Karaoke!? Ewwwww.... (1 Viewer)

[StevenK]

Alright...don't skewer me for this....but I'm trying to add karaoke to my system. In exchange for letting me set up a projector, the misses (plural...long story....no I'm not a poligamist) demand I set up some sort of karaoke. So what's the easiest way to get karaoke out of my Elite 45TX? I don't want to shell out $400 for a decent mixer and I also don't want one of those gaudy looking, $50 "Nissindo" and "Acesonic" mixers in my rack. Do they make microphones with built in mixers or something? Any suggestion would be appreciated.

I have this sick feeling that my rack is gonna be populated with "Nissindo" equipment though :frowning:

 

[Trevor_J]

Over the holidays I was at a Christmas party where the host had a Karaoke machine connected to his HT. I forget the make of the unit but it was good in that all of the songs were stored as VCD's on a huge HD. If you've ever been to a new age Karaoke Bar (the ones with private rooms) then you get the idea of what this system was about. I'll see if I can find out the make and how much he paid for it for you.

 

[Kevin_R_H]

Steven,

You don't need all that stuff. My wife is from Taiwan, and she and her friends love karaoke.

We bought a JVC Karaoke machine (model number XL-sv22), which can be had now for a little over $200. It can play music CDs, as well as the Karaoke VCDs.

It has 2 microphone input jacks (each with a separate volume control), vocal replace, and pitch control. You just need to buy a couple of microphones.

We hook the outputs from this thing into her A/V Receiver. So in essence, it's just another A/V source input.

JVC is not the only brand that makes these players.

Good luck,
Kevin

 

[Michael Yung]

Why not just get yourself a cheap DVD Changer w/ karaoke like the Apex AD-5131 available at Walmart? It's on clearnace for only $80. This would be your karaoke only machine and since it's a changer it's easier to switch disks so the fun never stops!!! And since some newer karaoke disks are on DVD, this player would be bale to handle that too.

 

[Danny Tse]

Pioneer was (is?) one of the biggest karaoke equipment manufacturers around. I have two Pioneer karaoke laserdisc players, the newer one will play VCD and Dolby Digital laserdisc. Both players offer dual mic inputs with separate volume controls, vocal replacement, and key change controls. You can also patch in a DVD player through their "AUX" input, thus allowing DVD karaoke discs to be played on a regular DVD player and use the laserdisc player's karaoke controls. Otherwise, these players are hooked up just like any other source components.

I also have a Sony CDP-K1 karaoke CD player. It plays regular CD only; it doesn't output any video signal. It has mic inputs with volume controls, vocal replacement, and key change controls. Surprisingly, this "offbeat" CD player has been shown several times in the old Stereo Review's "Systems" articles.

Besides Pioneer, Sony, Denon, Panasonic, and Yamaha, at one time, offer karaoke laserdisc players. Pioneer also offered a karaoke DVD/laserdisc/VCD player as well as a 3-disc karaoke DVD changer.

This is all before we get to the karaoke separates....

 

[HienD]

Don't get the apex if you want decent vocal pickup. Those things are bad for that. I guess that why they cost so little. Just get a karaoke mixer with mic inputs. The karaoke mixer has a whole bunch of vocal and key adjustments that will come in handy. Maybe you can find a used laser disc player with karaoke function.

 

[JohnnyG]

Either go the Karaoke-enabled DVD player route, or, in Canada at least, go to Radio Shack and pick up their "Karaoke Mate" which is a small microphone mixer with echo control.

If you go with a Karaoke DVD player, try to get one that has CD+G support as there are a great many discs in this format.

 

[StevenK]

Thanks for all the input guys...I have some eBay searching to do now...hopefully, I can find a cheap Pioneer or JVC.

 

[Michael Yung]

Don't get the apex if you want decent vocal pickup. Those things are bad for that.

The problem with the vocal pickup is due to the internal volume of the DVD player set too high. So in that case, the background music drawns out the vocal coming from the mic. Just use the DVD remote control and turn down the volume in the DVD player and then the vocal will sound fine.

 

[Eric_E]

Brian: Is this a good machine?

Don: Yeah, that one good. If you a cheap bastard! No, that one OK, but if you serious about CAR-O.K., then there only one machine for you. The Audio 3000! This baby got multiple inputs, dual pitch analyzer, so you can change the pitch, if your voice sucks, but I don' need that.

Jacob: How much does it cost?

Don: PRICE IS NOT IMPORTANT!

Brian: No, price is very important. How much... does it cost... exactly?

Don: OK, OK, you got me, take me away. It's a little bit expensive, but it's worth it. When you sing, to your girlfriend, and her heart WaBOOM, fall down on the floor, you say THANK YOU DON!!!

 

[RobL]

karaokey....just get a damn good dvd machine..and something with mic input...chinese stores carries decent selections for pretty good prices.

 

[JohnnyG]

Eric, thanks for the one and only laugh I'll probably have today!

 

[ericLee]

A little off topic, but couldn't a kareoke system easily damage your system? mics falling on floor, drunk people bleecing out tunes and feedback could relly mess things up, I once hooked one up to a AVR and it didn't sound to good either, the signal overload think keept flashing and there was a lot of breakup and distortion too.

 

[Danny Tse]

Like home theater, it all comes down to how serious are you into karaoke....

I power my karaoke system with a 15 year old Sony stereo integrated amp that's rated at 100 watts/channel (20-20,000 Hz @ .005% distortion); this thing weighs close to 30 lbs. It has more than enough power to interrupt conversations in a good size room. Using a Radio Shack analog sound level meter, I have recorded levels over 105 decibels. All from 2 speakers and no sub. The speakers used are inexpensive Sony floor-standing speakers that have survived 15 years of karaoke singing. None of the drivers have been damaged yet. Feedback? Sometimes. Dropped mics?? Happened. Spilled drinks??? No liquid near my electronics.

I have some friends who are extremely serious into karaoke that they are using JBL Pro monitors with professional Carver amps and Denon karaoke mixers (those Denon mixers are very nice!!)

 

[HienD]

My parents have had their karaoke system for 11 years and not one problem has arised. They're using a 100watt/channel sansui amp with 4 speakers. They also have it at fairly high volumes. Keep in mind, the amps is a very good one.