Karaoke Forums

I see your getting an SLI motherboard which has PCI express slots and an AGP graphics cards.  I don't think the two are compatible.   You need a PCI-E video card to work with that motherboard.

2 hosting programs that has winamp as player and is free:

Sacks-O-Nuts; developed by exweedfarmer.
autOKdj; developed by toqer

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

To be perfectly correct, Sacks-O-Nuts is not freeware.  It's beg-ware.  There is the nasty little beg screen that comes up when you start it and you have to click cancel.  The reason it's beg-ware is basically that it is obsolete and it's such a patchwork from a programming standpoint that there is no point in updating.

It does have some advantages however.

You can assign graphic images, music, or vidio clips to start when a certain singer is up in the rotation.  If you like to take pictures at your event there is a built in cropper and and text adding feature.  I used to get a lot of use out of that but got lazy.  It has far an away the best kiosk system out there because except for the kiosk program the patrons are locked out of the remote computer.  The only other big plus is the ability to search without typing.  It plays filler music like RoxBox but not with the same level of control.  It has the fastest search going and takes the least amount of computer to run it.  I still think it the best piece of karaoke software out there, but I am easily deluded.

On the down side however, it's hard to set up.  And....it has the dumbest product name of all time!  Never name something when you're drunk.

I'm kinda thinking about writing another piece of hosting software and taking it a little more seriously this time.  But first I have to come up with a better name.

 LOL

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

Exweedfarmer, I didn't know that you wrote S-O-N.  I must say that I am impressed that you were able to write it.  Good job!

You know, since you are getting more serious and putting more thought into writing another hoster, I wonder if you could automate the part where the second screen shows up on the TV and not have to resize it?  I have not actually used your software, but I imagine that I would have to drag the second screen to the second monitor (TV) and resize it just like I had to do in Sax-n-Dotty and Roxbox.  While you are at it, could you also develop a tool that will scan all of the MP3Gs and tag bad files?

Good luck with your project!

The resizing issue happens because Window reports the size and location of the second screen slightly out of touch with reality.  However, in SON you should only have to do that once when you first install the program.  After that it remembers how big and where the second screen should be.  As for tagging the bad files, I'm assuming you mean the video content, let's just stop using CDG.  CDG was a great piece of jerry-rigging by the folks at Sony-Phillips in the 80s but times have changed.  It's bulky and not very dependable.

Hmmm, good catch.  How about this one?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6814102682

Or another recommendation?  This one seems to have a heat issue, if not ventilated correctly, I suppose I can add a couple of cooling fans in the box.

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

I agree with most here and decide what software you will use then choose your system to match the software recommendations...maybe over-build if you can.

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Nothing's harder to put up with than the annoyance of a good example. - Mark Twain

Already know I am going with Hoster as my hosting program.

Computer Requirements:
Runs on Windows 2000 SP4, XP Home or Pro SP2, with .NET upgrade
An MTU Certified CDG Recorder or equivalent to import CDG Karaoke discs to the hard drive. Video Hoster 3.310 and higher recognize these CD/DVD drives. MTU Certified drives give the cleanest imported graphics.
Graphics video card with 32MB or more of RAM. that supports Direct-X 9.0 or higher (cards with less than 32MB RAM usually don't support 9.0). Dual-display requires an ATI Radeon 9000 or higher, or NVidia equivalent. S3 video cards or chips in laptop computers don't support Direct-X 9.0.
Processor (Celeron, Pentium, 3 or 4, or AMD Duron or Athlon with at least 1 GHz or faster speed. If Windows runs correctly with the system RAM, Video Hoster should also run.
NOTE: Either an Internet connection, a Floppy Disc drive or a USB Memory Stick (or Flash Drive) is REQUIRED to register and install Video Hoster, but not to run it.

I have no qualms about overbuilding.  Never know what other programs I may want to add...dj programs, video programs, but right now Hoster is going to be the main platform.

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

I think it's worth another $20 to get the Athlon X2 4200+
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819103741

You can compare them at tomshardware
http://www23.tomshardware.com/cpu.html?modelx=33&model1=471&model2=469&chart=178

Is it the original version of S&D or the second one?   A third one is being worked on as we speak.    I will use S&D.

I'm lost.  To whom are you responding?

Hola from SW Colorado!
I have been KJing for 5 years and a DJ since 1982.  I want to go digital and have loose ends to tie up.  Surfing the forum, i noticed that S&D is no longer available after Friday?? BUT SON (yours) is still avaliable.  I host a live show every week and am tired of the cdg's! I have a Dell Inspiron 1705 with an external 160GB HD for the karaoke files but  am at square one as to what software to use to load cdg's in  a format that works with a KJ host program. My laptop has the svideo also.  I just want to convert my show and really have no idea where to go from here.
Besides the laptop, i have a 60GB Ipod  that I would like to convert my cd's to MP3 files eventually and run my shows that way, getting away from cd's.
Whatever help you can steer my way as far a karaoke -digitally, that is, i would greatly appreciate.  I know that I am behind in the times as far a computer conversion goes, but at least I am trying! . In the meantime, i will look through the forum so more.
Thanks again!
Lindy (Cortez, CO)

Sacks O Nuts is the one being no longer available on Friday.  Sax & Dotties is a different company & product.
As far as being behind the times, computer is great, just make sure you remain as legal as possible - technically it is illegal to transfer media for commercial use but if you transfer only what you own to the hard drive & run that 1 set of discs only, you shouldn't have any hassles - well unless the companies start going after the computer users.

