Hi
At the moment I use a RSQ karaoke player,a spare dvd player for background interval music, KA500 vocal controller,carlsbro marlin 8400 amplifier,mics, speakers and folders with my discs etc in.
I need to buy a new pc and I am looking for advice as to what is involved in purchasing a pc which I can then use as my karaoke machine, to lighten the load which I carry around and to make life a little easier.
I have several karaoke programmes on my excisting pc, karwin, sax & dotty kj pro etc I also have all my discs saved on my pc, any and all advice will be welcome
So is there anything a new pc must have and what software is needed etc?
Thanks in advance
Mollycat
LAPTOP KARAOKE PROS & CONS
Advantages of running laptop over desktop:
1: one less monitor to carry around
2: easier to hook up connections (Singer's tv & sound)
3: lighter than a desktop pc.
advantages of destop PC
1: ability to fix issues onsite by opening the hood.
either one will work with most software.
One thing you must have with either is
dual monitor support. Without that neither will do what you need it to do.
1: one less monitor to carry around
2: easier to hook up connections (Singer's tv & sound)
3: lighter than a desktop pc.
advantages of destop PC
1: ability to fix issues onsite by opening the hood.
either one will work with most software.
One thing you must have with either is
dual monitor support. Without that neither will do what you need it to do.
Laptop is much lighter. 6-8 pounds vs desktop 35-40 pounds or more with the monitor and other stuff like keyboard and mouse. Lots of hooking up stuff to get in the way...What about a battery backup. You'll need one with a desktop. You don't with the laptop. I also have a $450 surge protector on my system. That breaks down to about $40 per piece of equipment. Very cheap insurance....How?
Mixer $900
Laptop $1600
Compressor $200
Reverb $200
EQ $200
Extenal hard drives
External DVD drive
Mini Lights
Wireless Microphones $1800
Less hookup. As I said before, if you have 2 laptops you have a spare for everything. No need to take apart the case. Just disconnect a few wires and change the laptop. 15 minutes. Desktop has no spare parts, like monitor or keyboard or OS..Etc.
The only thing on my laptop is Vista, the Sax & Dottys and a program to play other people's discs. Everything else has been removed. It will never see the internet and will never be used for anything but karaoke.
I don't even rip with it.
Extended desktop or duel display is controlled by the video card. You must have this capability. Get a quality video card that has it's own dedicated memory and very good sound card. Remember...Nothing good is cheap....
You need to have enough processor speed and memory to handle playing the songs while searching for others without glitching up. Mine has a 2 gig duel core and 2000 RAM. I will be playing karaoke videos with mine.
I only use external hard drives for the music. I only want the OS on my internal hard drive. Less chance for corruption of the OS. If it crashes I don't lose my music. My music is already backed up on the spare external hard drives. The OS is backed up on the spare laptop, with the rest of the "spare" parts.
I was totally trying to talk myself into a desktop, but it just didn't add up to all of the advantages of a laptop. Sure you can do your own repairs on a desktop. But look at all of the other junk you have to carry with you. All of the backup stuff. And the extra weight.... Way too much....Laptops are a little more money, but I always go first class. My business is worth it.
Mixer $900
Laptop $1600
Compressor $200
Reverb $200
EQ $200
Extenal hard drives
External DVD drive
Mini Lights
Wireless Microphones $1800
Less hookup. As I said before, if you have 2 laptops you have a spare for everything. No need to take apart the case. Just disconnect a few wires and change the laptop. 15 minutes. Desktop has no spare parts, like monitor or keyboard or OS..Etc.
The only thing on my laptop is Vista, the Sax & Dottys and a program to play other people's discs. Everything else has been removed. It will never see the internet and will never be used for anything but karaoke.
I don't even rip with it.
Extended desktop or duel display is controlled by the video card. You must have this capability. Get a quality video card that has it's own dedicated memory and very good sound card. Remember...Nothing good is cheap....
You need to have enough processor speed and memory to handle playing the songs while searching for others without glitching up. Mine has a 2 gig duel core and 2000 RAM. I will be playing karaoke videos with mine.
I only use external hard drives for the music. I only want the OS on my internal hard drive. Less chance for corruption of the OS. If it crashes I don't lose my music. My music is already backed up on the spare external hard drives. The OS is backed up on the spare laptop, with the rest of the "spare" parts.
