Karaoke Forums

Hi All,

I'm looking for a recommendation on a karaoke effects processor that will integrate into my current setup and add more dimension and depth to a singer's performance. Currently I just have a few mics plugged into my DJ mixer and although the sound quality is fine, it can be unforgiving sometimes on singers that need al little help with the vocals. It would need to be a 1U rackmountable unit. Here's my current setup:

Laptop running PCDJ with KJ plug in
Gigaport external sound card
Vestax PCV-150 mixer
2 Mackie SRM 450's speakers

My guess is that the sound card's outputs would run into this processors inputs first and then into my mixer after the siganl had been processed. I saw the vocopro da-1050 pro listed on their site - am I on the right track here?

Thanks,
Rick

First off, change out the mixer & get one designed for live music - which karaoke is 50% (live vocals).  You can't effectively connect an effect processor to a dj mixer as you really just want to enhance the vocals only & a dj mixer doesn't have the correct patches to do that.

Take a look at something like the Mackie DFX12, this also has some decent built in effects.

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Pushing the 'What Lonman said' button repeatedly.

On a side note, the Peavey Twin DeltaFex unit is nice and will work with most mixers that have aux/send returns.  There are a number of other units like the Alesis Midiverb and others that are fairly inexpensive.  But if you upgrade to the DFX-12 you won't really need one of these until you outgrow the built in effects.

I think his current dj mixer is a 19" rack type - To keep it racked he might need to go with one of the Behringer units  or some other rackmounted mixer - He could spend a little more and get one of the rackable Mackies.

Another alternative for a rackmounted DJ mixer with effects and mutiple mix inputs is the unit from Numark 200fx - Do not know much aobut this unit but I know that K.com was offering it packaged with the CN25+g player..

I use Alesis Midiverb 4 and it works great. It also let you create your own set up but I find that a few presets work fine for me.

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Seize the day and SING!!!

Thanks for the advice but a couple issues:

1. I need something that would fit into my mobile box - 19" across. Is the Mackie rackmountable?

2. I wouldn't want to sacrifice DJ capabilities on the mixer - I didn't even see cues or a crossfader!

Thanks,
RP

That particular Mackie is not rackable.

Remember a dj mixer is for dj'ing - not karaoke. If you are going to offer karaoke, sorry to say, at least get some of the proper equipment.  I don't know if you do both at the same time or not, if not, you could use the dj mixer for dj'ing & the other mixer for karaoke.
If you do use both, there aren't a whole lot of options that are good but cheap.  Allen & Heath DOES make a very good board designed for dj AND live & it sounds great.  If it weren't for the price tag, I would state this would be the ultimate mixer for any kj/dj!  The eq on it alone is the same quality that use on their upper end boards utilizing hi, hi mid (swept), low mid (swept), low.  It offers 6 Aux sends - 2 assignable to monitors.  Handles 4 mics & 6 stereo sources (all of which are crossfadable).  Penny & Giles crossfader.
http://www.allen-heath.com/US/DisplayPr ... p?pview=16

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First of all, if you need to rack mount, check out Mackie 1202 VLZ Pro. It is a 12 channel mixer and is a professional level mixer you can use with both KJ and DJ. You do need ears to mount it to a 19" rack but they are easy to find. Mackies have a repuation for cleanest sound among professional musicians and I have the 1402, the 14 channel version and can't be happier.

I don't know why you are worried about the crossfader. You would only need it to mix in your PC and the mics. The PCDJ has cue and cross fade built in. There is no reason why you need it for your mixer.

Here is my set up. I also use a laptop to mix DJ music on a laptop and also do Karaoke gig using discs. I have my laptop using VirtualDJ software to mix music and I plug it in to one of the inputs on my Mackie. I also plug in several mics (1402 has up to 5 mic inputs) to the mixer then my Karaoke player plugs in to it also. I also plug in my iPod with some dance musics to fill in the gap (that way I don't have to lug my laptop around for my KJ gigs).

They I run the effects through my Alesis Midiverb 4. I use send/return for that on the mixer so both vocal and music uses the effects.

I have a great sound from this set up and even my professional musician friends were impressed with the overall quality of sound.  I hope this helps you with your decision.

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Seize the day and SING!!!

I appreciate your responses guys.

I probably should have mentioned that currently I'm only a hobbiest with this and only do parties for friends from time to time, so proper equipment for the KJ side is a work in progress  :D

Eben, I prefer to use hardware controls for mixing and sometimes I'll mix in music from different software players which is why I was looking for the best "integrated" DJ/KJ mixer out there. I had a chuckle when you mentioned that you don't have to "lug your laptop around," because you bring your Ipod when you still carry discs for Karaoke....I have both all my music and karaoke living on my laptop setup.

You mentioned Alesis - Numark just updated their 200fx mixer to include vocal cancallation and improved Alesis effects, the 200FX MKII. I know we are probably talking night and day in terms of quality compared to Mackie stuff, but given my requirements at this point in time do you think it might be worth looking at? The thought of buying a Vocopro KJ/DJ mixer scares me and I'm thinking the Mackie is too focused on strictly live performance and is overkill.

http://namm.harmony-central.com/SNAMM05/Content/Numark/PR/200FX-MKII.html

Thanks!

A&H Xone:464 - sweet... let's see what it sells for.....hmm.... $1600 cough, cough... (spraying coffee all over keyboard) cough....

I'll pass...

You can always grab a basic small mixer and pipe into one of the channels on your existing mixer or or pipe the final out of your existing mixer into a karaoke/live-music setup.  I did this a couple times and it works just fine.  I'll be adding a DJ style mixer myself in the future since I'm using 2 external soundcard with my laptop currently.  I'm getting more and more into the DJ side of things which sort of sucks since I bought a Mackie Onyx 1620 a short time ago.  Doesn't matter though - I'll be adding a firewire card shortly and things will be picking up on my karaoke stuff soon enough.  I'm going to talk to some live bands about recording them and even mixing down for a CD to get pressed.  Ahhh... the things you can do in a small town!

I've seen it as low as $1200 on sale & 1400 avg.  But I did state if it weren't for the pricetag, it would be the ultimate.  

I have run a dj mixer into a channel of a live mixer as well & it does work just fine & then you have dj AND live vocal capability.

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Hehe, you haven't seen my laptop, or rather lugtop. The reason why I have not made the change to fully digital on my Karaoke side is that half of my song collection is in DVD format. I still have over 120 LDs that I have from old days when only karaoke was out on LDs. I just didn't want to throw them away so I converted them over to DVD. So, my CD-G player also plays DVD. That way I didn't have to spend more dollars on music, just recycled the old LD contents.

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Seize the day and SING!!!

The new yamaha mixers have lower noise levels than the mackies at 1/2 the price.
Check out a YAMAHA MG12-4FX MIXER at $270 it is 19" rack mountable and is of great quality. You can buy one with out effects and pick up a Midiverb 4 and have a quality mixer and effects under $350