Equipment?

[wolf183]

I am trying to decide weather or not I should attempt to use my computer to run Karaoke or if I should go the conventional route and buy a actual machine.

I am curious about the hardware needed to do this? I already have a nice laptop and do not wish to purchase another one from MTU.

I am thinking about purchasing Hoster. What I need to know is what type of amp ect..

My other question is connecting the mic? Does this need to be connected to the computer itself or should it run through a amp as well.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[nreel]

Greetings,

If you use MTU Computer based software to run your show, you will neither have to manually get a Disc and place it in a Karaoke machine to queue a Singers’ song nor remove the Disc after the Singer has finished. Why is this important? Several reasons that I can think of are, and, I’m sure I haven’t covered them all:
1. Many CLUB environments are dark (subdued lighting) making it hard to see the very small numbers placed on Discs and, therefore, a PAIN to find and Queue Discs.
2. Each time you handle a Disc you take the chance of damaging it.
3. Unless you keep your Discs in the Jewell Cases, each time you buy a Disc, and that Disc needs to be sequenced into your current collection, you will have to SHIFT all your CD’s to accommodate sequential order (THIS IS AN ABSOLUTE PAIN, for me).
4. If there are NO Discs out…NONE CAN BE STOLEN. You can comfortably LEAVE your KJ station to work the crowd and NOT need to worry about Discs coming up missing. This, especially, applies to PARTIES. Home Parties will become a BLAST for you because you will NO LONGER need to “baby-sit” your Discs/System.
5. If you are comfortable about repairing Computers, then, I suspect you will be more willing to repair a Computer than repairing a PROPRIETARY Karaoke Player…which most, I suspect, would not attempt.

If you already have an amplifier, just buy an adapter that adapts the OUTPUT of you Computers AUDIO to the AUDIO INPUT: ex. AUX IN, TAPE IN, CD IN, etc. (Red/White - Right/Left Audio Channels) of your Amplifier or Mixer. This adapter is available at Radio Shack P/N 42-2551 (Y-Adapter Audio Cable)(Two phono plugs to one 1/8” stereo plug).

Equipment is always a source of contention in the Karaoke world…no doubt.

Obviously, in both systems, either a Traditional Karaoke System or Computer based Karaoke system; you will need an Amplifier, Mixer, Speakers, Speaker Stands, and Microphones…no matter what.

Amplifiers – Combination Amplifier/Mixer (Most “Starting KJ’s” will go with this type of unit)
UPSIDE:
1. This Amplifier is a combination unit that includes a mixer (Amplifier/Mixer all in one).
2. Versatile in that you only have ONE piece of hardware.
3. Usually has VOCAL EFFECTS built-in.
4. Usually has more than one LINE inputs for additional equipment as a DUAL CD PLAYER (for background music between Karaoke singers/dance music).
5. Somewhat inexpensive, depending on POWER RATING.
6. Microphone inputs and controls, since a mixer is integral.

DOWNSIDE:
1. Limited number of VOCAL EFFECTS built-in.
2. Limited number of LINE inputs.
3. Basic units are very limited on the number of Microphone Inputs and Controls.
4. If any part goes bad (Amp or Mixer Section) you will need to send the complete unit in for repair.

Amplifiers – Stand alone

1. Minimum 200W, preferably 1000W

Mixers – I like to think that this is where the action takes place!
The mixer is where the Microphones connect. You need a STEREO Mixer with, a minimum of, 4-Microphone Channel INPUTS (Preferably 8-Channel). Excellent Mixers give complete control over the Microphones. Many less expensive mixers DO NOT have GAIN controls to compensate for POOR Microphone usage. Since Microphone usage can “make-or-break” a singers’ performance, a GREAT Mixer, along with an attentive KJ, can turn an UNBELIEVABLY bad performance, into each Singers BEST performance. The more Bells and Whistles on a Mixer…the better. One can “get by” with a low powered AMP, but you need a GREAT Mixer.

If you go with a separate Amplifier and separate Mixer, you may want to consider adding a STEREO VOCAL EFFECTS processor (it is well worth the money to have STEREO).

