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Some advice for a karaoke home system

Your comments, questions, or opinions on any karaoke related hardware.
How to Build a Home Karaoke System
Bigdog
Posts: 2937
Joined: Wed Jan 31, 2007 2:15 am

Post by Bigdog »

There is no debate. You are a singer and not a KJ, right?? So all my years of running a very successful karaoke business and thousands of shows and tens of thousands of earned dollars, is worthless?????

If someone wants advice they want it from someone that knows what they are talking about from experience. If I wanted a home system and some jerk told me to buy a Passport system and I got it home and it sounded like crap I would be highly pissed.

Warning to people buying karaoke systems that say they do it all in one. I would never do it, even for my garage. The Yamaha system may very well be a little more than they want to spend, but it will last them forever. Without finding out next month, they made a big mistake.

Any KJ that plays out for money, with a Passport system doesn't know anything about karaoke. If you sing on one at karaoke, you don't know anything either. You all need your hearing tested.

"X", be very careful who you take your information from. They do not walk the walk. They just talk the talk.....Buy it right the first time.

That's what I did from the first day I went in to the karaoke business. I have had to replace some worn out equipment. But I never had to re buy any pieces of my system because they were wrong from the beginning. Or inadequate.

My first system was over $15,000 including the laser discs. I went right past all of the existing area KJs. I remain at the top to this day, because they refuse to spend the needed money to compete at or even near my level. It's why I have worked more steady jobs and made more money than all of them put together.

So "X' if you want to take advice from the forum inexperienced "Experts" go ahead, but dont cry about the poor results.

Above all, don't take that advice of someone that is only a karaoke singer.

Good sound doesn't come cheap. Nothing good is cheap. This is where the other so called KJs make their mistakes. They want to get in to business as cheap as possible. The end result is exactly that. Cheap sounding karaoke. That can not get steady work unless the play for $50-75 a night and some even play for less.

Save a little more money and go first class. Are you worth it???? I am..

They don't have to be professionals to enjoy quality sound equipment.


There are probably over 20,000 KJs that think they are professionals and they don't have the right equipment. Do they???? They play with Passports and other sub par equipment. And they sound like it. They are KJs in name only.


wyndy
Posts: 36
Joined: Sun Feb 25, 2007 1:08 am

Post by wyndy »

At a show I attend on Sundays a Fender PD250 is in use. The host of that show works seven days a week. At that show there are usually between 40-50 singers. Since Sunday is a day many KJ's don't want to work, among the singers are anywhere from 3-6 local, REGULARLY WORKING kJ's.

SO... does that mean that the Fender system rocks? YES, SO LONG AS YOU'RE NOT BIG DOG. I'LL GO WITH THE OPINION OF THE KJ'S AND OTHERS WHO ARE ATTENDING SHOWS THAT USE FENDER SYSTEMS, several of whom have been in the entertainment industry a LOT longer than 14 years. One of the KJ's is also a booking agent who must be knowledgeable about good sound systems. You can't remain in business as an agent sending people with inferior equipment to gigs.

NO DEBATE!!!
Bigdog
Posts: 2937
Joined: Wed Jan 31, 2007 2:15 am

Post by Bigdog »

I know a girl that has played for 15 years. She just lost her last job to the people I trained and sold a system to. She was playing with one speaker. 90% of the karaoke music is stereo. You can not hear stereo with one speaker.

She's cheap that's why she works. Cheap system draws cheap paydays.

The Passport system you are an expert on, has no horns and no subs. So you are not hearing all of the highs and all of the lows. Just a bunch of middle frequencies.

I know of many cheap hack KJs that work steady. Because they are getting much less money than I charge and if they are getting the same fee, the bar owner is getting ripped off big time. 1/3 of a system with no highs and lows. :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: Who needs to hear music with the full range of frequencies??? It's good enough for karaoke.

$10,000 Porfessional karaoke system...worthless


$1000 Passport... Priceless :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

"X" be afraid.....be very afraid.... Do not succumb to the ravings of a minority. Talk is cheap...walk the walk....

You can be a real good agent when you save everyone a ton of money with cheap entertainment. He pockets the rest of the money.

Ever see a scam artist that says he's a remodler and takes the money for a shoddy job. People get conned everyday. They have been doing it for 5,000 years. Doesn't make them professionals.

Obviously you have never been to a real karaoke show. With a real karaoke system.

Ever sing on one that cost over $2,500... $3,500 ... $5,000... $8,000 ??

