Karaoke Forums

only parts of me glow!  been on vaca for awhile.  ummm, about the mixer.  shouldn't I get a mixer that supports USB, or should I just get an external sound card?

Do you plan on running your mixer into your computer for recording?  If you are using your computer as a player, just run the outputs of the computer sound card into the mixer.  A better sound card more geared for pro use would be something to think about as it will give better sound, but a standard sound card will get your feet wet.  
If you do not plan on doing any kind of recording on the computer, a USB mixer isn't going to be any  advantage.

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sweet, thanks lon.  well, since my laptop has a completely horrid sound card I may buy an external sound card.  I think most laptops have crappy sound cards due to space considerations.  the sound coming out of the compu onto a home system sounds very hissy.

There are some nice external cards to be had.  Others will be able to help you more on those.

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I use the Maya 44 USB.  It's "reasonably priced", portable, and works well for me.

see below, sorry

I checked out the maya 44, and it looks cool, but why is it so much better than Sound Blaster Audigy2 ZS Notebook, which I am bidding for right now?   I will probably be outbid, but why should I pay 200 bucks for the Maya?  I'm just going to plug the output into a mixer anyway, is the sound that much better?  I just want some clean sound to come out of my Notebook.  What will the Maya do for me that the Audigy won't?  thanks - jim

see also for more discussion:  http://www.karaoke-forum.com/viewtopic.php?t=6904

Well it's kind of answered in the other thread.  The Audigy isn't really designed for professional use - may/may not stand the rigors & isn't as clean sounding as the pro card.  But you will get arguments on both sides that it is just as good or it does the job fine.  It will probably run circles around what you got now.  Is it the best, no!  Do you need the best - probably not at this time, although if you do serious music listening, it may be a better option for a cleaner card other than the Audigy.

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thanks lon, understand, I'm also just wondering if the Maya has other bells and whistles that will prove to be highly cool/useful other than somewhat better sound.  I guess I don't totally understand what xtra an upgraded soundcard provides.  I'll pay big dollars if it is WAY better.  or maybe even an obviously noticable upgrade.  Although subjective and hard to measure, if the Maya is only 10% better than the creative, but costs 4 times as much, I don't care if it is "professional" or not; I'll use the Creative.  If the Maya is 50% better than Creative and 4 times the cost, maybe I will buy the Maya.  But like you said, I probably don't need the Maya now anyway.  I was just hoping the guy who posted about the Maya might be able to provide a little insight here.

Sound IS subjective & what one person may hear as a noticeable difference, others may not hear ANY difference.  It's that same argument with mp3's ripped at say 128 vs 256 - a very noticeable difference to me, but others claim they sound the same.  Which is why I said it would probably sound fine for you with the system outlined in previous posts.

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OK, sounds like you want expandability/upgradability.

Your laptop as a player is probably a good start from what you've said.  Try the built-in sound before you commit to a USB device -- it just may suffice for your use at least at first, depends on the sound chip used.  You can add a regular player later if you want and updrade the sound via USB.  The built-in DVD drive in my Toshiba even reads CDG's (once I found the right ASPI driver).

The big advantage of using the computer is that you don't have to do as much KJ'ing -- seaching for disks, cueing them up, etc.  The software does a lot of that for you.  This is for your enjoyment, after all, not a paying gig.

The suggested power mixer isn't even available yet and is rather underpowered if you do go pro.  I'd suggest an unpowered mixer such as http://www.behringer.com/UB1202FX/index.cfm?lang=ENG (has digital effects for reverb) and a powered speaker (you really only need one to start).  You can then add more power later by adding more powered speakers and even a powered sub.  Behringer also makes a 300W (though I've read that it doesn't seem to have the oomph for that rating) power speaker http://www.behringer.com/B300/index.cfm?lang=ENG, but I don't know how well they work in a karaoke environment (i.e. how they do in the vocal range).  There are some others in a similar price range, though typically with a slightly lower power rating (maybe more true to their ability).

This is exactly the type of set-up I have, though I use a bigger brother to the mixer I listed because they did not have the smaller one with FX when I purchased and the speaker I have is no longer available, and it works great for home and backyard parties for me and friends.  But it also has potential if I were to decide to move up.  It only takes maybe 2 minutes longer to set up than the all-in-one.  It can be upgraded a piece at a time, where the all-in-one is upgraded by total replacement.  You'll probably want a karaoke mixer if you go pro -- it'll fade the video as well as the audio when you add the player(s) and there is more control over the reverb -- but the Behringer didn't set you back much as a starter, and the rest you just add to.

thanks for the tips.  I just bought that mixer you mentioned yesterday, funny.  I purchased those 2 mikes Lon said were good, and I am getting the b52 Matrix 1000 very soon.  I bought the dangerous pack on ebay for some more music, and I think I will probably get the 376 core pac soon.  I'll add more stuff later, like a monitor, speaker stands and maybe a more expensive sound card.  Plus I'm always on the look-out for some good songs on the cheap.  Used off of ebay is what I am looking at for music.  I'd like to catch a KJ going out of bizzness who wants to unload alot of music maybe.

