Hoster DJ Question

[karaoke koyote]

I currently am thinking about adding Hoster as I know it is being used elsewhere, and came recommended.

How is it for DJ work? I usually use a crossfader to go from Karaoke to regular music inbetween singers, and filler when singer count is low.

Does Hoster support this kind of application?

[swany]

Yes it does, after you go to using a PC you will find life just got a whole lot easier. Changing key for your singers is a mouse click away. You search for your songs and put them in a stack file and simple click on them and click the play button. On your screen their song and the singers name is right in front of you. Say a singer comes up and wants to change to a different song, simply type in the songs name in your search double click it and click play. You can build a songbook without numbers if you like. To start with you can use whatever you are using now and just tell your singers to fill the song and artists name no numbers.

Been using Hoster for three years now, would not care to ever go back to spinning disks.

I have converted all my karaoke to the hoster format, and have converted all my dj music to compressed wma. Currently I am using hoster for karaoke and windows media player for dj. I leave all of them open and a simple mouse click to move from one to the other.

From what I'm reading in the hoster forum, version 4.000 is soon to come out (May 31) and is a lot easier to use switching from kj to dj. I am looking fwd to this version.

Can't really say enough about hoster other than it is the best.

[karaoke koyote]

That would be nice, but I have to say that in order for it to work right they need to add in a virtual cross fader.

Right now I use a DJ mixer between my two players. One has regular music, and the other if for karaoke. The crossfader allows me ease from one player to the other... its just to abrupt to stop a song in the middle to go the the karaoke... or just "jump" into the middle of a song.

The "filler" music I play is based on the bar and the crowd. I try to play songs I think people would like to sing, or popular artists, etc.

I have gotten so many compliments with this. There is no "dead air" between singers while the next performer walks up, and it gets people in the right mood.

The best compliment I ever got was that I "Run the show like a KJ with a DJ mind."

It would be nice to get rid of all the disks and do everything from the computer, but switching between Hoster and a Music Player doesn't quite cut it for me.

[admin]

Hoster 4.00 is just around the corner for release. We ALREADY have added new features to convert your AUDIO DJ songs, and VIDEO VJ songs to KMA format and add them into the Database for easy location and adding to the Playlist.

We also have an automated "INTERMISSIONS" Screen that will trigger whenever silence would exist, such as after a CDG song finishes playing and you haven't triggered another, or you are on Auto Play with a delay between songs to give the singers time to come on stage. This INTERMISSION "page" allows you to select a folder of audio and/or video files to select through (random, sequential, latest first, oldest first) and play. By May 30, we hope to have cross fade implemented so your audio will automatically fade for you.

[swany]

Now that sounds good.

[karaoke koyote]

Originally Posted by admin

Hoster 4.00 is just around the corner for release. We ALREADY have added new features to convert your AUDIO DJ songs, and VIDEO VJ songs to KMA format and add them into the Database for easy location and adding to the Playlist.

We also have an automated "INTERMISSIONS" Screen that will trigger whenever silence would exist, such as after a CDG song finishes playing and you haven't triggered another, or you are on Auto Play with a delay between songs to give the singers time to come on stage. This INTERMISSION "page" allows you to select a folder of audio and/or video files to select through (random, sequential, latest first, oldest first) and play. By May 30, we hope to have cross fade implemented so your audio will automatically fade for you.

Oh man!!! Now that is EXACTLY what I'm talking about! Beautiful!!! I'm in!

[karaoke koyote]

Originally Posted by admin

Hoster 4.00 is just around the corner for release. We ALREADY have added new features to convert your AUDIO DJ songs, and VIDEO VJ songs to KMA format and add them into the Database for easy location and adding to the Playlist.

We also have an automated "INTERMISSIONS" Screen that will trigger whenever silence would exist, such as after a CDG song finishes playing and you haven't triggered another, or you are on Auto Play with a delay between songs to give the singers time to come on stage. This INTERMISSION "page" allows you to select a folder of audio and/or video files to select through (random, sequential, latest first, oldest first) and play. By May 30, we hope to have cross fade implemented so your audio will automatically fade for you.

I'm looking at purchasing the laptop/ hoster combo in the middle of June. Will the newer version come bundled with the laptop?

[karaoke koyote]

One other question, does the laptop USB that you sell bundles with Hoster allow for USB audio interface? My AMP has an input for USB audio.