Adding Karaoke to existing Home Theater Equipment

[shoude369]

I’m fairly new to the Karaoke world so I’m hoping to leverage the experience and advice of this forum. I’ve read through most posts and have not been able to find exactly what I’m looking for yet. Here is what I am trying to do…..
I have a very extensive home theater and I want to add the ability to run karaoke when we have house parties. I’m researching feasible options before I go and purchase anything. To the best of my knowledge and research, here is what I am proposing. I would love to know if this arrangement would work, or if there are better alternatives. Also, I am not looking for a standalone machine. I want it integrated into my rack mounted home theater system... Wireless Mic – (GTD Audio G-622H 200 Channel UHF Professional Wireless microphone Mic System). I plan on running XLR from each channel’s output to the mixer.
Mixer – (Yamaha MG10XU 10-Input Stereo Mixer with Effects) or (Yamaha MG06X 6-Input Compact Stereo Mixer with Effects). As far as I can tell the major difference between the two, other than input ports, is USB. I’ve read a lot on this forum about the merits of USB versus using the laptops onboard phone jack/sound card. Please provide your recommendations and reasons.
Player – I will be using my laptop instead of a dedicated player. I was thinking I would connect the laptop audio out to the mixer either using the audio-out jack (3.5mm to ¼” TRS) or USB, depending on which mixer I purchase. Video is where I’m struggling a bit. The intention is to use the DVD input ports on my Denon AVR-3311CI receiver with the sound coming from the mixer (1/4” TRS to RCA) and the video coming from the laptop directly. I just need to get VGA to RCA, or so I think. 1) will this work?, 2) are there better options?, 3) would there be any lag between video and audio?
I’m looking forward to your experienced recommendations and suggestions. Again, this is all new to me. Thanks in advance.

[mr.dj]

It is generally recommended not to use Home theatre Speakers for Karaoke as the signal from microphones can damage them. It depends how loud you might sing, in the party atmosphere you might easily overload them.
I would recommend getting an Active PA Speaker setup solely for your karaoke. Active speakers have their own amp built in,
You would just run, Audio from computer either headphone out to two Jacks L & R or RCA into the stereo channel of mixer Or alternately use the USB connection. You wouldn't have to use a pair of active speakers but if you run a single speaker make sure it has left & right inputs then that will sum the stereo signal to mono correct. So just run from the mixer outputs straight into the speaker inputs.
The Yamaha MG10XU is the better bet to me for one thing the first two channels have compressors for mics, the stereo and usb channels have High & Low equalization controls plus you have spare inputs for things you might want to add at a later date.

The video out from your laptop depends mainly on the type of outputs available on your laptop, also available connections on your TV or Monitor. Most new laptops have HDMI out so you could go straight from laptop to TVs HDMI. If you can't go straight to monitor because there is no HDMI connection then you would need an appropriate converter.

[shoude369]

Thanks mr dj.

I have heard the same concerning the home theater speakers. With that said, can you recommend a good set of active PA speakers?

Greatly appreciated

[mr.dj]

That's a hard question, for various reasons. if its in your home do you need something to be in keeping with your décor or will they only be brought out for karaoke use ? Most PA speakers are basically black boxes and not pleasing looking furniture. The other thing is your budget.
My suggestion would be Mackie SRM350 v3 powered PA Speakers, these are the smaller of that series but if you have a showroom near you best to view them.
The next size up are the SRM450, if your budget wont stretch to that look out for Behringer models or second hand.
As I said before you could just use a single speaker as you don't particularly need stereo for your singing, although the track your playing might sound better in stereo. The other point with stereo you need to sit in the centre of the sound field to get true effect which is not feasible at parties.

[wiseguy]

I agree with mr.dj. Unless you plan on using the system for (low volume) practice only you should create a separate system for karaoke. Your stereo speakers were designed to reproduce recorded sound only. With live microphones you are actually producing sound and this requires a PA speaker.

Using a laptop as the player you will certainly want to go with a mixer with USB like the Yamaha MG10XU. Not only will this give you a high quality connection but also bidirectional connectivity which would allow you to send the main mix back to the laptop for making recordings.

There are a huge variety of active (powered) PA speakers available. They range from entry level quality like Rockville, to medium quality like Behringer, to high quality like EV, Mackie, and Yamaha. You'll probably want to go with a pair of speakers if the room is large enough to allow some separation. Otherwise you can always go with one speaker and perform in mono. I would go with a 12" woofer full range speaker. Virtually any 12" woofer active speaker you find will have sufficient power for home use. Your best bet would be to go to Amazon and do a search for active pa speakers and browse through what they offer. They have the largest selection by far.

You will want to install karaoke player software on your laptop that has a remote monitor feature. This will allow you to display the software's controls on the laptop while displaying the karaoke on a separate monitor or TV using the extended desktop feature of the laptop. Virtually all modern laptops have HDMI output which makes connecting it to a TV very simple. A good software player for home use is Siglos Karaoke Player/Recorder.

[shoude369]

Thank you all for the advice. You've confirmed my decision on the Yamaha MG10XU mixer. Now the only thing I need to do is research the Active PA speakers. I'll check out Amazon as suggested.

Greatly appreciated!