Karaoke Forums

Say you have $1000.00 to start a small karaoke show, how would you go about building a 'good' system

Say you have $3000.00................

$5000.00?

I'd like to see the various answers on this as far as Equipment Only, I'm asking because I was recently offered a j-o-b running a Bar in another state, they are asking me if I take the job to set up several things, Karaoke being one of them, they want Quality at a Fair price, the owners are personal friends so I will be passing along all my gathered info to them regardless of whether I take the job or not................ Peace, S.

oh boy this could get interesting.

Just keep in mind "opinions are like buttholes, everyone has one and they all stink"


My personal philosophy is buy the absolute best quality you can afford. Most of the money I have spent in the last five years has been on cords. I started off buying cheaper stuff and the expense of consistently replacing them got tedious.

If your friends can afford it, I would buy some midrange powered cabinets and a subwoofer with an active crossover. This way you get a three way system *night and day difference in my opinion* and if something goes its easier to replace stuff.

As to brand that really depends on your budget. I have always been a fan of EV but their stuff tends to be on the expensive side.

I started out with a pair of 600W behringers and was perfectly happy with their performance until I was stupid enough to drop one on my foot! That's when I switched to a passive setup!


I will leave the rest to the 'real' experts. good luck

-James

OK So the budget doesn't include Karaoke tracks? Alright here's my thought process.

$1,000 - Personally I'd never start a business without sufficient budget to get it running. To me $1,000 isn't enough to start a Karaoke business. However, if a gun was held to my head and I had to do something here's what I'd do.

Carvin XP800-L LM12 Complete System: http://www.carvinguitars.com/products/s ... 12&cid=101

Use the remaining budget to get any other misc cables, speaker stands, mic stands, lyrics monitor and stand. I also better have a PC or laptop lying around already that I can use as a player.


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$3,000 - well now we're getting closer to a budget that makes some sense.

Now I'm thinking I can get a halfway decent PA and with vocal monitor and all. Now I'd probably look at inexpensive powered speakers (probably Carvin), a Yamaha MG series desk (likely the 12 channel version), probably a small powered wedge for vocal monitor, SM58 mics, and all the associated cables, stands, and such. If I have money left then I'd look at adding a powered sub-woofer too.

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$5,000 - OK still not going to be a great PA but you can do some real damage now.

QSC K12's with KSub, Still the Yamaha MG series Desk, SM58 wired mics, small cheap powered wedge for vocal monitor (maybe a Mackie or Behringer product), all the wires and such, probably now could afford a dedicated PC/Laptop. If there's money left after all the accessories and such are in place, then I'd probably look at getting a DBX 166XL or similar 2-channel compressor and maybe a good outboard multi-effects unit (TC-Electronics or similar).

The simple thought process here is whatever you get, make sure you get the priorities first and remember you can always add on later. IMHO you're better off getting higher quality components rather than going super cheapo just so you can have all the features (i.e. get a nice PA before you get things like a vocal monitor or outboard effects units, etc). The Yamaha desks are an outstanding value, sound great and I would probably still buy one even with a $10,000 budget. That's a good board and you can save that money to be used elsewhere. Get the big ticket items (Speakers and Amps) out of the way first, you can always add the cheaper stuff (outboard processors, monitors, etc) later on.

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DJ Tony
Let It Rip Karaoke

If I had to start a karaoke biz tomorrow, and only had $1,000 to spend on the PA system, my pick would be the $1199 deal at Musicians Friend.

For $1200, you get a Yamaha EMX512SC 8-channel, 2x500W powered mixer with digital effects, 2 JBL JRX115 2-way loudspeakers, 2 - 20' speaker cables, 4 AKG D 8000 S microphones, 4 - 20' mic cables, and 2 speaker stands.

A hair over your entry $1000 budget, but it's a very solid and capable package.

If you're really on a budget, go used. Lots of deals to be found at area music stores, pawn shops, and Craigslist. Buying used is not for the beginner.. you really have to know what you're looking at and have a very solid idea of what the values are, or you could end up paying way too much for junk.

My personal favorite setup is a Mackie board, Sure SM58 mics, QSC amps, BBE Sonic Maximizer, and JBL speakers.

Keep in mind the PA itself is just 1/3 of the karaoke equation.. you'll still need a computer with a decent audio interface, AND a library of karaoke songs.

Remember the computer you buy will also have to have two video outs.. I like laptops for this, because most decent laptops will have an S-Video output as well as a SVGA output.

