Karaoke Forums

I'm planning on buying a DVD/DivX/Karaoke player for my GF's birthday but I'm totally new to this scene. I've just recently familiarized myself with things such as CD+G, MP3+G, key control, etc. so I have a lot of questions.

Here are the specs I'm looking for:
- Must play DVD/DivX/CD+G on R or RW DVD/CD (MP3/Neo+G would be nice, DivX subtitle support  a big plus)
- Composite/Component video out (progressive scan and S-video would be nice)
- Coax audio would be nice. Not willing to pay premiums for optical.
- Dual mic support
- USB and SD card support

Here are the units I've been looking at:

VocoPro DVX-680K
http://tinyurl.com/2mjh6z

Acesonic DGX-106
http://tinyurl.com/32s6dx

1. The problem is that I'm not at all familiar with these companies as I've seen many horror stories with another unit I was considering (the RJ Tech RJ-1800DVX). I just want a reliable unit.

2. I would like to know if the above units are able to play Karaoke files that have been zipped. From what I've seen, this is typically how most of the files have been packaged. I haven't been able to find this info.

3. Lastly I've seen a lot of posts saying that you can easily blow your TV or home theatre speakers with the vocals.
a- Do the above players push enough power to do this?
b- Is there any way to prevent this without buying additional dedicated speakers?
c- If there is no way around it, what kind of setup would I need?
d- Do computer based Karaoke programs have this problem on PC/home theatre speakers?

I think that's it for now. I hope someone has enough patience to go through this post! Thanks for looking!

Stay away from VocoPro firstly - my opinion.  Don't know about their all in one units, have heard somewhat ok reviews on those for home use only.

Anyway, ANY karaoke can blow your home stereo/theater speakers.  They aren't designed to reproduce live vocals & most (if not all) players with built in mic inputs aren't going to sound good anyway (vocal wise) - usually really muddy sounding through regular home speakers since players do not allow individual eq adjustments to the mics.  You may be better off picking up an all in one unit diedicated for karaoke & leave the home theater/stereo to do what it was designed to do.
I don't know of any stand alone player that will play 'zipped' files - i'm assuming you mean mp3g/cdg files combined to a single zip file?  There are computer programs you can get that will play these files.  
Karaoke music will playback fine on home stereos, it's the addition of the vocals that can possibly blow the speakers & possibly (though rarer) the amp itself.  Again, an all in one unit dedicated to karaoke or a small pa system that you can dedicate to karaoke (though you'd still need to get the player with a separate pa).

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Thanks for the info.

I probably should have mentioned that I'm looking to spend no more than $500... not sure what that will get me. I was really hoping to get these units to work on *something*

Edit: actually I'm gonna scratch those questions. I think I have the info I need although I don't see the point of those boxes I linked to if you can't use them on your home theatre. Especially since it seems like they are marketed as such.

as a newbie myself... i JUST went through sortof jsut what you experienced.  Thanks to a few posters on here... and some returns I am able to go with a small PA package and hooking up a laptop to it.  (i've since added on an external harddrive by seagate)  

I use my PA system ($299 power mixer amp, 2 speakers) in my basement which is not very big... maybe a 14' by 18' room.  About 240watts at 4ohms and 160 watts at 8ohms.  but since I don't even have to turn it past half way most of the time in the small room , everything sounds fine.  If your room is bigger I'd recommend something with a bit more power.

I am using 2 akg d9000 mics... they were 80 bucks for 2.. not sure if it's a deal but they sound pretty good... but I dont' think they were "made" to be hand held, and theyd on't have on and off switches.. but to my amateur ears I definitely like it.  

I guess if you don't have a laptop then scratch this idea.. but it's relatively easy to turn your laptop or a desktop you have that you don't really use anymore into a karaoke machine.

Yes those are handheld mics.  On/Off switch typically isn't desired for most music situations - especially if you have a mixer which you can individually mute the channels that aren't needed.  Most that need on/off switches are those who don't have anyone running sound that the holder needs to have control or with mixers with no mute feature (then I just turn down the mic not being used).