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

Hola Lindy!!! Ollie up here in Greeley... Another KJ is Melly in Colorado City..

Maybe we can get a group together like they have in Tx and OK !! When the road clears we can have a party at Mellys.... Welcome to the forum!!!

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Join The Karaokle Singers Social Network. Upload Your Music!!

Yes Lonman was right.  It's Sacks-O-Nuts that is going away so if you want to try it hurry hurry hurry.  Sax and Dottys inspired the writing of Sacks-O-Nuts three years ago because I thought the former was such a lame donkey piece of guano that I could write something better blind drunk.  This was not true.  I had to sober up first.  If I was searching for hosting software I would give serious consideration to Roxbox.
I still have great faith that SON is the best hosting software out there at any price, however, I am the only one who thinks that because registrations are down to nothing.  So I'm pulling it.

You might also try AutOKdj, it's freeware.

Roxbox rocks in my opinion.  Sax n Dotty might come up with a killer version in the future, but until then I'm sticking with Roxbox.

Wow..thanks for the great response!  I have always stuck to MY set of cdg's.  I have a few KJ friends who download from P2P sites but I refuse to do that.  #1..the quality isn't great all the time, and #2 I LOVE music and the artists that create it for a living so I will not participate in that end of it.  I have have a library of just over 6K songs (appropriate for my little corner of the world) and I use KJPro for my books and inventory.   It looks as though RoxBox may work good for me so I'll look into that. I am quite excited about digital as it sounds better and my cdg's are showing wear and tear.  I can't believe that I haven't been in the forums before now!  I look forward to seeing you all again soon!

Hey, Ollie and Melly!  I don't get over to the Front Range very often but if I do , I'll look you up! I am in the SW corner of CO... i have been priviledged to be the DJ for 5+ years at a neat place that is  a sports lounge...was thrilled when it went non-smoking as I do not smoke! I am big on football so that 's a plus, too!  If you ever get down this way, gimme a holler!
Am converting to digital because it just seems so much easier but initially the setup is intimidating because I want to make the right choices and not spend unwisely. I am fairly computer literate but had the darndest time with the demo version of S&D, could never get the lyrics screen to show the lyric..only the blue screen, and support was never timely with answers.   another reason for conversion is that the karaoke players themselves (JVC AND RSQ) are harder to find parts and service for.  I do general  maintenance but they do break down. Digital just makes more sense.
Later!

Back in August, I mentioned to a KJ friend of mine that my wife and I planned to get involved with Karaoke as a business when we retire.  He gave me some general information about the hardware, software and other equipment we would need to invest in.  He also said it would take time to get everything up and running considering the costs involved and the time need to investigate all of the options regarding software, computer equipment and a sound system.  So, he recommended we get started on the process.

With no research, we purchased a Compaq Presario V5000 laptop the first week in September because it was on sale.  I am embarrassed to say I didn't know enough to realize I needed to do research in the matter.  I also purchased two 250GB external drives, one goes with my desktop and one with the new laptop, because they were on sale. This week the very same drives are about 30% cheaper.

I also purchased two external CD-R/RW external drives from Cyberdrive for $28 each.  One for each computer.  PLEASE, EVERYONE, PLEXTOR IS NOT THE ONLY ANSWER.

As to software, I had already owned several copies of Nero.  I also purchased Sax N Dotty, CloneCD (which I find more reliable than Nero) and Power CD+G Pro Player to download to the laptop.   I downloaded additional freeware, as needed, for both the desktop and laptop.  I also have the Karaoke Player from a demo download of Karaoke Builder.

Maybe I'm blessed but my KJ friend came over last week to see what I have built.   According to him, he can't believe that I had accomplish so much in so little time with so little $$$.

I can play Karaoke DVD's on the laptop using the built in drive.  I can play CDG+g's on the laptop, from the Cyberdrive using the PowerCDG software.  I can play bin files on the laptop using Sax & Dottie.  I can copy cd+g's and create cd+g's from bin files using the Cyberdrive external CD-Rom drive.

As a backup, I have a DVD-CDG deck>  I have the laptop and deck going into a 4way splitter that I purchased at Radio Shack.  With that splitter (which has a built in RF modulator) I can input and output signals using, either RCA, S-video and coaxial wire.   I have had three TV screen running off of that device, simultaneously: one connected through coax, one through S-Video and one through RCA.

There's a great deal I can do on my desktop, as well, but the main goal was to get the laptop fully functional.

My point.  I am not suggesting that every approach this problem as I did, but I do recommend that those who are holding off for fear of making a mistake get their stuff in gear.  There's enough help on this forum, alone, to get your system up and running off of a laptop!