Karaoke Forums

Hey, I've got my denon Reciever. A 100 Watt Per Channel. A JVC 3 Draw PLayer, A Cheap Pair of Yamaha speakers and I really want to make my system sound better for my Christmas party coming up this coming Saturday. I'm convinced that I need to invest in new speakers and auxilary equipment. The only question is what? Should I buy Vocopro, Samsons, (if you've seen my other posts earlier today and yesterday) and and an Alesis Mulitmix 8Fx Compact 6 Channel Mixer. Its Cheap, $119.00 at Musicians Friends and various other stores Or should I just by a package system like the Passport 150 or an Escort 200.

Sam Ash even has little set ups for like $279 bucks, will they do. It is for home use.

One more really important question, and its really really big. I think I heard someone say here that Karaoke is really MONO and not in Stereo. Or Something that It sounds Best in Mono not in Stero. CAN SOMEONE PLEASE CLARIFY THIS. I'm a sound junkie and I can't imigine how it can sound better in mono than it stereo and if I spend my money on any of these units, will they not be STEREO?

Hi:

Greetings from the Pines as well. In a controlled environment such as your home, you should not have issues with running stereo. At most venues, the layout makes it impossible to situate the speakers so that everyone can benefit from the stereo effect. Hence, it is sometimes preferable to use mono. Those small pa systems you see at Sam Ash for under $300. are typically mono units. For karaoke, I really do not think that mono is a bad thing. Your guests will not be critically listening to the soundstage or lack thereof. I guarantee that they will be more focused on the performance of the singers.

Ideally, speakers which are made to reproduce live vocals (PA speakers) will perform the best. However, your first priority should be to get a mixer. This is critical. I recommend the Mackie DFX6 or DFX12. Another option would be to go with a mixer from Audio 2000 or even Vocopro. Almost any mixer will do a better job than using the mic inputs on your player.

This is for home use and you may not want to get carried away with expensive PA speakers. I have never heard or used the inexpensive PA system from Sam Ash, but it may fit the bill for you. Remember with Karaoke you are reproducing the entire audio spectrum. Audition them at the store and see if they work for you. There are also lower price lightweight speakers from Peavey (Pro Lite) which cost less than Voco Pro speakers and I'm sure sound much better. If you are going to use the system a lot and really get into it, buy the best you can afford. Regardless of what you do about speakers, you should make the mixer your first priority. Also the escort system is bit expensive for what you get. It lacks bass performance, but will do fine for home use. I would go the route of separates if I was going to spend that much.

Cheers

I have used the Fender PD-250 to do a karaoke show in a small venue. It will easily handle a living room or other small enclosed area with a small crowd of up to 25-50 people. If you're expecting to move outdoors or have more than 50-75 people forget any sort of packaged all-in-one PA system as you'll find them completely inadaquate.

If you are considering going with an all in one system I've seen both the Fender PD-250 and the Peavey Passport 2000 used for small karaoke shows. I would recommend that you add speaker stands to get the speakers high enough to get the sound through the room. Putting them on the floor will NOT be a good idea if the room is very large or if there is a lot of furniture/people to absorb the sound.

I do NOT recommend that you use the P-150 or P-250. The PD series has speakers that are designed by BOSE. The difference in price between the P and PD series is well worth the increase in fidelity. If you'll every play music through them (other than live/karaoke) you will appreciate the difference.

Both of the units you mentioned will be fine as long as you don't plan to upgrade to a professional setup soon since you'll have to ditch them completely to upgrade. I still use my PD-250 but only as the monitors when I do some shows since they won't handle most of the venues I play now. I still occasionally have friends over to sing and use just the PD-250 in my living room.

The output of the disc players is stereo. The PA systems you mentioend are stereo (mono may be optional through a switch). The mic inputs are mono. You can run the entire show in mono if you like. Given the size of then venue and the likelihood that no one will be in a position to get an accurate sound stage you can run the show in mono if you like without anyone really noticing the difference. Running in mono with one of those systems would allow you to use the second speaker for a monitor if you choose to.


A lot of people will steer you away from the PA systems you mentioned and towards a more professional setup. There are advantages to doing that but the cost is substantially more short term and sometimes overkill. I do recommend seperate components (mixer/powered speakers or mixer/amp/speakers) if you plan on doing this professionally or playing any larger venues but for a small party at home portable PA systems like you mentioned will usually work just fine. Just remember you won't get earth shattering bass out of those speakers.

I've been at some of your shows at Jersey's I'm sure. Will you be returning there after football season is over? Well, I took your advice, I did go out and buy a mixer today, I bought the Beringer Eurorack UB1204FX-PRO Mixer $149. I still need to find a XLR TO RCA Cable or adapter so I can plug it to my Denon Reciever. I also picked up a pair of BMG 350 Watt Speakers from Sing A Song but honestly, I think they SUCK. There 3 Way speakers and they don't sound any better than an old pair of $50 (ea.) Yamaha Speakers that I bought years ago when soround first came out for home theaters. I'm returning them tomorrow. I do wonder if they would sound any better once I use the mixer thou, but I doubt it. They sound so tinny.

whatever speaker you opt to get, definatly choose one that can handle "live Mic"... your bass woofer will have to be a bit more flexible than a regular studio or "home" speaker, which is designed for RECORDED music. If you use those type in Karaoke or any kind of live performance, you will eventually disrupt and destroy the speakers. Fuzziness will happen, and all other sorts of "speaker malfunctions".

Things to ASK the speaker Rep! Make certain you tell them EXACTLY what you're using the speakers for!

Keep in mind there are two types of connections - balanced and unbalanced.

I'd recommend using an impedence matching transformer to connect the two.

That mixer has RCA tape output. Just use those when plugging into a home receiver. Like Knightshow said, though, you're going to want real PA speakers if you do karaoke regularly. Switching to mono and buying a single powered PA speaker might do the trick for a party, and you can add a matching second one later.

Karaokemeister is right about mono -- you don't really need or want stereo output in a live venue. As far as karaoke goes, though, the CDs often have additional guide tracks with the accompaniment in both channels but with vocals in just the right (or left) side. If you want to hear the recorded vocalist, you'd have to make sure that channel is in the final mix (either mono or stereo) to the speaker(s). But usually, you'll just be playing stereo accompaniment tracks, which works in either mono or stereo.

I kept the Beringer Amp, Bought a Sampson 1500 amp, Peavy light 15's and now I'm set, I hope . Came home, tried to put it all together to see what it sounds like and guess what, I didn't have the right cables to hook up the dam amp to the speakers or the amp to the mixer. Tommorow will be another day. Thanks for all of your help...

Dan