Karaoke Forums

Since 2010 i've been using downloads for new requests and have a few of each of these manus, but can't really stand the Abraxa screenshot versions so i didn't include them.

The Karaoke Version song i have are all good but cost $2.99 a track. The SBI i lean towards mostly costs $1.25 a track when purchased in gift packages.

Which manu, in YOUR opinion, is the most consistent in overall quality, and sounds the BEST to YOU and your singers for music 2009 on? Thanks for your input.

Karaoke Version

SBI

Zoom

Sunfly (newer stuff)

Mr Entertainer

In my opinion.....

The best for POP/Rock is:

First - Zoom

Then - Karaoke Version

Then - Sunfly/SBI/Abraxa/Mr Ent. (Seems to me all these use the same audio tracks 90% of the time)


For Country:

First - Karaoke Version

Next - Zoom (If it's available. They have a very small offering for country)

Then - Sunfly/SBI/Abraxa/Mr Ent. (Seems to me all these use the same audio tracks 90% of the time)

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Sal "Kjmann" Esquivel
Karaoke With Sal - Website

I've been getting my downloads through Tricerasoft via purchased credits, the more money you put on your account at a time, the more credits you get. Maybe there is a better source?

I'm not familiar with Karaoke version, but the rest is an easy rate in order: Zoom - Sunfly - SBI / Abraxa - Mister Entertainer

Karaoke Version is very consistent and very quick with new releases. They have been my go to brand for new music downloads for over a year now. But as I have expanded, I have become more cost conscious. Downloads via Tricerasoft are definitely more cost conscious. Thus far, I have been very happy with all of the songs I have downloaded from SBI. SF, and MRE. I also don't like the Abraxas screens, so I generally opt to pay more for the KV versions over Abraxas if that is all there is (fairly rare).

-Chris

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-Chris

I too get the majority of the downloads I buy from Tricerasoft so my personal preference is Zoom over Karaokeverion.


For oldies I would NOT buy from zoom tho. They seem to be less consistent than there pop tracks. Also some of the zoom tracks have WAY too much bass in my opinion but even then I still prefer them over karaokeversion, go figure.

the new sunfly music and SBI/abraxa ARE musically identical. If you are going to buy a track, pick the one with the graphics format you like best.

-James

Out of your list, if I have to choose just one, it would be SBI. Although Zoom is a very close second.
Not on your list, but my personal favourite for music quality is Sing To The World. Like Zoom, they employ a no-fade rule.


The thing to do with Karaoke-Version, if you don't use it that often, is to always download in multiples of 5 tracks. That way, you'll always clock up max points for your free track on their loyalty scheme, and have a nice round figure.
I would follow the advice of other contributors to this thread and purchase large quantities of track credits from Tricerasoft. Am I right in thinking Select Karaoke has a similar scheme?

From my view, K-V's music is consistently good but the graphics are not the easiest to follow, especially in CDG format. The way they do graphics for songs with two-part singing is by splitting the screen horizontally and showing each part's lyrics on one half of the screen, even if both parts are singing exactly the same lyrics at exactly the same time. (Mr. Entertainer do their duets this way too. Vile.). I have noticed a few of K-V's more recent tracks use exactly the same music as SBI, but with a definite ending where SBI fades. Eddie Kendricks : Boogie down and Mavericks : Here comes my baby are good examples of this. But, when SBI fail to deliver in the music dept, there's a good chance K-V will. Example: Zac Brown Band : Jump right in - SBI: Horrible; Karaoke-Version: Brilliant.
Although, in fairness I prefer discs, so usually only seek out the K-V versions of songs that are not available on disc/custom disc sites, or I really hate the sound of the versions available on said sites, such as the example above.


As has been covered before, the choice of whether to go for SBI, Abraxa, Mr. Entertainer or Sunfly is largely down to which graphics you like the best, as the music is identical on the modern tracks. (My personal preference is nearly always SBI, but I will occasionally go for Mr Entertainer). The only real exception is Sunfly, which has put out a number of tracks none of the others have. SF uses different swipes from the rest, clear screen page refresh, which I'm not a fan of. The others update the lyrics one line at a time, so there's always plenty of time to read them before they're due to be swiped, and have countdown prompts. Mr. Entertainer also displays both the song title and artist style and the start AND end of the track. Yes, that matters to me. These tracks (Sunfly at least) excel at guitar driven rock.
I've said it before and I do so again... what is the point of Abraxa??? It is identical to SBI in every way except a questionable colour scheme which at times makes the lyrics hard to read. Annoyingly the new Abraxa tracks usually appear on Select-a-Track before SBI. At least MPME has the distinction of being multiplex.


Zoom. Often where there's a two-horse race between them and Sunfly, Zoom wins hands down in my books. Head to head with Sunfly, the Zoom version typically has a richer sound, which is very attractive for a home use like myself who lacks the fancy equipment to enhance these tracks, although may not make to greatest of odd to a professional KJ who can make the tinniest of Midi (sorry, Music) Maestro tracks sound good. One thing to note with Zoom is that their tracks never fade, and although they all have a definite ending, some songs don't sound right unless they fade out. Graphics are nice, especially on the Zoom HD tracks.

Thanks for the replies gents . I only have like 7 songs from KV and that was because they weren't available from tricerasoft at the time. They sound pretty darn good but their screenshot and timing/swipes aren't the greatest. That alone doesn't justify paying TWICE what you can get from buy karaoke downloads...