The Dangerous set is good quality stuff and contains a bunch of songs that are not available in any other set. I THINK the 376 set you are referring to is the SuperCore set. I find that the oldies in this set are really good but the rest of the stuff is just average. For the price, though, it is a good deal for a good base.

Go check out karaoke.com (one of this site's sponsers even!!) for some good deals to start your base set of songs.

Click on the monthly, weekly, and daily sales sections about once a week. They are often liquidating discs that are no longer in circulation. Right now, you can get a great deal on Sing it Now, Pop Hits Monthly, and Top Tunes discs. I think they are like $1.44 and change each. If you buy ALL of these, the Top Tunes discs will give you a good base of older music (1960s-1990s) and the SIN and PHM discs will fill out the more recent stuff (2003-2005) quite nicely!! Plus, these discs are all in the upper 1/2 as far as quality. Not the best, but certianly better than most and MUCH better than anything else you are going to find for $1.44 a disc. They are also clearing out SGB discs for the same price, but I would steer clear of those UNLESS you pick up some of their discs of 1990s rock, which I think are pretty good. Go check it out!!

http://www.karaoke.com/cgi-bin/WebObjec ... .1.1.6.0.1

Unfortunately, you just missed them clearing out a bunch of DK discs for like $3 each. I got in on that one to replace some of my older stuff with better versions!!

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C Mc
KJ, FL

sweet, thanks tpher, I'll order some of those items.  I just ordered the B52 sys!  They even gave me 10% more off the 799.   nice.  excited.

I'm doing alot of what you said you like to do. Just have some fun with friends at parties or at home.  I first started out with a little karake machine for Wal-mart that I just hooked into my home stereo and had hours of fun but recently I wanted a little more power so I've purchased a Fender passport D250 p.a. and my wife and I love it.  It comes with 2 mics and I can plug my cheap karaoke player directly into it and I works and sounds great and it's portable.  I can pack it up and set everything up in just minutes. The particular modle I bought was around $900 but checking on line fender has other passport systems within your price range.

Well, i went way beyond what I was going to spend originally.  and i'm not sorry!  I bought a couple of those way-expensive sound choice discs to see what all the hubub is about, bub.  they cost mucho dinaro!

2 mics - 70$
behringer mixer - 90$
b52 matrix v2-1000 - 720$
362 used sonic maximizer - 60$
used creative AUdigy 2 soundcard - 60$ times 2 (won 2 ebay bids, crap)
various karaoke songs, including dangerous, SGB, toptunes, spotlight - 240$

I already have a nice new laptop for my K player and just need more software.
I already owned SGB before I went on this rampage.

soon i will have all the pieces and I can drive my neighbors krazy or blow myself up!  woo-hoo!!!

IMO cheap never equals good.   There is always a trade off and it always involves money.    Much more money.

well we will see, i'm sure if I spent a bunch more money it would sound better, but how much better is the question...this little system and hanging out at prof. karaoke shows will let me know whether I want to do this prof. or not, and if not, I can always just use this system for fun!!

Well how much better would be all dependant on how much more you want to spend.  I tried to line you up with something more professional than that little GigMaster you were looking at.  The system you opted for sounds 10X better than that little GigMaster because you decided to spend a little more.  You want to go further & spend even more, your system CAN sound even 10X better than what you opted for but now you at least have quality pieces that can be incorporated into a larger system when you are ready, the GigMaster wasn't upgradeable/expandable & you wouldv'e needed to start from the ground floor again.
But if you don't do shows, you will definitely have a killer home system - for music & karaoke alike.

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i understand what you are saying bigdog, but there has to be a limit.  if you spent 10,000 on a system and someone said, "oh, you need to spend 100 grand, it would be so much better, because cheap is no good and on and on".  there is going to be some ceiling.  maybe 1000 dollars aint it, but maybe my system will sound good enough to be appreciated by most.  I don't know how much it would cost  to produce the sound you make bigdog, but say it is about 10k.  does that mean you suck because you don't have or don't want to spend the 90k to put into it to make it sound even better?  that's the impression I get from your comments.  But lonman and others provided me with constructive critisism to convince me to spend more money for a much better system for the money.  bang for my buck.  your comment is too vague to me to be of much help. I guess the word "cheap" is annoying.  what does it mean?  nice opinion, but I guess I will just have to see for myself.  maybe you are just sprinkling your "controversy dust".  That being said, this forum is excellent, and I appreciate this discussion and everyones comments no matter how much i agree or disagree.