I was totally trying to talk myself into a desktop, but it just didn't add up to all of the advantages of a laptop. Sure you can do your own repairs on a desktop. But look at all of the other junk you have to carry with you. All of the backup stuff. And the extra weight.... Way too much....Laptops are a little more money, but I always go first class. My business is worth it.
HI
So I need to ensure that what ever pc I purchase has suffient memory for my songs (Approx 1500) How easy is it to connect amplifier,voice enhancer,etc.At the moment I am happy with my karaoke system, but I need to purchase a new pc and I really want to combine the two.
What software is recommended I have looked at "hosting" programmes but am not sure which to go for.AS I said my karaoke system is great so I do not want to spend a fortune,I just want to combine compueter use, internet, burning etc with the facility to use it as a karaoke system.
I live in Greece and work in small hotels but the choice of shops for karaoke etc is some what limited, so I need to try and combine what I have with what I need.
All advise welcome, thank you for your time
Mollycat
So I need to ensure that what ever pc I purchase has suffient memory for my songs (Approx 1500) How easy is it to connect amplifier,voice enhancer,etc.At the moment I am happy with my karaoke system, but I need to purchase a new pc and I really want to combine the two.
What software is recommended I have looked at "hosting" programmes but am not sure which to go for.AS I said my karaoke system is great so I do not want to spend a fortune,I just want to combine compueter use, internet, burning etc with the facility to use it as a karaoke system.
I live in Greece and work in small hotels but the choice of shops for karaoke etc is some what limited, so I need to try and combine what I have with what I need.
All advise welcome, thank you for your time
Mollycat
The memeory doesn't store the music. The hard drive stores information. Memory helps to speed the flow of information alone with the Processor.
I have 18,000 songs on a 160 gig hard drive with extra room for more. Ask the sales clerk to show you the extended desktop on any computer you chose, to make sure you can do karaoke. The main monitor will be for your use while playing the music and the second monitor (the extended one) will be for the singers via the Bar TV.
I'm using Sax & Dotty's Presenter 2.2.... It's $50.
I use a seperate external Hard drive to hold my music. Then you need another hard drive to make a backup copy of your music.
I only use the laptop hard drive for the operating system and my S&D Presenter. However you can use the internal hard drive for everything, but if it crashes you're out of business. You'll lose everything.
I have 18,000 songs on a 160 gig hard drive with extra room for more. Ask the sales clerk to show you the extended desktop on any computer you chose, to make sure you can do karaoke. The main monitor will be for your use while playing the music and the second monitor (the extended one) will be for the singers via the Bar TV.
I'm using Sax & Dotty's Presenter 2.2.... It's $50.
I use a seperate external Hard drive to hold my music. Then you need another hard drive to make a backup copy of your music.
I only use the laptop hard drive for the operating system and my S&D Presenter. However you can use the internal hard drive for everything, but if it crashes you're out of business. You'll lose everything.
Bigdog has good points always have a backup. I just switched to pcdj vrm with karaoke. I love it it is easy to use and it is one program that does everything. I have my system set up on a compaq laptop with window xp pro. I love it i have my booking calander and my format for figuring out quates and financial on it. The os and main programs are backed up on a 150gig external harddrive, all the other stuff is on my lacie 500 gig external harddrive(I have two one for backup). The nice thing with pcdj is you can add lighting and fx program to it.
I have 4 other computers to do anything else I want. I only use my karaoke laptops to play music, period. I don't want to give it a chance for anything (program wise) to make them act goofy. Computers are too easily messed up by other programs.
Operating system, win amp and the hoster program is all that's on my karaoke laptops. Everything else has been deleted. There is nothing else on the internal hard drive. They will never be hooked up to the internet. Keep your music and the operating systems separated. If you lose one, it can't wipe out the other.
Operating system, win amp and the hoster program is all that's on my karaoke laptops. Everything else has been deleted. There is nothing else on the internal hard drive. They will never be hooked up to the internet. Keep your music and the operating systems separated. If you lose one, it can't wipe out the other.
Hi
Thanks for your time and input, I guess I need to satrt with buying a decent laptop with suffucent memory and speed,I already have a Maxtor one touch external storage, which is suffient to hold all my info,is it worth buying another one, ie one to store computer data on and the other for my karaoke stuff, songs, programmes etc.This would keep the two seperate.
