Karaoke Forums

I'm a newbie. Right now I have a Mac. I'm looking to get a PC to use for Karaoke pretty much exclusively. I have about 200 CD+g's to load and will need to get karaoke software (maybe a song list program too). Which computer and Karaoke software would you recommend for a beginner? (something not too terribly expensive preferably.) I would like something that is fairly user friendly and not too complicated. Thanks a bunch! I just love this sight...everyone is awesome!

since you are pretty much only going to be using this pc for karaoke, you could get a nice second hand/used computer for a really decent price. Prettty much anything pentium 4 or above would suffice, with a usb lexicon alpha sound card..

as for the rest, i'll leave that for the experts.. there are several other posts on this subject, but i am absolutely terrible with the search engine

...and make sure it's a Windows 7 PC because Windows 8 sucks big time.

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Electro-Voice Evolve 50... Taking Sound To The Next Level.

Dell Xps for great audio. Sax n Dotty very easy to use. You can have the best equipment in the world but it will only play what it is told to play. So if u want good audio sound it starts at the computer. Remember that saying u get what u pay for.

Mac usually has pretty good sound. But sax n dotty does not have a version for macs.

What the hell are you talking about??!!

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Electro-Voice Evolve 50... Taking Sound To The Next Level.

There is an entire thread on this subject HERE --> viewtopic.php?f=1&t=22248

Download the free trials, try them and see which one you like. Nobody will know what you like...but you.



Stock Windows 8 sucks, yes. But instead of going backwards, you should upgrade to Windows 8.1. Light years better, and it has a Windows 7-ish desktop. Or if you want to go total old-school, you can load "Classic Shell" which is a complete replacement desktop for Windows 8 that looks exactly like Windows 7. http://www.classicshell.net/

Seeing you already have a Mac, it's also already a PC.
Just load windows in boot camp or get parallels and load window on that.
I use both on more than one Mac everyday at my home office.

just have to ask because i don't get it, why buy a mac just to get bootcamp, buy Window$ and run through essentially an emulator and end up spending much more money?

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Paradigm Karaoke, The New Standard.......Shift Happens

Because he already has the Mac

Boot camp is not an emulator. It's booting into a windows partition, so the only cost is the windows software. Though using Parallels IS an emulator or shell.

Yes, I do hate the windows os, so my entire office is OS X ( music and karaoke editing btw), but that wasn't the point of my comment. I'm saving the original poster money by using the best PC hardware with a MacBook Pro launched in boot camp (poster didn't say which Mac he had) and just getting a copy of windows 8.1

Jeff Michaels
Musical Creations Ltd

Actually if you know where to look, you can find a second hand laptop that will run karaoke perfectly find for LESS than a retail copy of Windows 8 Home premium and you don't have to worry about driver issues that may come up with running windows on a mac.

Just my two cents, your milage may vary

Exactly. Karaoke software doesnt need a rocketship machine or "the best PC hardware". I still run Compuhost on two ancient T42 Thinkpads I got used on eBay several years ago and they are still running great. You can get one now for under $50.

Thanks for your all recommendations friends. It is really helpful thread as I was really not sure what computer manufacturers are worth spending money. Though I am planning to buy an apple laptop but before purchase I wanted to do some more research at
<snip> Link deleted.

Like everyone else said, almost any computer made in the last 5 years will be fine. No netbooks, no chromebooks, but any normal laptop or desktop.

After several years hosting with a laptop, I switched to a desktop about 6 months ago with a monitor on a stand and a bluetooth keyboard on a laptop stand on my mixer case.

If you can handle a bit of inconvenience in having the separate components instead of a laptop, the desktop is much more future proof, especially if you are comfortable troubleshooting computer hardware and DYI installing computer hardware. My desktop cost $199.00, and is upgradable to 16 mb memory and limitless storage. It also has plenty of expansion ports if I ever need to install a new video card, sound card, or the latest connection port.

Good luck!

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C Mc
KJ, FL

I bought an HP Elitebook on Overstock.com for like $300. It's a business class computer, has a Core i5, 4gb ram, and is built like a tank. Yes it's a refurb but it runs flawlessly. It's a model from about 2011 but it still has most of the same features as a brand new computer. This was a computer that sold for about $1600 when it was new. I'm gonna probably buy another one soon.

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KLAM Entertainment..."Come Out Of Your Shell And Sing"

The older your laptop, the longer you wait for it to load songs. I would suggest going with at least an i3 chip computer and get a decent amount of memory. So you can do more than just run your karaoke program. Sax n Dottys is very easy to run.

Good advice, but the i3 is still a Core 2 Duo that Intel re-branded, "i3".
Hold out for at least a quad core laptop, (i5, i7, AMD Quads) and be trouble free.

I totally agree. I have an old duel core I use as a backup and it will not run both the karaoke software and Breakaway at the same time. My I7 will do all and more (download new stuff on the fly)without a hitch. Don't go too small or slow. Just as in sound equipment go a little more and save in the long run.