MTU.Community


Go Back   MTU.Community > Singers & Hosts Wisdom

Singers & Hosts Wisdom Post how to be a great karaoke singer or host.

Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
  #1  
Old December 4th, 2003, 12:17 PM
Louieoke Louieoke is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Aug 2002
Location: Arkansas
Posts: 24
CD Maintainence questions.

All,
I apologize if this is covered elsewhere in the forum but here goes anyway:

I have upwards of 1100 discs now and use "CD projects" 208 capacity notebooks to house them. They seem to wear a bit even when I'm not using them which may just be natural, but I wondered if anyone had a suggestion on how to lengthen their lives as I really hate making multiple copies of the same disc, unless I use it ALOT.

Are there cd's that are more durable than others?
Which method of storage is better (notebooks, sleeves, etc.)?
Is there any type of treatment that would enhance the durability?
Is there a good way to repair them after the fact that would be faster/cheaper than re-burning?

Thanks to you all for any suggestions you might have.

Louieoke.
Reply With Quote
  #2  
Old December 5th, 2003, 06:21 PM
wackyquack wackyquack is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Sep 2002
Location: Baltimore, MD
Posts: 72
cd storage

I use a roadcase made by Diskjocki. You can find these at Karaoke Club.com not sure of the spelling. These hold 200 cds in cradles with felt lining. Slots are numbered I currently use three of these with great results
__________________
Jim
Music by Jimmy D
Reply With Quote
  #3  
Old December 8th, 2003, 12:41 AM
SteveWalker SteveWalker is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Jan 2002
Posts: 363
Louieoke, ever thought of using Hoster instead of CD's
Reply With Quote
  #4  
Old December 9th, 2003, 01:59 PM
Louieoke Louieoke is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Aug 2002
Location: Arkansas
Posts: 24
"Louieoke, ever thought of using Hoster instead of CD's"

I really need to! I just don't have the time or loot to go that path just yet. Hopefully in the next couple of years, the amount of technology that I need will be more feasible for me monetarily. Lord knows I hate making copies of CD's all the time.

Do you use Hoster currently, and if so, how do you really like it? I will investigate it more in the near future as I know it is the future of the industry and I want to keep as current as possible.

Thanks to all that have replied on this. I will also checkout the road cases for the interum. The felt lining would be the bomb. May be my next way to go.

Thanks again,
Louieoke
Reply With Quote
  #5  
Old December 9th, 2003, 02:18 PM
SteveWalker SteveWalker is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Jan 2002
Posts: 363
Louieoke, I don't currently use Hoster but I helped our largest 7-day a-week establishment using it successfully. I think Hoster is priced good and is the best chose. You can email me at swalker6@tampabay.rr.com if you like more details on what I'm currently doing.

Steve
Reply With Quote
  #6  
Old December 9th, 2003, 03:26 PM
gduns - with the Lord's Avatar
gduns - with the Lord gduns - with the Lord is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Jun 2003
Location: Louisiana
Posts: 2,773
SKB has a case about the size of a suitcase for 88-120.00 depending on where you find it, and they will hold 650+ in each case. but if you have 1100. you would need 2 cases and that is just about what the hoster program costs now. just think about not having to haul the cd's, looking them up, and refileing them after use. no to mention the wear & tear on them....... It really is a sweet way to go and a computer can be had, if you dont already own one fairly cheep.

No, Im not MTU, but I sure do love the program.
Reply With Quote
  #7  
Old December 9th, 2003, 04:53 PM
SteveWalker SteveWalker is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Jan 2002
Posts: 363
gduns, you make a valid point! but don't forget that you also have to have a PC too. Is that what "oops" was for?

Steve
Reply With Quote
  #8  
Old December 9th, 2003, 08:49 PM
gduns - with the Lord's Avatar
gduns - with the Lord gduns - with the Lord is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Jun 2003
Location: Louisiana
Posts: 2,773
NOPE, I DOUBLE POSTED........
A decent computer can be had for less than 700.00 . if you consider all the trouble you are going to right now to put on a show and Knew the difference........ I could never go back. I know, it is easy to say right now. But I built a rackmount and I have a whole system in a roll in, and plug in unit. I can be set up to play in less than 30 monutes, and tear down in less. Plus I dont have to stay glued to the player, and cd's worrying about theft, and prepairing for the next song. I usually have my rotation set up 3 or 4 people in advance and can set a timer to give them time to get to the mike ..... put it in auto, and play at the bar and work up future business.

