Karaoke Hardware and Software Wanted

[Fred_Mertz]

Wiseguy, there seems to be a forum problem. The editing symbol has been replaced with an exclamation point (!) for reporting the post. In any case, I can't edit my previous post, which needs it.

Please disregard the first paragraph of my previous post. Somehow, the Force was with me, and I was able to convert all the .wav audio files that were ripped from lost CD 9 into .mp3 files. Subsequently, I was able to burn all eight .cdg/.mp3 file pairs on a CD, and all eight karaoke files sounded and displayed normally.

I guess you can disregard the second paragraph of my previous post too. I somehow managed to exit Audacity apparently without problems.

The third paragraph of my previous post stands for the moment. However, I didn't notice background noise from newly burned CD 9.

[wiseguy]

Trouble in paradise, Wiseguy. Re: Step Three when processing .wav files, as soon as MP3 is selected, the list of .wav files disappears, and the File Name changes to a .mp3 file. The rest of the settings (e.g., Bit Rate Mode) remain as specified in your tutorial. What to do, what to do? Seemingly, the software should keep the list and the selected file should remain a .wav file, which would mean to me a .wav file is being converted to a .mp3 file.

Regarding the exit procedure when finished processing, clicking on the X doesn't get the job done. There is a popup window requiring a choice of save or don't save I seem to recall. Anyway, we'll deal with that issue later.

If all that weren't bad enough, I seem to hear some light noise in the background of the sound of most of the resampled .mp3 tracks I did yesterday. So, it may be the resampling isn't a perfect solution to the sampling-rate problem. However, that light background noise might be attenuated by typical settings of the average karaoke machine or simply not noticed, especially because the singer's voice is usually the primary sound and is often the only thing providing the melody of the song.

That's exactly what you want to happen. The wav should be converted to mp3 and saved to the same folder the wav file was in. After you make sure that the mp3 file will play you can delete the wav file.

I mentioned in the tutorial that if it asks you to save the project just click No. So when you go to shut down Audacity just click NO in any popups.

I'm surprised that you haven't always had noise in the background of those song tracks. The original ripping to 56 kbps creates very poor audio files. The way audio compression works is that information is removed from the audio while it is being ripped. The more information that is removed the poorer the quality of the resulting audio. The idea is to remove frequencies inaudible to the human ear. A 128 kbps is considered "CD quality" and very few people would be able to tell the ripped audio from the original CD. At 56 kbps almost everyone will notice the loss in quality. As I think I mentioned before, when I played the audio file you sent me it sounded terrible. Now you have to also consider that every time you make changes to an audio file you reduce the quality to some degree although normally not enough to notice. The bottom line is that if you ever get the chance to replace the songs with better quality versions you should do it.

[wiseguy]

Wiseguy, there seems to be a forum problem. The editing symbol has been replaced with an exclamation point (!) for reporting the post. In any case, I can't edit my previous post, which needs it.

Please disregard the first paragraph of my previous post. Somehow, the Force was with me, and I was able to convert all the .wav audio files that were ripped from lost CD 9 into .mp3 files. Subsequently, I was able to burn all eight .cdg/.mp3 file pairs on a CD, and all eight karaoke files sounded and displayed normally.

I guess you can disregard the second paragraph of my previous post too. I somehow managed to exit Audacity apparently without problems.

The third paragraph of my previous post stands for the moment. However, I didn't notice background noise from newly burned CD 9.

The reason the Edit button is not shown is that you only have 60 minutes to edit your post or it becomes permanent. This is to help prevent people from changing their posts after they receive responses.

[Fred_Mertz]

Good News, Wiseguy! I've recovered (well, sort of) all my lost karaoke CDs! The ripped audio files for CD7 turned out to be .wma files. Yikes! So, I downloaded Switch Sound File Converter, which allowed me to convert .wma files to .mp3 files. Then, I used Power CD+G Burner 2 to burn a blank CD with the .cdg/mp3 file pairs, and the results are pretty good. Quick tests of the recorded songs revealed very good graphics and good sound without (so far as I've noticed) background noise. I have no idea why the songs on CD7 came to have .wma audio files.