If you go with a desktop computer, you can save a few bucks. If you're only going to use the system in one bar, and set up in a booth of some sort, the desktop PC is the more economical way to go.. just remember you'll need something with S-Video out, or a second video card.

If you're not familiar with the inner workings of a computer, you're probably best advised to go to a computer store instead of a big box store for this.. since most off the shelf PC's don't have dual video capabilities, and getting dual video isn't always as easy as dropping in a second video card.. unless of course that second video card has dual capabilities on it's own.

Over the years i've bought many discs new, but most of my discs i've bought from other KJ's getting out of the biz.. storage locker auctions.. pawn shops and eBay.

It was easier to get used discs cheap several years ago, because most KJs were still using all discs. They thought I was an idiot for paying them money for their scratched discs. Some guys would even GIVE me discs as they replaced them.

Since i'm all digital, it's ok if the discs have seen a little road use.. I only need to be able to read and rip 'em the one time.

But if something happened today and I needed to replace my entire library at new retail.. I can't even guess.

The quick and dirty to get songs fast would be to score a Sweet Georgia Brown 67 disc set off eBay.. $60 for 1,000 songs that'll get you going with a decent song selection, then build your collection from there with Top Hits Monthy discs and buying Chartbuster and Soundchoice packs.

It is a matter of how much you already have.

To run a computer based show you probably need a good laptop $500-600, $100 for a hard drive and $100 for hosting software. Throw in 2 external TV monitors, stand, and associated cables/splitters for about 300.

This brings the hardware to $1100 for the non-sound part of the hardware setup.
I would not spend any less than this, but there is not much reasont to spend a lot more than this on this part. If you wish to go disk based it can be done for a lot less at this point, and if you already own a decent laptop that can save some money.

Of course that pretty much makes the $1000 system not much of an option.

I would go with at least 2 mics (shure sm58s), and a mixer board for about $400 combined.

If you are going to play in a large bar wireless mics could be considered, but in a small setting they probably are not needed.

By now the total is up to $1500 without the speakers. ONe can get a decent pair of Mackie 450s for that price along with stands and various cables.

Beyond that it really depends on how much sound your venue needs. I think that really depends on the size of the venue.

The important thing to remember to run a karaoke show is about $1100 PLUS the cost of the PA in hardware.

Well since you stated 'equipment only', I am going to go with the belief that you already have the music.
$1000 - i'd probably either get a B52 Matrix - saw it on sale now for $700 (cheaper if you want to get a 'blemish' item with full guarantee & waranty) with a Mackie ProFx 8 mixer or
http://www.pssl.com/Small-Powered-Mackie-PA-System-

$3000 - Mackie Mixer - ProFx12, dbx Driverack PX, EV SXA100PLUS powered cabs, Mackie SRM1801 powered sub, 2 Shure SM58 mics, I would most likely search for a used compressor for the mics - likely a dbx 166 or similar. I would want maximum sound out front first. This would leave little to no budget for a monitor, nor cords - although where I get my gear locally if I bought an entire PA like that, they usually would throw in the cords.

$5000 - Mackie 1642VLZ3 mixer, dbx Driverack PA, Lexicon MX200 effects, TC Electronic M350 effects, 2 QSC K12 powered speakers, QSC Ksub powered sub, 2 Shure SM58 mics, dbx 166XL compressor for mics, a powered floor monitor of some sort. Again just equipment no cords.

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LIKE Lonman on Facebook - Lonman Productions Karaoke & my main site via my profile!

Lonman: I have a trio that sings with me regularly. Would you recommend the dbx 1046 or two 166XL's?

What is the insert signal chain for your effects and compression for those?

Just curious

1046. 1 space as opposed to 2 & a little more 'musical' of a compressor. Each channel has it's own in/out. You would need an insert cable, 4 4 channels may as well get an insert cabale snake - cheaper then getting 4 individual cables. The single 1/4" TRS end will plug into the mixers insert jack, the two corresponding 1/4" plugs will go into the input & output of a channel on the compressor.
The effects are not in this loop, those should be on an Aux send/return loop.

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LIKE Lonman on Facebook - Lonman Productions Karaoke & my main site via my profile!

On the Aux send/return for effects, okay. Currently I use an MG12CX for a mixer but am looking at a second setup and looking to move the sound quality up a notch. Already use the QSC setup for speakers so that's the lions share of things right there.