Hoster?????
 

We have been using Hoster for about 3 months now and we are experiencing problems that we can not seem to rectify.

1. 15 second delay before the music starts on most discs
2. Sound problems (Low volume & heavy bass)

15 second delay - We use our Vocopro dual player for cabaret as it uses a great cue system that seems to find the music then reverse a couple of seconds in case the graphics start before the music also we are able to cross fade the music and change the graphics from one deck to another at a flick of a switch. We are not asking for all these features but we find Hoster very amature in the fact that many of our singers come to the mic ready for their song thanks to the singer name display but are having to wait an uncomfortable 15 seconds on most tracks before the music starts, surley Hoster has not been designed for the professional show?

Sound problems - We use a dynacord mixer/amp but have to run the computer volume up full & the gains and sliders up full on the dynacord.
Is an expensive sound card the solution or an educated guess? We also have the problem of heavy & distorted bass if we run through a pre-amp, could this be more controlable with an expensive sound card? Can you recommend or supply a sound card?

Can MTU find the time to answer this message?

When will Hoster be able to import DVD & when will Microstudio be able to import KMA or Hoster to convert KMA back to CD+G?

To answer your #1 issue, this would need to be posted in the New Feature Requests forums.

You can currently start the Song and then Press the Pause button, right before the music starts, then it will be ready when the Singer comes up.

As to your Problem for #2, this is something to deal with your computer. You can try replacing the Sound Card that you have, as we will not ship overseas and don't sell computer parts, except when in one of our prebuilt systems.

Any of the Sound Blaster cards should seem to work fine.

Why must you state this?
If you go back and look all of your posts have always been answered.

Not sure exactly when this will be supported on either of these. There is no set date yet on these features for either program.

I do not experience this. I just tried several tracks to be certain, and without fail the manufacturer's title page is on the screen in about three seconds from the time I click the PLAY button.

Thank you for your quick reply,

Yes we have mentioned in the past about self cueing but when will MTU give us a proper answer on when they will incorpricate this on Hoster. We brought the program with intentions of using this for professional use, when we do our cabaret show we have to use other equipment i.e Vocopro CDG 9000, which has self cueing. Why is it Hoster can not have the same facility as this a most expensive program compared to many other similar programs out on the market for less than half the price.

It would seem that we are not alone in asking for this request.

As for selecting a track and pausing it, you do not have time if the next singer is standing there waiting. We have a large following of enthuesastic singers who in the past have enjoyed the speed in which we change over singers, plus how do we know how long each and every track takes to start?

So once again when will MTU give us auto cue?

As for the sound problem, we will take your advise and purchase a Sound Blaster card and let you know how we get on.

Thanks for your help,

Mike & Kate

I've been using Hoster for over two years. I have shows two to three times per week. I average 18 to 24 singers per round. I never seem to have any problems with the music coming up at the right time. I soon as one singer is through singing I call the next one up and sometimes I have to hit the stop button because they are not ready yet. I think Hoster is the best of all the karaoke programs. I have tryed some of the others, yes they are cheeper but you get what you pay for. I'll stay with Hoster. To me no other program even comes close to Hoster.
:)

I don't think Auto cue is possible with a karaoke track if you intend on using the lyrics. the lyric information comes up BEFORE the audio kicks in and just depends on the disc. It'll just screw up your graphics. there is rarely more than a few seconds between singers at my shows.

With ther next singer up set to auto, you can disignate the number of seconds between singers. By the time applause subsides, you anounce the next singer, they make their way to the stage, I almost always have to pause the selection so it doesn't begin before they are ready. Occaisionally you have a song come up that has several secods of graphics only, before the music starts, but I don't see how this would be MTU's issue to deal with as it is not a problem that a solution could be universally applied. There are EQ settings in windows , as well as volume controls that may explain the distorted base. make sure they are all set flat and do your EQ'ing outboard on your mixer. As for lack of volume, I have never had an issue. make sure you are using a line out sourse on your sound card and not a headset out. Other than than you should be able to apply any post EQ processing as you would any other audio source you bring into your mixer, which brings me to that question, how are you accomplishing this. Are you bringing your computer audio in through a standard RCA, Tape in jack, or are you using one of your aux in's as the method? :?

Kate,
I am sorry. I can't give you an Answer on this. I told you that this needed to be posted in the New Feature Requests forums. If there is enough Interest from other clients over time, then this is something that could be added, if you are the only one, it wouldn't be.

Hoster doesn't change volumes or eq's it just passes along the same signal it received.
Most soundcards come with mixer software that will control the eq, volume and gain settings. Windows has the same thing built in, though I don't know if it works for add on cards. I would check that to see if your settings are messed up.

Sam

It's not the title page that we have to wait for it's the audio. For example: if we use a DKG disc then the music starts almost immediatly, however on many Sunfly, Legends, Essential, Zoom etc then we can wait for ages.We like to run a slick show without prolonged silence.

Hi Sam,

Thank you for that information, but how do I check this?

How come there are so many different makes of karaoke player that can do this with out disrupting the graphics.

The idea would be that the tracks are imported fully into the Hoster database then advanced with the cue facility once added to the playlist.

Occaisionally you have a song come up that has several secods of graphics only, before the music starts, but I don't see how this would be MTU's issue to deal with as it is not a problem that a solution could be universally applied. Why not? Please explain

Perhaps I wasn't clear enough. The title page draws and the music and text both start when they should. No delays of any kind.

To MTU Support,

From MTU: If you go back and look all of your posts have always been answered.

If you go back and look at all of my posts, you will find not all of them have been answered by MTU.

From MTU: I told you that this needed to be posted in the New Feature Requests forums

If you go back and look at my posts, you will find this in the New Feature Requests forums

Kate,

The voco-pro is the only machine on the market that can auto cue a karaoke disc to the beginning of the music. Unfortunatley, vocopro products are crap. Nice features, but cheap construction and low durability. When I had my JVC triple tray player, there would be fifteen seconds between songs, because that was how long it took to switch discs and load the next song. Never did I have someone just standing there waiting. Fifteen seconds is just enough time to get applause for the singer call up the next guy and plug my website or announce the drinks specials...zero dead air. If you are worried about the dead air for the long lead in time songs, learn to talk on the mic. It is something every KJ should be able to do.

Fast forwarding a karaoke song to the start of the music will be very difficult for MTU. Have you ever actually fast forwarded a karaoke disc? If you have then you know what I am talking about. 80% of the time the words lose sync with the music or get munched on the screen. Karaoke discs were not meant to be fast forwarded.

WOW!!!!! I press start on Hoster and the songs start right away.......and no.....some of the disc you mentioned that have a few more seconds before the music starts,.....sometimes.....that was the way the disc was recorded. So I do not see why it would be MTU's problem.

I feel MTU does a good job answering people's questions........:)

I think you are being a little harsh with MTU.:f I have used some of the other programs. MTU is the ONLY one that has NEVER crashed on me.

If you are so unhappy.....then move on to something that works better for you......There are a lot of happy people out there. MTU IS THE BEST!

You've had your say.....I've had mine...........Thanks for listening. :g