Hope this helps,
Norm

[Flipeoke]

Great post nreel! Lots of good info in there! Just one thing I'd like to clarify, though it may be obvious to most, is that you still have to buy discs to import into hoster. So whether you use use Hoster and a laptop, or CDG players, you will have to get CDs, just that with Hoster, you can leave them at home. One really good mixer/amp that I have used before is this one:

http://www.mbtinternational.com/rms/pm10-400.htm

It has good built-in effects (not the best, but very good) dual 7 band EQs, and decent power, not ALOT of power, but good enough for a decent starter system (200x2). And it's not a bad price either. (Remember the price on the website is LIST it can be had for about $600 I believe) Match this with good quality mics, Shure SM58 or Sennheiser E835 (which are now buy 2 get 1 free) Both have great sound quality, and are very durable. Oh and to save you some trouble later on, get mics WITHOUT a switch! Add some speakers/stands, and then all you have to do is choose whether you want Hoster or CDG players. Even if you do decide on Hoster, I would still get a backup CDG player. CYA, you know... Then you can always add on more stuff later, wireless mic for KJ (put this at the top of your list once you get the basics), subwoofer(s), external vocal processors, larger amps, bigger/better speakers....the list goes on and on...

One other option that was not mentioned is to get a mixer and self-powered speakers. My preference for this would be Mackie SRM450, EXCELLENT speakers. They might be a bit pricey for a starter system though. I use the unpowered version of this speaker and they have VERY good sound quality.

Any ?s just ask. I know thats alot of info in these two posts. We're here for ya man.

Good Luck,

Flip a.k.a. Mike

[TKaraoke]

Good luck in your endeavor, just remember, YOU ONLY GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR! You may buy something cheap today but replace it in short order, remember this is not a "Hopme System" A friend of mine skimped, since we have bought our systems, he has replaced amp, mixer, cables, etc. Now he says, "you were right". I use JBL speakers, Crown K2 amp, Pioneer DJM500 mixer, BBE unit, seperate mixer for mics, etc.
TK

[wolf183]

Thanks for all the great feed back!

It looks like I need to spend around 3 to 5 grand to get anything even remotely decent.

I really appreciate all your help!!

[admin]

Gentlemen! I applaud the excellent feedback you have given here. We are honored to have such knowledgable members and customers share their wisdom.

MTU now offers (as of today!) a new portable computer for $1,995 including Hoster. It has 80GB 7200rpm drives (120GB optional) that are fully mirrored. We can even pull the power on the main drive while playing and the song never skips a sample. This is the ultimate for backing up your imported tracks. It also has our 48x CDR drive that is CDG certified. It is not as simple to set up as a laptop, but the mirroring and faster drives versus 4200/5400rpm for laptops makes it worth considering.

You can see the specs at http://www.mtu.com/basics/karaoke-portable-pc.htm. Sorry about the picture with no CDR drive showing... we just finished testing and approving. We'll try to get our own pictures next week.

[Flipeoke]

Sure, NOW you tell us this!



Flip

[admin]

Technology evolves at such an incredible rate today, and things change so fast that it is difficult to know what is best today... because tomorrow it will be different. We are a very conservative company and take what we recommend very seriously.

Hosts have for years told us they wanted a laptop because of its portability. So, we searched for months, then took everything we found about Laptops and researched only the best solutions. We wanted backup for our customers, so a dual drive was very important to us. We wanted internal mounted drives so you don't have to carry an external USB or Firewire box also. That defeats the "portability" of a laptop. We could not find a CDG thin-line capable CDR/CDROM drive, so we have been hand modifying a different thin-line model. This has become more than we are willing to continue doing. Thus, we could no longer offer a CDR internally mounted in a Laptop. The newer CDR/CDROM product we expected to replace our "hand modified" one did not materialize. Alas, a disappointment to us.

I noticed in another post today that someone has ordered a 5400rpm drive for his laptop. These are discontinued drives, and only 4200rpm drives are available as new manufactured parts. This was another reason we decided to stop selling laptops. The technology has been "over-promoted". It is appearing the standard hard drives are just not capable of sustained audio show performance. The data we reviewed is not being substantiated by our actual experiences with the laptops. Also, the audio quality has not been a major concern for laptop manufacturers, and we are displeased with the variable quality we receive.

I hope this sheds some light on the subject. We have a number of clients who are very pleased with their laptops, and we will continue to support them the best we can. However, the new Hoster PC Portable system offers far more options for us, higher quality and standard faster peripherals. Our cost is significantly lower, which we pass on to you. This is very good for KJs on a low-hardware budget.