I agree I should strive to replace at least my favorite karaoke tracks with high quality tracks. I seem to recall you offered to help find replacement tracks. So, I'll make a list of my favorite karaoke tracks and their sources and submit that list to you in the coming days.

Thanks again! Until you came into my life, I was wandering in the karaoke version of the Gobi desert. A female friend was about to sell me a used Plextor drive for $75. When I couldn't get satisfactory answers about the drive and related issues from her, I resorted to an Internet search and found you and your website.

[wiseguy]

I'm glad things worked out. It's not surprising that there were wma files involved. Whoever ripped those songs originally certainly didn't know what they were doing which is evident by the low bitrate, unusual sampling rate, and multiple audio file formats. I think you will notice quite a difference when you compare the songs you have now with higher quality versions.

[Fred_Mertz]

Regarding replacement high quality karaoke tracks, Wiseguy, here's a list of my favorite tracks from my lost CDs:

Blue Hawaii Elvis Presley CMC Karaoke
If Ever I Would Leave You Robert Goulet DK Karaoke
Let Me Be There Olivia Newton-John DK Karaoke
Love Me Elvis Presley Music Maestro
What Kind Of Fool Am I Robert Goulet DK Karaoke
Days Of Wine And Roses Andy Williams CMC Karaoke
Winter Wonderland Perry Como Chartbuster Karaoke
I Really Don’t Want To Know Eddy Arnold SAV A CD+G
It’s Now Or Never Elvis Presley DK Karaoke
I’ll Hold You In My Heart Elvis Presley Music Maestro
Silver Bells Unknown Chartbuster Karaoke
That’s Life Frank Sinatra DK Karaoke
Turn Around, Look At Me The Vogues DK Karaoke
Unchained Melody Righteous Brothers DK Karaoke
Night And Day Frank Sinatra DK Karaoke
South Of The Border Frank Sinatra DK Karaoke
Tumbling Tumbleweeds Sons Of The Pioneers DK Karaoke
Who Can I Turn To Tony Bennett DK Karaoke
All Of Me Frank Sinatra Sweet Georgia Brown
A Fool Such As I Elvis Presley DK Karaoke
Devil In Disguise Elvis Presley Music Maestro
I’ll Never Fall In Love Again Tom Jones DK Karaoke
Teddy Bear Elvis Presley Easy Karaoke
All I Have To Do Is Dream Everly Brothers Zoom Karaoke
And I Love You So Perry Como Easy Karaoke
Annie’s Song John Denver Easy Karaoke
I’ll Remember You Elvis Presley Music Maestro
Singing The Blues Guy Mitchell Easy Karaoke
Softly As I Leave You Matt Monro Easy Karaoke
Memories Elvis Presley Music Maestro

I got nearly all of the source information from the "recovered" CDs. However, I also have a list of karaoke songs with sources that was given to me by the guy who made all but one of my original karaoke CDs. So, additional source information is available from that list.

Any help you can provide obtaining high quality tracks for the listed songs will be greatly appreciated. Sorry, Wiseguy, I carefully arranged the songs into columns of titles, artists, and sources, but the forum's software mashed the columns together.

[wiseguy]

I got nearly all of the source information from the "recovered" CDs. However, I also have a list of karaoke songs with sources that was given to me by the guy who made all but one of my original karaoke CDs. So, additional source information is available from that list.

Any help you can provide obtaining high quality tracks for the listed songs will be greatly appreciated. Sorry, Wiseguy, I carefully arranged the songs into columns of titles, artists, and sources, but the forum's software mashed the columns together.

Check your email.

[Fred_Mertz]

I checked my e-mail, but there was nothing from you. My Junk Mail folder is empty now, but I check it each time before I empty it. You should have my e-mail address from previous correspondence, which probably means I missed your e-mail, and it went out with the junk. So, please try again, and I'll scrutinize my Junk Mail before I dump it next time.