Also what is pcdj?
Many thanks
Mollycat
Thanks for your time and input, I guess I need to satrt with buying a decent laptop with suffucent memory and speed,I already have a Maxtor one touch external storage, which is suffient to hold all my info,is it worth buying another one, ie one to store computer data on and the other for my karaoke stuff, songs, programmes etc.This would keep the two seperate.
Also what is pcdj?
Many thanks
Mollycat
The way I look at it is all i have on my computer is my player the main os and two other programs. The nice thing is we have a calander with us all the time and a way to figure out quates. I have 5 other djs working for me and if a customer want to book a night my djs can do that on the spot. PCDJ is a wonderful program from what i have done with it. It is the best of both worlds. Like spinning records but with the easy of just a computer. For more info on it go to www.pcdj.com and you can add so many other options to it. Lighting, Karaoke, and fx.
I will admit to being biased aginst anything PCDJ puts out as I have had an issue with what the program will play. If you want a program to dj with ClubDJPro is a better program. in my opinion. While it isn't an out and out hoster, It will play Mp3+G Zipped files. I use two programs for both karaoke and dj. I use Just Karaoke from tricerasoft for my karaoke needs and Winamp for the DJ side of it. I choose this format as I like the ability to tell at a glance who is singing what. But if you can handle rotations without having to use tools to keep up with it, then ClubdjPro will do the job.
Hi
I have been out looking at laptops this morning and there isn't the biggest choice here in Greece,but the one the shop recommended is:
Acer notebook travelmate 5710wlmi
with the following:
vista business
intel core 2 duo t5500 1.83 ghz
1gb (2 x 512) ddr2
160gb
dvd-dl (optical drive)
graphics - gma 950 128mb shared
1 x express caed 3/4 slot
1 x pc card slot(type11)
5 -in- 1 card reader
4 x usb 2.0
1 x ieee 1394 port
1 x fast infrared
Is this any good for running karaoke from
Many thanks
Mollycat
I have been out looking at laptops this morning and there isn't the biggest choice here in Greece,but the one the shop recommended is:
Acer notebook travelmate 5710wlmi
with the following:
vista business
intel core 2 duo t5500 1.83 ghz
1gb (2 x 512) ddr2
160gb
dvd-dl (optical drive)
graphics - gma 950 128mb shared
1 x express caed 3/4 slot
1 x pc card slot(type11)
5 -in- 1 card reader
4 x usb 2.0
1 x ieee 1394 port
1 x fast infrared
Is this any good for running karaoke from
Many thanks
Mollycat
it should work providing it has an s-video port. if it does you are going to have to get an adapter that will adapt s-video to rca. You can get one at www.mtu.com for around $20
i have heard that exprsesion alot "adapter s-video to rca" now i'm not sure what it does and for $20 bucks... hmmm.
I run laptop shows as well BUT do not use one of those. I use a amplified convertor. Paid $80 for it.. it plugs in and is very valueble when doing shows with projectors because it has an amplfier that can be turned down and up for color quality, which sometimes can be crappy when some bars don't buy good projectors. It plugs in to a power source as well. not sure if this is the same thing you guys are talking about.
I run laptop shows as well BUT do not use one of those. I use a amplified convertor. Paid $80 for it.. it plugs in and is very valueble when doing shows with projectors because it has an amplfier that can be turned down and up for color quality, which sometimes can be crappy when some bars don't buy good projectors. It plugs in to a power source as well. not sure if this is the same thing you guys are talking about.
Just thought of another plus for laptops:DanG2006 wrote:Advantages of running laptop over desktop:
1: one less monitor to carry around
2: easier to hook up connections (Singer's tv & sound)
3: lighter than a desktop pc.
advantages of destop PC
1: ability to fix issues onsite by opening the hood.
either one will work with most software.
One thing you must have with either is
dual monitor support. Without that neither will do what you need it to do.
built in Battery backup - if a powerfailure happens at least what is in the que is saved from the computer shuttting down on you by having enough battery to keep the laptop running while waiting for the power to come back, if it does.
It could keep the computer from crashing. That is the reason I'm using $450 surge protector. I've been playing during storms and had the power go off and on. I also had a computer voltage regulator get fried from having a walkie talkie microphone key too close to the power cord to my laptop. It took an RF surge through the wire just from being too close...Never thought that would/could happen..
