Karaoke Forums

Hi,

I'm fairly new to the home karaoke scene. I've had an all-in-one player for about a year now. I think it's one of those "Singing Machines". We purchased about a dozen different discs when we first got it then recently purchased two 10-disc Legends sets. So we're starting to build a little collection. We've had a couple karaoke partied that have been pretty successful. I'm thinking about upgrading to a better home system. Some thoughts I have are:

1. I'm interested in a dual-player so when one person is singing another person could be queueing up their song so there isn't much of a lag time between songs. Has anyone had experience with these in a home player?
2. I would also like to get a couple wireless mics so we don't have to worry about people tripping over cords. Any thoughts on those?
3. I would like to purchase a player that plays more than just CDG (which is all my current player handles). Just about any of them also do VCD and DVD. What about other formats? I've been seeing some stuff on SCDG and NEO+G. They seem to be mutually exclusive. Will either of these formats be used more in the future? I don't want my next player to be obsolete because I didn't get one that plays the correct up-in-coming format.
4. I was originally thinking of just getting a player and running it through my TV as I have been but after reading some posts about the sound quality and possible damage that could do I'm leaning either towards another all-in-one system (at least with just a player/mixer and speaker and use the TV for the monitor) or separate components (player, mixer and speaker). What are the pros and cons of each. I probably won't be hauling this around much but I might be taking it to friends houses from time-to-time.
5. Finally price. I don't want to spend thousands of dollars on a home system. I would like to keep it around $300 - 500 if possible.

Any thoughts or comments on this would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

Great forum.

Depending on what your current player does, I am not sure you want to replace that. A dual-disk player, or computer setup to be the equivalent, would cost most of your budget.

I would think one of the budget PA systems would be the way to go. I have good luck with this one:

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/ ... sku=630269

Lonman will probably recommend skipping Behringer and going with something like:

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/ ... sku=632006

Not that I propose to speak for him.

With either of those you send the output of your current player out the AUX, assuming it has one, and away you go.

If you get the Behringer/Kustom package, then you can probably find a halfway-decent wireless mic for $200 or so, which gets you to about $500. I have this one:

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/ ... sku=275698

It works pretty well and has decent sound quality. You will have the two wired mics that ocme with the PA for duets, KJ announcements, and backup.

Although I am not a fan of Voco-Pro for professional use, their Duet II is probably the best all in one out there. Two forty watt speakers, EQ, separate mic controls, two mics,plus music to vocal balance, digital keychange, echo, dual dubbing cassette decks ( you can record your performance on cassette direct from the machine- no need to worry about ambient sound) AM/FM/CDG Cassette.  Pricing is btween 290 to 400 depending on the source.  It's extremely portable.

  With all of the professional equipment I have, this is actually my choice for home practice.


  As for wireless mics- No need to go nuts for a home party.  A good home mic would be the Gemini UF-8264,  64 channel full diversity UHF mic.  Though you will be tempted, I would stay away from dual mic sets- if the receiver goes, you may well  lose BOTH mics.   This will be tempting because you could then have 4 mics on different frequencies to use.   The single mic I named runs around 120 in the store and less on line.

_________________
"No Contests, No Divas, Just A Good Time!"

" Disc based and loving it..."

BREWMAN- wE CAN HELP !

When you say home system- Are you using in a average size living room or in a larger basement/den?

Are you looking for something that will produce some china shaking bass?

Any plans to use outside at partys or picnics?

Thanks for the info Joe. I have a couple more questions:

1. You mention the Duet II. I see that only plays CD+G. What about the other formats available, particularly DVD? Should I look to get something that includes those formats or will CD+G always be the "standard". I see the DVD-Duet plays DVDs also. It basically looks like the Duet with a different player (all the other same "bells and whistles").
2. I was thinking a dual-player would be beneficial to eliminate the "down time" between songs. In a home setting this may not be as big an issue as it is professionaly. What are your thoughts on this and dual-players in general?

I'll look into the mics too. Thanks again for the info.

So am I to understand "the next level" means more of a practice system?

I thought it meant you wanted something that could provide karaoke at a sizable party. My mistake.

I myself had the audio 2000's all in one player and wanted the next level. I bought a cavs supercdg player, which I now do not recommend as mine went out after only a year. I did add the phonic 740 plus $399.00 at musiciansfriends.com. Comes with two 15" speakers. Sounds great. Add a decent player and you will be much happier than buying an all in one unit. Better sound, if one part goes out you can replace. All in ones are very limited and the prices for a good all in one will come close to what I paid for my phonic plus the player.

