Hello, We have an older system with several players, a Sears all in one that plays the text only type discs CD+G I think, a player dedicated to the Video pictures type disc, and an RSQ player that plays all discs but does not list the song list menu for each disc. None of these units have HDMI outputs, but all have the yellow composite output, two also have Svideo and the RSQ has component out. We upgraded our TV to a HD flat screen wall mounted one that has 1 composite and HDMI video inputs which is now wired with cables buried in the wall.
For the sound we have a Yorkville 10 ch mixer, 100W/channel with 12" Yorkville PA monitors, Shure mics etc. The player issue is a sore point and I was thinking of using the unused PC running with XP and a multimedia card, and a USB hard drive. I have a good DVD burner to rip the discs but I'm unsure of the rest of the process. I have read the info here re; copying CD+G to hard drive and using hosting software, but I'm unsure of the Video CD's and we really do not need a polished hosting program because it's only for family use and one yearly get-together for close friends. It would be nice to be able to sort the songs and have them all in one place, and so the hard drive method is very appealing. If this topic has been covered, I apologize, I've just joined, and have not yet looked very far.
Thanks, Maintech.
replacing our Karaoke players with a PC based machine
Welcome to the forum. You are going to need to go with a hosting application that will play both MP3+G and video formats like AVI and MPG. I would recommend something basic like JustKaraoke that is very user friendly and not too expensive. As you found out from the tutorial ripping CD+G discs to a hard drive is time consuming but not difficult. Ripping song tracks from karaoke DVD discs is another story. Frankly I have never had to do this because I dislike video karaoke and never owned any DVD discs. An internet search will find those who have offered advice on how to extract song tracks from the DVD VOB files. Maybe someone here can help you out with that.
You will not need any dedicated sound card. The one that your laptop has now will do. You will connect to your mixer with a 1/8" stereo to dual RCA adapter cable running from the earphone jack of the laptop. Most modern laptops have HDMI out which will make connecting to your TV easy enough. The remote monitor support feature of the hosting software will allow you to utilize the extended desktop display of the laptop to display the workstation on the laptop and only the karaoke on the TV.
Rick
You will not need any dedicated sound card. The one that your laptop has now will do. You will connect to your mixer with a 1/8" stereo to dual RCA adapter cable running from the earphone jack of the laptop. Most modern laptops have HDMI out which will make connecting to your TV easy enough. The remote monitor support feature of the hosting software will allow you to utilize the extended desktop display of the laptop to display the workstation on the laptop and only the karaoke on the TV.
Rick
Thanks Rick,
We will be using a desktop PC because we do not need the portability, and my PC does not have any video or sound out. Regarding the video DVD discs, we have inherited about 150 of these, and because we are retired, funds for those replacements is limited, if we go the CD+G route.
Is there an on-line source that is inexpensive for songs, because we found that local street prices for GD+G disc is high, and most contain only 6-8 songs.
regards
Maintech
We will be using a desktop PC because we do not need the portability, and my PC does not have any video or sound out. Regarding the video DVD discs, we have inherited about 150 of these, and because we are retired, funds for those replacements is limited, if we go the CD+G route.
Is there an on-line source that is inexpensive for songs, because we found that local street prices for GD+G disc is high, and most contain only 6-8 songs.
regards
Maintech
Are you saying that the PC does not have sound at all? I've never seen a PC that doesn't at least have an output for speakers and most have audio line-out and an earphone jack. When you buy a video card make sure that it supports extended desktop and of course has HDMI output.
Hopefully someone will suggest a way to rip the songs from those DVD discs. If it can be done effectively you will end up with a small video of each song because videos cannot be converted to CD+G or MP3+G. You can sometimes get good prices on CD+G discs on eBay. The pay per song sites charge from $1 to $2.50 per song. There are subscription services like the Karaoke Cloud and Tricerasoft where you lease a song library for a monthly fee.
Hopefully someone will suggest a way to rip the songs from those DVD discs. If it can be done effectively you will end up with a small video of each song because videos cannot be converted to CD+G or MP3+G. You can sometimes get good prices on CD+G discs on eBay. The pay per song sites charge from $1 to $2.50 per song. There are subscription services like the Karaoke Cloud and Tricerasoft where you lease a song library for a monthly fee.
Seeing as this is only for a once a year karaoke party have you thought about any of the various on line karaoke sources.
One Example: http://www.thekaraokechannel.com/online ... pr23lr2vta
They do a 2 day membership for about $4.95 which allows you to play any of their 5166 song tracks. Longer periods are recurring charges so be aware of that. I don't know if they can be played from your TV monitor but they can play full screen on the computer monitor.
Regarding the audio out, doesn't you computer have a headphone out jack ? if so connect from that to your external mixer or audio source.