How would you know the difference??? Believe me there is a big difference.

Big debate...
wyndy
Posts: 36
Joined: Sun Feb 25, 2007 1:08 am

Post by wyndy »

According to the experts I know, Karaoke is MONO....the singer comes through both speakers (or one)
DanG2006
Posts: 1498
Joined: Sun Jan 01, 2006 8:37 pm
Location: USA

Post by DanG2006 »

Wyndy, with the exeption of the actual music. I know that Sound Choices is true stereo or they couldn't record their beatles tracks in the same manner that the beatles did. On "yesterday" the Sound Choice version does not start the music when you hit the mulitplex untill a few beats after the vocals start. So Yes Big DOg is right that you need both speakers for some songs, not all but some.
wyndy
Posts: 36
Joined: Sun Feb 25, 2007 1:08 am

Post by wyndy »

I'm not a KJ Dan but many of the KJ's I know run their shows in mono. No one is asserting that karaoke discs are, by definition, in mono. What I am saying is that I've been told that the vocals and recordings should not be split between right and left channels. Every speaker should have the same output and that makes it MONO. And for many reasons I have come to respect the opinions of those who tell me that karaoke should be run in MONO.

I was further convinced of the correctness of running karaoke in mono as a result of the experience of a friend of mine who participated in a local competition for KJ's. One channel on his amp blew right before he began his show during the competition. He had to, therefore, run the entire show in mono. He, nonetheless, won for best sound equipment!
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wiseguy
Site Admin
Posts: 1906
Joined: Wed Aug 18, 2004 5:05 pm
Location: WV

Post by wiseguy »

wyndy wrote:I'm not a KJ Dan but many of the KJ's I know run their shows in mono. No one is asserting that karaoke discs are, by definition, in mono. What I am saying is that I've been told that the vocals and recordings should not be split between right and left channels. Every speaker should have the same output and that makes it MONO. And for many reasons I have come to respect the opinions of those who tell me that karaoke should be run in MONO.
I absolutely agree. I have always performed karaoke in mono. It is the only way that you can guarantee that everyone hears the exact same thing. While there are some places where your speaker placement may allow you to broadcast in stereo, this is the exception and not the rule.
xquisite
Posts: 2
Joined: Sat Mar 10, 2007 4:17 pm

Post by xquisite »

Wow, did not know I would stir up such controversy but that's why I look to this forum for advice since everyone is so passionate about the topic and have much more experience than me. Thanks to all the response.

To clarify, I'm not looking to build a professional system but yet I'm looking for something that won't break down on my folks within a month or two. I'm hoping for a system that has biggest bang for the buck and from what I've been reading, spending $600-700 on a system (speakers, mixer, mics, and possibly a player if I'm lucky) is a daunting task. I believe wiseguy came the closest in focusing on my problem and I thank you for it. But don't let that deter everyone else from sending more feedback because you are teaching me things at every post :)

Having said that, I thought one way to save some money is to utilize the existing A/V Receiver that my folks have. So would it be wise to only get a standalone mixer (~$150) and add it to the receiver or would it sound better if I got a mixer/amp combo e.g BMB DX-222 http://www.thetechgeek.com/content/prod ... 38&cid=281

Any suggestion on brand name would be an added bonus.

My folks like karaoke with video probably because most of their friends have this format. Besides the DVD/VCD format which can be cumbersome switching them out every 15 or so songs, I've seen people having numerous songs stored on 1 disc with video. Anyone knows what format that is? I'm guessing midi due to the small size but when I listened to them, it sure doesn't sound like midi files... :shock: I also read some player's description describing the capability of 60 min of dvd video. What's that all about? Is that video embedded so that it plays video while it's reading/displaying the disc at the same time?? If anyone have experience this, enlighten me on a brand to buy.

I'm looking at JBL RM 10 ($250/pair) since my friend owns a pair and they sound pretty good to my amateur ears. Any experience with these speakers or opinions about them?

One more thing, regarding mics. I read on other posts within this site saying hisonic 910 (I believe) was decent. Any opinion or recommendation for a decent mic for home use?

Again, thanks for all your comments and I look forward to your recommendation. Just to make peace, Yamaha and Passport are both great products



:D
Bigdog
Posts: 2937
Joined: Wed Jan 31, 2007 2:15 am

Post by Bigdog »

For the price of the amp you just linked to, you could have the Yamaha system. Speakers and all.
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