I was doing this with djing before this, using windows media player, and setting up playlists, for my different venues. It automates a majority of the work, so my job is easy, and I can work on the customers, keeping them.
Reply With Quote
  #9  
Old December 10th, 2003, 07:46 AM
SteveWalker SteveWalker is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Jan 2002
Posts: 363
Quote:
Originally posted by gduns I was doing this with djing before this, using windows media player, and setting up playlists, for my different venues. It automates a majority of the work, so my job is easy, and I can work on the customers, keeping them. [/b]
Using Windows Media Player what plug-in did you use to:

1. Display the lyrics?

2. Play a CD+G from the drive?

Steve
Reply With Quote
  #10  
Old December 10th, 2003, 07:56 AM
gduns - with the Lord's Avatar
gduns - with the Lord gduns - with the Lord is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Jun 2003
Location: Louisiana
Posts: 2,773
"DJ-ing"-- playing regular music, not karaoke. No plug ins. I use the audiology II soundblaster card. I am running a 4000 watt pro system, and it sounds as good as if I were playing the CD.
Reply With Quote
  #11  
Old December 10th, 2003, 08:04 AM
SteveWalker SteveWalker is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Jan 2002
Posts: 363
gduns, guess I'm still waking up!
Reply With Quote
  #12  
Old December 10th, 2003, 11:49 AM
Louieoke Louieoke is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Aug 2002
Location: Arkansas
Posts: 24
Whew!

Man, thanks for all the god advice. As far as the Dj'ing part, you should try Winamp3 sometime it's awesome. I do all my dj'ing through it, because I have them in mp3 format and can hold a ton on my PC.

I will have to try Hoster for Karaoke. I have a very nice laptop P4 40gig HD. I think hoster changes the files into an mp3+G format, isn't that correct?

Would an external HD work for hosting because with the amt of songs I have, I would need at least a 120gb'er and only load 1 0r 2 versions of each song (which I have been meaning to do anyway to cut down on my tree killing when I print books.

I may also have to look at the SKB cases, as I was looking at the earlier ones mentioned and they are like $329 each. That would be like 1800 bucks. Ouch. They were pretty darn sweet however. Do the SKB's have linings, just curious.

Thanks all,
Louieoke
Reply With Quote
  #13  
Old December 10th, 2003, 12:06 PM
gduns - with the Lord's Avatar
gduns - with the Lord gduns - with the Lord is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Jun 2003
Location: Louisiana
Posts: 2,773
first hoster uses kma format, not mp3+g. That is also Why I use windows media player. it uses wma format. Mp3 compression looses highs and lows, and makes a flat sound. (without equalization). The Wma format retains all the original dynamics of the sounds of the cd. And the compression is about half the size of of the same mp3 file. You can download a mp3->wma converter from microsoft. But I loaded all my albums myself, and You would be amazed at the difference in sound.

I have 1,050 karaoke cdg's loadon my harddrive and it isnt but 49 gigs of space. As far as music, I have 800 albums in media player (wma) 10.5 gigs........ compare.

The skb cases aren't lined, but it isnt needed. the place I got mine, was off the internet out of Pensacola. they were $88.00 each. he was the cheepest. Do a search for dj cases, and you will find it, If not I will try to find the website.
Reply With Quote
  #14  
Old December 10th, 2003, 01:19 PM
gduns - with the Lord's Avatar
gduns - with the Lord gduns - with the Lord is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Jun 2003
Location: Louisiana
Posts: 2,773
ps. external hard drive will work just fine.
Reply With Quote
  #15  
Old December 10th, 2003, 02:21 PM
SteveWalker SteveWalker is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Jan 2002
Posts: 363
Re: Whew!