Another similar product is: https://www.karafun.com/subscribe.html
One Example: http://www.thekaraokechannel.com/online ... pr23lr2vta
They do a 2 day membership for about $4.95 which allows you to play any of their 5166 song tracks. Longer periods are recurring charges so be aware of that. I don't know if they can be played from your TV monitor but they can play full screen on the computer monitor.
Regarding the audio out, doesn't you computer have a headphone out jack ? if so connect from that to your external mixer or audio source.
Another similar product is: https://www.karafun.com/subscribe.html
The OP said "for family use and one yearly get-together" so I think he's looking for a permanent collection. Plus he has all those DVD karaoke discs. Do you know any way to rip the song tracks from them?mr.dj wrote:Seeing as this is only for a once a year karaoke party have you thought about any of the various on line karaoke sources.
One Example: http://www.thekaraokechannel.com/online ... pr23lr2vta
They do a 2 day membership for about $4.95 which allows you to play any of their 5166 song tracks. Longer periods are recurring charges so be aware of that. I don't know if they can be played from your TV monitor but they can play full screen on the computer monitor.
Regarding the audio out, doesn't you computer have a headphone out jack ? if so connect from that to your external mixer or audio source.
Another similar product is: https://www.karafun.com/subscribe.html
The OP states he has 150 video DVD discs. I will point out there are Video CD's karaoke discs that could be miss interpreted as DVD's. These are VCD disc and don't need any special software to rip them. If this is what you have let us know and I'll explain what to do in more detail.
For DVD ripping I use "IMTOO DVDRipper" I have the standard version, this is the site: http://www.imtoo.com/dvd-ripper.html. The standard version is $39 but I see they had some discounts offers when I checked it today. You can trial it for free with limitations
I will point out that ripping DVD's takes way longer than ripping CDG so it is going to be a long job ripping 150. Also it sounds like your computer is quite an old model so probably not very fast compared to modern types.
Also with DVD karaoke discs from my experience (I only have 12) they have a menu system for selecting with vocal or without. These are actually 2 separate recordings on the disc so you need to know which is which if you only require the none vocal recording. It has been a long time since I did this as it's something once done you don't use again but if you have any problems come back and I'll brush up on the details to guide you through it.
There are a few Free DVD ripper programs available but ones I tried won't Rip copy protected discs and most commercial DVD's are copy protected.
For DVD ripping I use "IMTOO DVDRipper" I have the standard version, this is the site: http://www.imtoo.com/dvd-ripper.html. The standard version is $39 but I see they had some discounts offers when I checked it today. You can trial it for free with limitations
I will point out that ripping DVD's takes way longer than ripping CDG so it is going to be a long job ripping 150. Also it sounds like your computer is quite an old model so probably not very fast compared to modern types.
Also with DVD karaoke discs from my experience (I only have 12) they have a menu system for selecting with vocal or without. These are actually 2 separate recordings on the disc so you need to know which is which if you only require the none vocal recording. It has been a long time since I did this as it's something once done you don't use again but if you have any problems come back and I'll brush up on the details to guide you through it.
There are a few Free DVD ripper programs available but ones I tried won't Rip copy protected discs and most commercial DVD's are copy protected.
laptop based karaoke system
Thank you all for your assistance and recommendations. I am going to get the trial version of Power CD+G and use a WD usb HD I have to see the results. Will post info when I have results.
My wife has reservations re using a laptop due to Windows crashes we've suffered in the past with the Vista operating system, but I am confident that with the Win7 I can keep it running with very little problem. Also, I'll keep the original machines & discs safe so we can always go back to the original process.
We checked out a number of less expensive Chinese players, but none displayed the song list menu.
The HD players that claim to display all menus and play all discs are too costly-$750 +
I also attempted to reach RSQ re: the RSQ 500 machine we have about getting an updated remote (the original that came with machine is not the one identified in the manual) I even included pics of machine and remote, but my e-mails go unanswered, and their phone keeps cutting off. So I am keen to get of the merry-go-round and use the laptop.
My wife has reservations re using a laptop due to Windows crashes we've suffered in the past with the Vista operating system, but I am confident that with the Win7 I can keep it running with very little problem. Also, I'll keep the original machines & discs safe so we can always go back to the original process.
We checked out a number of less expensive Chinese players, but none displayed the song list menu.
The HD players that claim to display all menus and play all discs are too costly-$750 +
I also attempted to reach RSQ re: the RSQ 500 machine we have about getting an updated remote (the original that came with machine is not the one identified in the manual) I even included pics of machine and remote, but my e-mails go unanswered, and their phone keeps cutting off. So I am keen to get of the merry-go-round and use the laptop.
If you go with JustKaraoke then you can either buy on the fly or stream songs using their streaming service. I recommend buy on the fly because you get permanently the songs that your singers sing. I also recommend buying the gift packs because they end up saving you money.