I knew that ABX and SBI were the same music tracks, but NOT Sunfly. Are you sure?

I usually go with Zoom after SBI because i love the extra BASS since i don't use a sub. Good to know that Zoom isn't good for oldies.

Mr. Entertainer has been a hit-or-miss for me but decent. Out of 200 or so downloads i think i have maybe 15 of those. SBi seems to be the most consistent yet there are a couple of older R&B rap songs that sound way off but aren't available anywhere else.

The screenshots of SBI tracks looks more professional in my opinion than Sunfly or Abraxa, but Zoom looks good and swipes clean, whereas Mr. E is a little slower.

I've just been using SBI for so long automatically and don't know too much about the others.

I don't know the exact time SBI started to produce all of Sunfly and Mr. Entertainer's music, but at a guess if you take a track from around the time SBI changed their graphics background colour from blue to black and onwards, the chances are if there are also MrE and SF versions of that track, their music will be identical. Like I said, Sf have tracks modern tracks that SBI/Abraxa don't have yet, the same may be true for Mr.Ent.

The comment that Zoom isn't as consistent for oldies is a fair one. Although I will say that I love their versions of Wichita lineman and Cry to me.


Sidenote: Zoom also put out two versions of The Drifters : Hello happiness, unbeknown to me until I ordered it on a custom CDG from Proburn. The version they had is vastly inferior to the version that appears on CustomBurn, Select-A-Track and most other custom/download sites. They are very difficult to tell apart as both are dated 2004, but
1. The inferior version's audio lasts 3:08 minutes due to the longer (then abrupt) ending. The better version is shorter at 2:48.
2. The inferior version's title/ending screen lists Reed/Greenaway as the song's writers. The better version only gives writing credits to Greenaway.

Goto select Karaoke or Selectatrack and check out Dancing queen by abba. the SF/ABX/SBI versions on the music are identical. This song even has the SBI blue background




I have a ton of Zoom that are great oldies, but like any other karaoke company the have their bad ones. I prefer their versions of Jerry lee lewis - great balls of fire and whole lotta shakin goin on. I also think their version of hey baby by bruce Channel is the best.

Just depends on what you are looking for. Example: for songs like zoot suit riot I think the sound choice version sucks (and I'm a major SC fan), But I prefer the ameri-sing version. ameri-sing's Swing discs were great!

Just Goes to show you no one company gets everything right. while I use SC for 70 to 75 percent of every request I get. there are a lot of companies that did some damn good stuff when they were on their game.

More Examples:

SC - Return to Sender (Horrible) - I use the Priddis Version, it's awesome. (Available at select karaoke and Selectatrack)

SC - Taking Care of business (Not Very Good) - Once Again Priddis kicked (@$%&#!) on that one.

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Sal "Kjmann" Esquivel
Karaoke With Sal - Website

SBI & Karaoke-Version are my goto's. Never saw any issues with KV as far as awkward graphics swipes/timing. People love the separated duet section with 1 singer on top & other singer on bottom. Only had a couple issues which they fixed & re-released upon my request was songs that instantly started with no chord strum for the key & count in.
Zoom, I don't know about the oldies, but I have quite a bit of the Buddy Holly that I prefer over the other brands.

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

Oh I forgot to mention that. Zoom's buddy holly stuff is great.

So is their ABBA, Bee Gees, Donna Summer, Eagles, Blondie and so on.

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Sal "Kjmann" Esquivel
Karaoke With Sal - Website

I'd say it's a close race between Zoom and SBI... but I think Allstar needs a mention too... Great for country and some pop, and the price per track cheaper by far...

Though I still had no luck with that gift card :/

/Blames Canada

The only Zoom Buddy Holly track I have is Learning the game. It is good, but rather heavy on the drums. Two more Zoom oldies I have are The more I see you and Let's dance by Chris Montez. Impressive.

interesting, I have heard the chris montez zoom version. In my opinion, it was an epic fail.

the rythm is completely off.

Guess it just goes to prove the old adage "opinions are like buttholes, everyone has one and they all stink"

-James

for monthly
All Star
Mr Entertainer

For downloads
Kaaoke Version
SBI

I have about 210 KV downloads, which I like, and 108 SBI downloads which I also like, but hate the long 15 second silent intro when you hit play. That one reason alone makes me lean more to KV over SBI.

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My first choice IS Sound Choice.

That's where the "Remove Silence" feature in MTU Hoster comes in handy.

I think it's difficult to put them in order, i find that it just depends on the track. However i've never used karaoke version.

I usually listen to the different versions and choose my favourite, unless im in a hurry then i just go for Mr Entertainer as i already have the full package and i like the on screen and they are usually very good.

Like most people ive noticed a lot of the audio for SBI/Sunfly/MrEnt is the same, especially on the new stuff. However the older stuff does vary, someone mentioned dancing queen earlier which is a example one as i think they all have their own versions, and Mr Entertainer is the best by far, in fact all their Abba stuff is amazing, but slightly limited choice compared to SBI.

You can always rely on Zoom for an old obscure track, and very rarely get a bad quality recording from zoom

Of course, if you're using Tricerasoft it would make sense to go with Mr. Entertainer on the basis that for some reason some of their tracks are cheaper than other brands.

Unless you buy credits in bulk, then track price doesn't matter.