a CDG disc (they are cheap at Wal-MArt or similar stores), and try to rip a song on your PC using AUDIOGRABBER to see if your computer can already read the CDG subcode.

And again, DO NOT use a home stereo/surround sound to play LIVE VOCALS.  It WILL eventually trash the home stereo/surround sound.

Hmmmm.

Thanks again.  I should have started hunting for forums before I wasted my time talking to salespeople.  I'll get the freeware up and running and start some initial testing ASAP.



Does this mean you agree or disagree about vocals over home stereo equipment.  I don't want to start any trouble among forum regulars, but I'd like to hear all sides and judge for myself.  

Also, I have an old guitar amp that I might be able to use to start with for the vocals.  That would let me test things out and help us make a more informed decision about what to do from there.

Depends what you have and how you use it.
Your speaker system dosn't know if the vocal is live.
Dont tell it.
Vocal frequencies are incapable of damaging speakers.
What was ment was dont put volumes through a
system that cant handle it.

The use of home stereo speakers for karaoke is not recommended because they are not built for live sound; and the vocal part of the karaoke is live sound. Live sound produced peak audio signal that a home speaker system will not be able to handle. Yes, it is possible to sing through such system but you will most likely hear a very distorted sound esp. at the loud part.



This is just the opposite of the above. This cab are made to handle distorted g'tar sound. You will not get good vocal sound from it, but you will most likely not bust it from your singing.

To get a small PA system. You can't go wrong. This one may intrest you

http://www.zzounds.com/item--FEN692005003

_________________
I can neither confirm nor deny ever having or knowing anything about nothing.... mrscott

Jerry,
It is not the freq. but the dynamic of the uncompressed live sound that is unforgiving.
And when you want to sing as loud as the music, you will get a lot of distortion.

_________________
I can neither confirm nor deny ever having or knowing anything about nothing.... mrscott

To input my two cents worth.  I would  say that the problem with using home stereo equipment is that the amp and speakers are not expecting an uncontroled burst from vocals.  The amp doesn't have a lot of headroom and you get clipping.  Clipping is an unnatural thing which produces an audio signal which is beyond the ability of the speaker to produce but they will try to reproduce it anyway but since it has no safeguards built in becasue it wasn't expecting a live vocal, it fries the voice coil and your speaker speaks no more.  Your amp, having experienced input and output beyond its range is none to happy either and may shoot puffs of smoke at you to express its unhappiness.  Get a small PA (SoundTech) and your wife will be much happier and probably not shoot puffs of smoke at you.  That's a good thing right?