Thread: Getting Started
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Old July 25th, 2006, 09:21 PM
Ron Vermillion Ron Vermillion is offline
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Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: Chattanooga, TN
Posts: 45
I'm certainly not a KJ but I just bought Hoster and set it up on an existing HP Pavilion Laptop. It works fine. The drive in the laptop would import about 90% of the tracks off of a CD+G and mess up a couple. I had an extra external USB drive laying around and I hooked it up and it worked 100%.

I'm a guitar picker and am using Hoster to get ready to do one man performances. I have a Yamaha Stagepas 300 PA system which is designed to just be a small portable PA. I purchased a Xitel HiFi Link which plugs into the USB port on the laptop and terminates in two RCA jacks which go into a stereo channel on the PA.

http://www.xitel.com/product_hfl.htm

For a $49 attachment I think it sounds just fine. I'm a fair hand at the computer stuff too, and I think your idea about a small lan party gaming quality machine would be the killer deal. Most everyone uses a laptop because they aren't into the small lan party type desktops. I agree, and if I was buying a laptop specifically for Hoster I'd get the MTU ruggedized laptops. This forum is full of stories about drunks stumbling into the equipment and crowded rooms of people stepping on and falling over all sorts of stuff. Eventually the laptop is going to take a tumble. If that wasn't around I'd go for an alienware laptop to get the power and sound card.

I really like Hoster, and for what I'm doing it's like cheating.

If you are totally in the dark about a sound system, call the guys at www.sweetwater.com or go to your local professional music store and check out the sound systems there. You will need some idea what size of venue you will be performing in. www.carvin.com has a great little two box amp and extension speaker sound system too. The size of the room and crowd size you are planning on performing for will determine your needs for a sound system. The little rig I have would only be good for a small club or pub setting.

If you want to go small don't overlook a small keyboard amp which will have two or three channels and produce a wide range of sound, unlike a guitar amp which will project mostly mid-range and a bass amp that is full range but emphasizes bottom. Keyboard amps have to do it all. A couple of little Hartke keyboard amps hooked up together on stands would be hard to beat for a small sound system. But for professional use you would want to get a professional PA powered mixer.

Ron
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