Quote:
Originally posted by Louieoke
[b]Man, thanks for all the god advice. As far as the Dj'ing part, you should try Winamp3 sometime it's awesome. I do all my dj'ing through it, because I have them in mp3 format and can hold a ton on my PC.
You will be using WinAmp5 at this point which is the best yet. The Media Libr is like WMP - nice!

Quote:
I will have to try Hoster for Karaoke. I have a very nice laptop P4 40gig HD. I think hoster changes the files into an mp3+G format, isn't that correct?
You can use an external HDD on firewire or usb. I would check if usb 1 is fast enough but it should be. Hoster uses KMA similar to WMA format but may not be fully compatible. It is not compatible with MP3+G format.

I would have two external hard drives all songs on each drive for backup purposes. I would also consider backing up all the KMA files to DVD's (you can store over 2300 songs per DVD) for permanent backup.

Steve

Last edited by SteveWalker; December 10th, 2003 at 02:53 PM.
Reply With Quote
  #16  
Old January 5th, 2004, 01:18 PM
Louieoke Louieoke is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Aug 2002
Location: Arkansas
Posts: 24
Hey Steve???

Stupid question time. If I back them up on Dvd, they (1) will stil be in the .kma format, correct? Also, I assume I would need a Dvd burner to do this as well? Just curious, thanks again.

Louieoke!
Reply With Quote
  #17  
Old January 5th, 2004, 03:57 PM
SteveWalker SteveWalker is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Jan 2002
Posts: 363
Yeah, the files will be in the compressed kma format on DVD and is why you can fit so many files on one DVD. You will need a DVD burner.

Steve
Reply With Quote
  #18  
Old January 5th, 2004, 10:23 PM
flipper flipper is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: Portland, Oregon
Posts: 187
Louieoke

If you have an extra $200 I would recommend purchasing Hoster for your laptop and purchase an external Hard Drive. You will invest some time in importing 1000 discs but it will be well worth it. Prior to purchasing hoster I had my discs in the same storage binders as you are currently using. I used them 4 nights per week over the last few years and even though I handled them with great care they began to wear and crack. Most of the discs that were cracking and degrading were soundchoice. It started to get expensive with replacing them. I too was skeptical about changing over to Hoster partly due to the "unknown" and partly due to the financial investment.

If you already have a P4 Laptop you are way ahead of the game. I was looking at between $1500 and $2500 investment with a new Laptop and Software.

I made the investment and have never regretted it. I have done about 5 shows, and 3 private parties with Hoster and I'm thrilled with the performance, I have yet to touch a disc....yes they are tucked away in my van if I need them. I encourage you to take the plunge with Hoster...you will never go back!!

By the way I use OTS/DJ software for my DJ music and I'm extremely pleased with the results. I looked at and tried other programs but the overall performance of OTS was excellent
you can download a 30 day trial version at www.otsdj.com
they use dynamics signal processing which really enhances the quality of the sound. It gives it a real punch! Anyway it's free to try for a month.

Flipper
Reply With Quote
  #19  
Old January 5th, 2004, 10:49 PM
SteveWalker SteveWalker is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Jan 2002
Posts: 363
I agree that Hoster is the program for Louieoke.
Reply With Quote
  #20  
Old January 6th, 2004, 10:00 AM
S. Parks's Avatar
S. Parks S. Parks is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Louisiana
Posts: 434
External Drive size

Louie,
If you are watching your finances, you could easily put your 1100 disc in a much smaller drive. I have a 120 gig. drive and 1100+ discs and it's not even half full using Hoster. For the $200 bucks Hoster cost, you couldn't even think of buying a decent storage solution to address the problems you mentioned. Someone mentioned the Road cases that Karaoke.com sells, well they quit carying them, because the company that made the case quit making them. I have two that I will sell for cheap if some one wants them. Now I don't even use them, thanks to Hoster. Louie trust me Hoster is the sweetest thing to come to Karaoke in a long time. Your disc will love you for it, and so will your clientel.
__________________
S. Parks
Reply With Quote
Reply


Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)
 
Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off


All times are GMT -4. The time now is 11:32 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.7.1
Copyright ©2009 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
The contents of this forum are copyrighted by Micro Technology Unlimited, 2000-2008. Use of any material from these Forums is prohibited without written agreement from MTU.