Hosting Software

skeetrock · Post by **skeetrock** » Fri Jun 08, 2007 1:51 pm

You ALWAYS hunt for the best price out there on ANYTHING you need to buy, for example I bought $2,000 worth of microphones (Shure) and I paid &650...Brand New, With Warranty...(my business sense is realatively keen, I believe). The digital karaoke software out there now as a whole is disgustingly unstable in my opinion. I am 100% digital myself and had a HELL of a time choosing reliable software (but my find is my dirty little secret!

) You are correct in saying Rox is the only winamp addon with true multiplex support (to the best of my knowledge).

I am very passionate about this business as I've been a DJ for 13 years, a KJ for 6 years, a live sound engineer for 9 years and a studio recording engineer for about 7 years. I am VEHEMENTLY passionate about being professional in the industry because, let's face it, MOST karaoke bars (85-95%) are exactly the same as the rest. I tend to get a l'il uptight when I hear people questioning software/gear due to price. If you want it bad enough, you can find a price for it SOMEWHERE that's within your price bracket...I've wasted enough money myself buying gear "for now until I can afford what I REALLY want." Biggest mistake you can make sometimes...don't cheap out on the heart & soul of your system, that's all...now that my frustrated rant is over, I bid you adeu...

letitrip · Post by **letitrip** » Mon Jun 11, 2007 1:38 pm

skeetrock wrote:PS-If you don't know how to properly tune and operate a sound system...you have no business in an industry BUILT around sound...by the Mixing Engineer's Handbook or something Jeez, FEEDBACK IS NOT FREAKIN' NORMAL PEOPLE!!!

Ahh if only it could be so nice. Unfrotunately, very few KJ's out there have ever touched a board or any other pro-audio equipment before getting into business. Just this past weekend I had a fellow KJ who was at one of my shows comment on how he couldn't believe that I have a 20U rack filled with equipment for my shows. He was particularly enamoured by my EQ equipment (2-Single Channel 31 Band, 1-Dual Channel 15 Band). All I could say to him was "Have you heard any feedback on my system", his answer was of course "no". What really floored him was when I took a Microphone and stuck it 2" from the stage monitor and got nothing.

While I understand your frustration, it is unfortunately the nature of the beast. Most folks that have pro-audio engineering skills are much more interested in production for bands. Most KJ's seem to feel that since they attended shows they can just jump in and do this themselves. Very few that I know of actually put the time in to learn the ins and outs of their equipment and the basic concepts of audio engineering. Personally, I don't let this upset me though. As you have noticed, there's a definite competitive advantage to be gained here.

Back to the topic at hand, I do have to say that in the realms of hosting software you don't necessarily get what you pay for. Personally, I use the KJ Amp plugin. Why? Not because I care about the price, I budgeted $400 for the hosting software. I tested 6 different packages (most that I found mentioned on this board) and found it was the easiest for me to use and the most stable. I had problems, like you noted, with many of the packages I tested. Others lacked features that I wanted (song list management, inline song replacement, etc). The fact that it's an open source package for me was just icing on the cake.

DanG2006 · Post by **DanG2006** » Mon Jun 11, 2007 5:18 pm

letitrip wrote:
skeetrock wrote:PS-If you don't know how to properly tune and operate a sound system...you have no business in an industry BUILT around sound...by the Mixing Engineer's Handbook or something Jeez, FEEDBACK IS NOT FREAKIN' NORMAL PEOPLE!!!
Ahh if only it could be so nice. Unfrotunately, very few KJ's out there have ever touched a board or any other pro-audio equipment before getting into business. Just this past weekend I had a fellow KJ who was at one of my shows comment on how he couldn't believe that I have a 20U rack filled with equipment for my shows. He was particularly enamoured by my EQ equipment (2-Single Channel 31 Band, 1-Dual Channel 15 Band). All I could say to him was "Have you heard any feedback on my system", his answer was of course "no". What really floored him was when I took a Microphone and stuck it 2" from the stage monitor and got nothing.

While I understand your frustration, it is unfortunately the nature of the beast. Most folks that have pro-audio engineering skills are much more interested in production for bands. Most KJ's seem to feel that since they attended shows they can just jump in and do this themselves. Very few that I know of actually put the time in to learn the ins and outs of their equipment and the basic concepts of audio engineering. Personally, I don't let this upset me though. As you have noticed, there's a definite competitive advantage to be gained here.

Back to the topic at hand, I do have to say that in the realms of hosting software you don't necessarily get what you pay for. Personally, I use the KJ Amp plugin. Why? Not because I care about the price, I budgeted $400 for the hosting software. I tested 6 different packages (most that I found mentioned on this board) and found it was the easiest for me to use and the most stable. I had problems, like you noted, with many of the packages I tested. Others lacked features that I wanted (song list management, inline song replacement, etc). The fact that it's an open source package for me was just icing on the cake.

Don't you mean the AutoKDJ plugin? KJ Amp doesn't exist yet. Still waitng on that one to come out of the wood works.

letitrip · Post by **letitrip** » Mon Jun 11, 2007 11:42 pm

DanG2006 wrote: Don't you mean the AutoKDJ plugin? KJ Amp doesn't exist yet. Still waitng on that one to come out of the wood works.

Doh!!! Yes you are correct, had one thing in mind, was typing another. Yes I use the AutoKDJ plugin for my PC based songs.

DanG2006 · Post by **DanG2006** » Tue Jun 12, 2007 1:45 pm

The only things keeping me from using AutoKDJ is A: no control over RoxBox's Multiplex plugin which I have suggested as they are comunicting with Frank (developer of RoxBox)
and b: they have issues with the cdg plugin and large libraries causing the graphics to freeze while going through searching for another song.
Once they get these isssues corrected and I believe they are trying to do it, I will be onboard the AUtoKDJ train as it has a Songlist kiosk that allows you to let the singer input their own song.

Marlena · Post by **Marlena** » Thu Jun 14, 2007 3:47 pm

i also have no feedback problems

I find most Kj's That do have feedback problems don't understand where speakers should be set up or how. they just didn't take the hour to research as to where their speakers should be OR even some just don't care!!!

letitrip · Post by **letitrip** » Fri Jun 15, 2007 11:50 am

I've actually seen KJ's setup singers so that they're standing in front of the mains as a way of substituting for an on-stage monitor. It's almost comical to watch the singers dance around the stage trying to find a spot to stand where they won't have problems.

However, position alone shouldn't necessarily lead to feedback either. I've had a singer at my show (and I have no clue why he does this) stand directly in front of my mains to sing. No feedback whatsoever. The wonders of Vocal compression and proper EQ setup can make all the difference in the world. Now I'm not going to put my singers out in front of the speakers as a primary singing position, but if they walk out there, they should be able to without worry.