Downloaded MP3+G issues on RSQ NEO-22

americannight · Post by **americannight** » Fri Apr 01, 2011 12:40 pm

I have an RSQ NEO-22 player and am in the process of putting all of my Karaoke songs onto a 1TB external HD. The discs I am ripping in power CDG burner to MP3+G are playing great on the machine, no problems. However, I've run into a peculiar issue with the tracks I have downloaded from buykaraokedownloads.com. With all of those MP3+G files, I'm having a graphics issue. The lyrics are overlapping each other on the screen. So in other words, normally when you get to the last lyric on the screen, the screen will erase the prior lyrics and display the next few lines. With these files, the lyrics just keep getting written over each other so you end up with a big jumble of unreadable words on screen. Even the "title screen" at the start of the song will not go away and the lyrics just get displayed over it. Has anyone ever run into this? Again, it is particular only to the files I've downloaded. I have never had issues playing these files in karafun or on other karaoke decks. I've got some of my favorites that I downloaded so would like to get these tracks to work on my new setup if possible. I have tried both playing the tracks off of the hard drive AND burning them to a CDG disc to play on the NEO-22 and the same issue happens either way. Thanks in advance for any input, I'm new here.

mnementh · Post by **mnementh** » Fri Apr 01, 2011 2:25 pm

Hi americannight.
Welcome to the forum.

I've had a look at the specification for your NEO-22 machine and it does look quite impressive.

At first glance, there doesn't seem to be any reason why you should be having a problem but I'm wondering if there's some strange problem with the graphics files you're downloading that only shows uop with your new machine.

The first thing I would do is to contact RSQ and apprise them of the problem.

Second, I would try converting some of the downloaded files to a CD+G disc and as you already have CDG burner, this should be simple.

When you have a CD+G disc, try it in your new machine to see if the tracks play OK.

If they don't work in your new machine, try them in a known good CD+G player and if they now work, then the issue IS with your new player but if they don't work, the problem is with the downloaded files.

If the CD+G disc does work in your NEO player, then RIP them back with CDG burner and try them again.

If they now work OK as MP3+G files, then I would suggest there is some strange coding bundled with the graphics.

Have fun,
Sandy

americannight · Post by **americannight** » Fri Apr 01, 2011 2:48 pm

Sandy, thank you. This is good advice. I did try burning the MP3+G files to a CD+G disc last night and it has the exact same graphics issue on the NEO-22. I have a friend who is going to try those discs on his machine, a completely different manufacturer and will let me know if he has the same issue or not. RSQ has been great with support. The NEO-22 is an impressive, but new, machine. There is a known bug with the firmware relating to the play list export to .txt file. Their tech team is releasing new firmware in a week to fix that. I will let them know about this issue as well. Nate.

americannight · Post by **americannight** » Fri Apr 01, 2011 4:27 pm

Sandy, a quick update here. You were right, I think this issue is specific to the NEO-22. My friend tried the tracks on his player and they work fine. They also work fine in karafun. So I left a message for RSQ so they can let me know if this is a known bug. If anyone else has ideas on potential solutions, I am all ears.

mnementh · Post by **mnementh** » Fri Apr 01, 2011 5:30 pm

HI there.

Thanks for the update.

It's nice to hear how people get on with the information given.

Best of luck with the problem.

Please let the forum know how you get on.

Sandy

Post by **wiseguy** » Sat Apr 02, 2011 3:14 pm

Have you tried creating a NEO-G disc from the MP3+G files?

americannight · Post by **americannight** » Sat Apr 02, 2011 4:34 pm

I have not tried creating a NEO-G disc but that sounds like something I'd like to give a try. Can I do that with power CDG burner or is there some other software I need? Thanks for the idea.

Post by **wiseguy** » Sat Apr 02, 2011 5:19 pm

All you need is the free NEO-G disc making software that you can find (along with an instruction PDF file) near the bottom of this page http://www.rsqaudio.com and any DVD burning software.

mnementh · Post by **mnementh** » Sun Apr 03, 2011 11:52 am

wiseguy wrote:All you need is the free NEO-G disc making software that you can find (along with an instruction PDF file) near the bottom of this page http://www.rsqaudio.com and any DVD burning software.

I've used this program to make a couple of NEO+G discs for a young couple starting out in Karaoke and let me tell you, it's an absolute pain in the butt.

If you have more than a couple of tracks to do then you'll end up insane typing all the required data fields into the software editor list.

A DVD5 disc can hold well over 100 tracks and as you can imagine, it would be easy to make a mistake. Unfortunately, the RCM.EXE program is very fragile and even the very slightest error in one of the data fields will shut the program down.

