Choosing a home karaoke system

marose1 · Post by **marose1** » Sun Jun 08, 2008 1:58 pm

I originally started posting to the "General Discussion" Forum, but since my questions are primarily hardware related, I decided that it is more appropriate to post to this forum.

It is apparent that most of the visitors to this forum are serious KJ types who are willing to invest alot of money into quality equipment. I do not fit into that category, as I am looking for a system for home use, and, initially at least, I do not want to invest much more than $1000 into equipment in addition to the equipment that I already have.

I currently have an HP Pavillion dv9000t Laptop with 2 GHZ processor and 2-160MB Hard Disk Drives. I also have a 50" Pioneer Plasma TV and a decent Home Entertainment System (Yamaha Receiver and Bose speakers). When I check out the display capabilities of my computer, I find that it does show a monitor 1 and monitor 2 in the display properties. The computer also has an svideo output. Based on replies that I have received from members of this forum, I realize that my speakers are inadequate, but in home use we will not be singing a high volumes.

I also believe, based on replies from members of this forum, that VCD's and midi are not the way to go in order to achieve quality sound. My wife is Chinese (I am not), so I would like to play both Cantonese and English Karaoke WITH a video background to the music. It appears to me that I may have a couple of options:

Option 1: Use my computer for karaoke -- Is this a feasible option and what do I need to buy (software, cables, etc.) in order to achieve my goals? Can I superimpose a video background on the TV in addition to the song lyrics using my computer? If not, I still may be willing to use my computer without BGV as a compromise. Would Siglios be a good choice of software that provides for background images? Also, can I use my Pioneer mics with the large jacks for computer karaoke and do I need a mixer or any other hardware?

Option 2: Buy equipment that permits BGV -- The following machines may be suitable:

CAVS JB-199 - this machine appears to have the capabilities that I need, but it is too expensive ($2000), and it appears that CAVS machines are not the favorite of members of this forum.

V2GO-700 ($269.99) - I found this at a New Zealand web site, and don't know if this machine is available or compatible in the US. I went to the V2GO web site and the only machine available was the GO-100. I sent V2GO a message inquiring about the features and availability of the GO-100 and the GO-700.

HKV-898GS - Home Karaoke Ltd in Canada - Has the superimpose feature but not sure what else it is capable of due to the lack of more details on their web site. I am not sure whether I will need to buy a karaoke player and/or mixer in addition to the HKV-898GS. I am sending Home Karaoke Ltd an email to get more info.

Any suggestions on how I should proceed will be greatly appreciated.

DanG2006 · Post by **DanG2006** » Sun Jun 08, 2008 6:37 pm

Siglos pro has a picture that changes during the song to another picture behind the lyrics.

Bigdog · Post by **Bigdog** » Mon Jun 09, 2008 3:40 am

You are talking about 2 different things.

1. If the music already has a video playing behind the words (VCD or Video disc or laser disc or DVD) why do you need to superimpose another video?

2. If you are using this at home why the great need to have a video on the screen if it isn't on the disc to begin with? I'm confused. Are you going to show your vacation pictures to karaoke music?

Post by **wiseguy** » Mon Jun 09, 2008 2:35 pm

Bigdog wrote:If you are using this at home why the great need to have a video on the screen if it isn't on the disc to begin with? I'm confused. Are you going to show your vacation pictures to karaoke music?

I was wondering the same thing. What's the big deal with video backgounds for the home system. Just a waste of money and effort in my opinion.

marose1 · Post by **marose1** » Mon Jun 09, 2008 6:02 pm

>>If you are using this at home why the great need to have a video on the screen if it isn't on the disc to begin with? I'm confused. Are you going to show your vacation pictures to karaoke music?<<

>>I was wondering the same thing. What's the big deal with video backgounds for the home system. Just a waste of money and effort in my opinion.<<

The answer is that my better half wants the capability of displaying background video or background slideshow on the television screen; for example, scenery, flowers, etc. If I decide to scrap the background video/slideshow feature and buy a karaoke player instead of using my laptop, what is the best karaoke player (with a hard drive for mp3+g files) for under $500? For under $1000?

I appreciate the knowlegeable advice that I have received on this forum, which has convinced me not to purchase MIDI files, or more VCD disks in favor of the higher quality music on CDG and mp3+g (Sound Choice, etc.). So far, I have found one site to order custom cd+g files and two sites to download mp3+g files:

http://www.mykaraokecdg.com.au/customer/home.php (Sound Choice Custom CD+G's)

http://www.karaoke.cc/pages/site-conten ... works.aspx (Zoom Label- mp3+g)

http://www.tyrannosoft.com/ ($2.49/song - Mostly Zoom Label - mp3+g)

DanG2006 · Post by **DanG2006** » Mon Jun 09, 2008 7:42 pm

You can also get some songs off of this site as well: http://sbikaraoke.com/shop.php

Bigdog · Post by **Bigdog** » Mon Jun 23, 2008 2:38 am

Use the laptop. You could get an external hard drive for a couple hundred. Buy a program to rip the songs to it. You might need a song book program to work with the ripper. And a "hoster" program to play the songs. All for Well Under $1000.

I use mykaraokecdg for songs. Zoom discs are pretty good quality too. The music library will always be your biggest expense. You can also find many discs bargin priced on the internet karaoke sites. Buy a "foundation" set with the typical standards and build upon it. Or go all custom discs with exactly the songs you want to sing.