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Well you CAN use them & all the manu's will tell you you can use them, however, with personal experience & several testimonials from people I know & talking with people on the forums, live vocals through home grade equipment is not a good idea.
THe above advice is pretty good, if it's for home use only, get a laptop to run the music & a small PA system.  Something like:

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/ ... sku=636502

I don't have any personal experiance with this particular manu, but there are systems out there that you can get that will sound ok in home situations & not break the bank.

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I may end up doing the whole laptop idea, however I might save this one for another occassion since I'm not prepared to do this much research so quickly and I don't want to make a big costly mistake.
I have plenty of laptops around so I'll probably just convert one into a Karaoke box.

After seeing a lot of magic mics and those set top boxes I was really hoping to have a cheaper and more portable solution.
Come to think of it, magic mics are designed to be plugged into a TV. How are they safer than the average set top box? Maybe they aren't but I know plenty of people that have them with no issues.
Is it possible to blow a speaker on your laptop using karaoke software? How do the software engineers account for this?

Edit: Looks like I was still typing as you posted. Thanks again Lonman.

You aren't going to be actually hooking the mics into the laptop (although you can again not desired), this will just act as a player.

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philli, do you mind listing the equipment you have setup?

I'm not looking for ear busting sound here. Just enough so that a couch or two full of people can enjoy some singing. It will be used in an average sized living room.

I think he bought the same system I linked to.  It's in his thread here.

http://www.karaoke-forum.com/viewtopic. ... c&start=25

As a matter of fact it's is the same system.  He just bought 2 additional mics that didn't come with that package.

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yea what Lonman said. it's at the very last post... there's a link to the manual.. you can easily google it.  It's Phonic PA620 I.. comes with 2 10" speakers.  I mean don't expect SPETACULAR sound (it is good enough) but it's definitely much better than running through a home system (cause I tried that first).   Just make sure you get some nice cables... you can hook up the stock ones.. listen to it for a day or 2, buy a pair of nicer cables.. it'll definitely make a difference... even to my deaf ears !

Philli - Just out of curiosity since you've actually gone and tested this:

On a scale of 1-10 how would you rate the audio quality of both the home system and the PA system?

well problem is ... i dont' WANT to kj... i want to sing and get drunk with my friends so it's sortof a pain to pass around a mic that's always turned on unless I run over to the mixer and mute it.... (no remote)  so I just prefer to have a mic that has a switch so when i pass it around, or just leave it on the ground/table or what not I can do it without hearing the thumping and etc.  Just my opinion on what would be more optimal for my situation....

Well if it's only home use then i'd recommend a mic with a switch for your description.  
http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/ ... sku=270025
This is a pretty decent mic for home use.  These usually run about $50 each, this 3 pack breaks them down to about $40 each.  But you can buy them individually.  Having 3, you can have one on one side, another in the middle & another on the other side - eliminating the need for much passing around the room.  Whoever sings next just grabs the mic closest to them.

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hey thanks.. actually i have ONE of the Shure (they were easily accesible at bestbuy) and I had a 10 dollar coupon.  I have to say i prefer how the AKG sounds over them... how about the Samson R11?  THey are much cheaper... and everyone seems to like the result? http://www.zzounds.com/item--SAMR11

scale of 1-10.  home theatre MUSIC portion (as good as I can get it)
With vocals i'd say bout a 5.  I had a karaoke mixer connected it to the amp and connected my laptop to it.  Sure you can hear yourself.. but it sounds very "detached" from the music and not to mention it carries a lot of noise.. sometimes I heard my speaker made "hissing" sound.  

PA system.  i'd rate it around 8, with some more adjustments maybe even a bit better.  You figure you spend about 100 bucks on a K-mixer or k-player, but if your home theatre speakers cannot handle it, you have to dish out and buy live vocal speakers, you'll end up spending the same 300 bucks I spent on the Phonic PA system.  Even if you dont upgrade the cables or anything it's going to sound much cleaner and more "together" when you sing along

Not to mention I love my home theatre even though it's not expensive or a looker it sounds great for dvds.. so chances are I don't want to blow it.

Well they won't be my speakers but I certainly wouldn't want anyone to inadvertantly destroy expensive equipment.

How would it sound if I hooked up a K-player/laptop to my home theatre and had mics hooked into a separate PA speaker?

Separated.  It would work, but if you have the pa, run the mics & music through the same PA.

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