_________________
If you don't love what you're doing for a living, then you're making a killing. (YOURS)

Not sure what you mean by "practice system". Yes, I would like to provide decent karaoke at home parties. How difficult is it to use a component system without having to devote too much time into learning it? Remember this would probably only be used 1/2 dozen times during the year.

Thanks.

I do like the idea of separate components in case something does go out - I don't have to replace the entire thing.

Now because I'm still new at this I have some questions about component systems. First, a "player" is basically just a CD or DVD player with the ability to read the +G format, correct? I see some have mic inputs built into them and others do not. If I went the componenent route I'm assuming do all the mixing (player and mic) is better done at the mixing board and not the player, right? If that's so, how difficult is it to learn to do this correctly without having to become a full-blown KJ? Or would the players that accept mic inputs work just as well for my purposes?

If you have a total of 80 watts of power, there is no way you will cut through the talking and bodies of a party with more than about 20 people. So I don't consider the Duet a viable option, myself. I suppose if everyone sat quietly and listened, it would work, but that hasn't been my experience at the parties I have hosted. That is why I recommended spending your money on a small-medium PA system that is designed for vocals in a situation like that.

I don't know what a new disk player is going to buy you, quite frankly. Any improvement will be marginal. If you have a computer, it would seem to make sense to use that for your purposes instead of adding more becoming-obsolete disk players.

There is DVD karaoke, I guess -- personally I don't know much about it and no one seems to use it here. I can't help you much with that.

For me the best way to add new songs you want is to buy them online and play them on a computer -- or burn them to a disk. That way you pay $2 or so per song that you *really want*, as opposed to paying a dollar a song for many songs you don't want.

When we have a party, I tell people we invite to email me any songs they really want me to have. Then I can go online and buy them, so I have what people want. Much better than paying much bucks for a lot of stuff people may or may not want.

With regard to a collection to have, you can't beat SuperCore, especially if you buy the previous year on close-out. I paid $60.00 for mine, and that gave me 320 pretty high quality songs. All of the songs it has are right on target for a diverse crowd.

You're right about the noise factor at a party. People certainly wouldn't be sitting there quietly listening.

Ok, now that opens up even more questions. If I go the PA system and computer:

1. What do I do about the 300+ songs I've already purchased that are on CD+G discs? Can I copy them to my PC and still have the lyrics or do I have to input the lyrics separately (which I really don't want to do).
2. I assume that you connect the output from the PC to the mixing board - how is this done? What connection do you use?
3. And what about the graphics from the PC to a monitor/TV? Can this be outputed separately from the PC or would it be treated like an external monitor and people would see the player (unless I have to switch output back and forth)?
4. Any karaoke software program recommendations?

Sorry for all the questions but as I said before I'm just getting into this and would like to do it right without spending a fortune.

Ok here 2 cents worth on this.  My home system a Yamaha Stagepas 300 (300 watt pa system), speakers on stands, 2-Shure SM58 corded mics, JVC player (no longer made). Great sound small size. I am very happy with it and take it to small partys 50 or so people. It did not take any real time to learn to use the mixer, saleman the store showed me how it worked then a freind coached me a one afternoon a few weeks later. This is more than you may want to spend but to me it was money well spent. If I had to replace it I might go a little bigger but nothing smaller. My brother bought supercore years ago as a starter set we still sing songs out of it, again he feels it was well worth the money. Me, I like country music an have bought a lot of CB collections.  I have a lot more in CDs than the hardware. The thing is if you like singing you like to sound gooood.

Jim-n-TN

Absolutely. Any of the hosting programs will have a "ripper" that allows you to input the songs.


If you buy something like the Alesis Multimix 8USB, it is a USB direct from your computer. Otherwise it is a $5.00 cable available anywhere (mini-plug to stereo RCA).  


Most laptops have an S-Video out that is a separate screen. On a desktop, just get a video card that has the S-Video. In both cases, you put Windows in "extended desktop" mode to enable it.

All of the hosting programs are designed to use that screen.


For $30 (contribution of $10 for Pacemaker, $19.99 for Winamp Pro) you can use Winamp and the MP3+G plugin. If you put all your songs in MP3+CDG format, you can scan the directory with the Winamp Media Library and search for songs there. Works great for home use.