It's far better to make a text file up and import that instead.

However, even then it's not that simple as you need to generate a comma deliminated (CSV) file that RCM.EXE will import successfully and it took me some time to do it consistantly.

My method requires the following;

Karen's directory printer (freeware, just Google it)
Excel or some other spreadsheet program.
Word or equivalent processor.

Here is my procedure. It's a pain but it absolutely DOES work;

Method to generate CSV file for Neo+G

1)unzip the files into a known folder to MP3's and CDG's
2)run MP3 Gain
3)split MP3 & CDG files into separate folders
4)run Karen's DirPrn on both folders and generate lists as text files
5)on both list files, edit in Word to leave filenames, only. No disc ID, no extensions
6)on 1 list only, generate comma serarated list, i.e. replace ALL instances of the - separator with commas.
7)on 2nd list, add FULL path to front of filename

open the CSV list in Excel and arrange in correct columns
9)open 2nd list in Excel and copy column to the first speadsheet
10)rename extensions in 2nd list to other option of MP3 or CDG
11)copy column again to other spreadsheet
12)export as CSV file
13)import into Neo+G software and burn

Omit step 2 as it just levels out the MP3 files and isn't of use for the NEO+G generation.

It's long winded, I know but it takes longer to explain that to do and for a few hundred files, believe me you'll be glad of it.

Sandy

mnementh · Post by **mnementh** » Sun Apr 03, 2011 3:27 pm

To show you what you end up with as a text file list, here is the FIRST line of a test trial I made some time ago;

Keeps Getting Better.CDG,Aguilera Christina,,,FALSE,d:\neotesta\CDG\001 - Aguilera Christina - Keeps Getting Better.CDG,D:\neotesta\MP3\001 - Aguilera Christina - Keeps Getting Better.mp3

As you can see, there is a fair bit of information required and if you make the slightest error in these fields, the program will fail to compile the NEO+G files.

A space in the wrong place, anything that doesn't match will cause the program to fail.

Note the extra commas after the first instance of Christina. These are required to place information in the correct RCM.EXE field when the text file is imported and MUST be there.

Don't get me wrong, it's not all doom and gloom. Get it right and you will be able make NEO+G discs with no grief.

Sandy

americannight · Post by **americannight** » Wed Apr 27, 2011 7:55 pm

I just wanted to update the forum that RSQ's support has been EXEMPLARY in helping me with the downloaded mp3+G issue. The company made their engineers aware and they released a firmware upgrade to me which was easily loaded onto the machine via the front USB port. The upgrade took seconds and now the downloaded tracks play perfectly. The graphics issue is solved.

I do currently have an issue where the remote control has suddenly stopped working. Again, they have been very prompt to help me deal with this and are sending me a new remote via Fed Ex. I highly recommend this company. They seem to really have their act together. You don't normally see this level of support with consumer electronics.

mnementh · Post by **mnementh** » Thu Apr 28, 2011 4:17 am

Hi americannight,
once again thanks for the update and I'm glad you have a solution.

Sadly, it's commonplace for people to come onto forums (forii???), ask a question and having received support, simply vanish, never to be heard of again.

I don't have any first hand knowledge of RSQ's support but it's always good to hear that a company is willing to "roll up it's sleeves" and get stuck in on their customer's behalf.

Best of luck,
Sandy.

ragdyann422 · Post by **ragdyann422** » Sun May 01, 2011 2:17 pm

americannight wrote: I do currently have an issue where the remote control has suddenly stopped working.

Hi, americannight!

Did the remote control issue coincide with the firmware update?
I have the NEO-22 & experienced the same playback issues w/ a handful of mp3+g downloads, though it seemed random... some work just fine & others are a jumbled mess.
Before I do the firmware update, I just want to make sure I don't need RSQ on speed dial to send a new remote.

Thanks for your help!
~jen~

americannight · Post by **americannight** » Fri May 06, 2011 10:41 pm

Jen, that would be negative. The firmware update did not cause the remote failure. I even tried rolling back the firmware to the previous version. That didn't fix the remote issue. RSQ just released an addendum to their instruction manual. In it, there are suggestions for how to best arrange song files on the hard drive and also updated instructions on how to properly unplug the hard drive from the machine. RSQ is going to have their engineers look at my machine to see what the cause of the failure was. Likely it was just a component failure somewhere in the unit, something not too uncommon with electronics in general these days. If they give me anything more definitive, I will let you know here.

ragdyann422 · Post by **ragdyann422** » Sat May 07, 2011 12:37 am

I kind of figured but you never know.

Thanks for the reply!