Karaoke Forums

Hi ppl from washington state looking for equipment answers
i have a pa system old ross mixer 2 amps a peavey and a ross
a dbx dual eqs, a dbx crossover, 2 18inch black widow subs,
2 yamaha stage  monitors, 2 ev 15 inch  top speakers with horns,
heres the problem we use this with karaoke and djing and sometimes the vocals
just dont sound verry good, i am trying to figure out what would be the best
mixer to use with what i have for what im using it for?and do i need some sort of digital processor? thanks for any help     joe

I suspect that playing a lot of DJ, your frequencies around 2.5K are back in the pack. I recommend these things in the order of their importance:

  1. Boost your midrange eq on your mic channels. Most DJ mixers won't have this, so you need a proper mixer. What needs boosted depends on the mic and the singer, but most seem to just want the high and low flat and the mid boosted on the mixers I have used.
  2. A slight peak on your EQ somewhere between 2 and 4 K, boosts intelligibility of lyrics. You can actually hear them come out as you adjust it just a few Db.
  3. An external effects processor. The reason for the external effects processor compared to the internal is not so much the quality of the reverbs -- though they are better -- but that you can then run your FX send through an EQ channel and roll off the frequencies below 3K. That makes the effect brighter -- delay on low frequencies makes things very muddy.

Combine those measures with compression on the mic channels and the difference should be significant.

Thanks for the help, could you suggest a good mixer? and a good effects processor
thanks again for the help, We do alot of karaoke in smaller clubs around 200 ppl

If you are going to always run stereo, look at the Yamaha MG124C (or the X which adds effects). It has compression on the first four mic channels, which saves you having to get a compressor. Unfortunately, I found after buying it that it has no mono out. So I can't run my most common configuration easily, which is mono.  So I went back to my Behringer PMH3000 and dedicated the mixer to a fixed install which is stereo.

A lot of people will recommend Mackie CFX mixers, and they are no doubt a good choice if a bit pricy. Quite a few people get good results with Behringer mixers, though you will hear people here trash them sometimes. I see a lot of them and hear good comments from some people I respect, and own a lot of Behringer stuff that has worked well for me, so I like them. The 2422FX or 1832FX seem good for high-end karaoke. All those allow mono out and have inserts so that you can get a compressor hooked in. I use the Behringer MDX1600 two-channel compressor.

For effects, it depends on how much you want to spend. For $200.00 or less, I think the clear choice is the Lexicon MX200.