For $179, you can get the high-end Compuhost. Probably overkill.

Some people are trying "JustKaraoke" from Tricerasoft with good results. About $25.

Siglos player works OK, though you would have to buy the ripper and burner separately. About $79 for the bundle.


This will actually be a good thread to point to when we inevitably get more questions like this in the future....

Mickey

Now to ask some questions about the computer (if this would be better handled in the Tech forum let me know). I've been browsing the Tech forum for some ideas about system requirements. We were actually going to be upgrading our home computer with a new laptop anyway. I can get a decent deal on the Dell Vostron 1500. Here's what I was thinking:

Dell Vostron 1500 laptop with Windows XP Pro
Intel Core 2 Duo T7100 (1.8 GHz, 2 MB cache)
2 GB SDRAM
120 GB (or 160 GB) 7400 RPM hard drive (think the faster HD is better for this application)
8X CD/DVD burner
256 MB NVIDIA GeForce 8600 GT (is it worth $100 more than the 128 MB NVIDIA GeForce 8400 GS?)

Any thoughts?

Thanks again for everyone's help.

   1) As far as the hard media, I wouldn't worry one bit about DVD, NEO, etc...  DVD is obsolete, the rest never caught on.   MP3 is another story, but then you were talking discs- probably the best choice for you right now.

   2)    First of all, multi-drawer players don't come cheap. It's almost less expensive to by to singles.  I have done many home parties, and I find that the home partyer takes a lot more time to figure out what they want to do, plus the amount of singers doesn't really warrant worries about down time.

         You are looking to have some fun at home, not run a pro show at a huge venue.

         I would slso mention that a lot of players don't have the mixing and effects capability of the DUET II.  I truly believe it's your best choice.  Did I mention that it is also able to run off of 12v, enabling you to use it on emergency power in a blackout?  I actually had to do that at a "storm party".

_________________
"No Contests, No Divas, Just A Good Time!"

" Disc based and loving it..."

I'm not sure what to do. I don't know if I want an all-in-one that can be taken to other houses and played at parties or a component system that would be more "permanent" at home. As for a player, I'm now thinking a multi-player isn't necessary for my purposes.

I guess I need to see if the sound level from the Duet II would be loud enough for what I need. My last couple of parties I ran the sound through my rear-projection TV but after reading all the warnings against that I don't want to do that anymore. So I need something that will be loud enough, not too big and possibly portable.

Decisions, decisions, decisions...

I use to work for a big karaoke dealer, the Duet is all right, but I've seen a lot with blown speakers. Try RSQ or audio 2000's portables, better speakers. Best bet go to a local karaoke dealer and hear for your self.

_________________
If you don't love what you're doing for a living, then you're making a killing. (YOURS)

I have friends who have a karaoke biz and for their own home/party use, they invested in the most expensive of the "Gigmaster" units. I heard it last NYE and it really isn't bad...very simple to operate, and you can hook it up to external speakers. I think they paid around $500 for it? Something like that. Here's some info on it: http://www.bizrate.com/karaokeequipment ... 69334.html

  Never seen a Duet blow, but if you want another choice, stay away from ANYTHING with the RSQ label. They play like garbage, and their mics, though durable, sound like you are singing into a baseball mitt.

  If you decide to go PC ( I believe this is a bad choice for you right now, but that's just a personal opinion), than I recommend PCDJ/KJ for the software.

_________________
"No Contests, No Divas, Just A Good Time!"

" Disc based and loving it..."

You want a K-azz home system that is semi portable ?

Powered Mixer – Behringer PMH880s - $249
Lightweight – Powerful – Featured Packed
I’ve been using in my Karaoke Bar gig for awhile
And Love it’s simplicity and Features and PRICE.

Speaker – Peavey PR12’S - $340.00 Pair
Again LIGHTWEIGHT / Great Sounding and portable
Not to mention AFFORABLE.

I have used the 15” versions for small GIGS and
Love them.  For a PRO show the 12” without a SUB
Would lack the BASS required but for a Home system
Would ROCK.!

As far as a CDG PLAYER goes –$200 tops
Is what you should pay for a cdg player
You want to make sure of one thing –
KEY CHANGER and remote.

SO for $800 you have a GREAT HOME SYSTEM that is
Portable enough to fit in your trunk and powerful enough
To do some parties etc.

If you go for a smaller powered mixer and some 12” speakers
From Behringer you can have a good system for $630