Karaoke Forums

I'm trying to put together a cheap karaoke system for use at a party in a couple weeks. I have the option to rent all the necessary equipment, but it would cost ~$70, and I'm hoping for about the same price or even a little more I can buy the necessary things so I will have something to show for my money spent (a friend has a guitar amp I can use so no expense necessary for that). Since it will only be used once in a blue moon and only needs to be decent, I think this should be possible, but there's still much I can't figure out, so I need your help.

I'm planning on using a laptop, but the biggest thing I'm having trouble with is trying to determine if it's possible to use software to mix the mic inputs (2 mics ideally, but 1 would suffice if necessary) with the music, or if I need a hardware mixer to do this, and the computer and software are only for the music and text. If it is possible to do it all with the computer, what software can do this, and what hardware requirements (i.e. onboard sound and maybe an external usb sound card) are there?

Also, for my needs, whether done with software or hardware, how important would it be to get a compressor?

I would use a hardware mixer, such as an Alexis model.

Go to zzounds and look for mixers there. You don't need much to be able to do this.

Something like
http://www.zzounds.com/item--BEHXENTX802

This has two mic inputs, and two other inputs for devices.

I highly recommend you take the sound out of the computer (if that's what you're playing the music off of), and use another behringer product to pipe the music from your pc to the mixer...

http://www.zzounds.com/item--BEHUCA202

turns the usb output into a rca input.

No to the mixing on a laptop. You need a mixer of some type. The cheapest one you can get that has effects (known as echo to home users) is about $90, the Behringer Xenyx 1002FX.

A guitar amp would sort of work, I suppose, but it wouldn't be my choice.

$70.00 just doesn't buy you much. One halfway-decent mic costs that. I think that you would be better off renting, then eventually budgeting $400.00 or more for a basic home setup (something like the Phonic PowerPod 720).

for the graphics....

http://www.karaoke-forum.com/viewtopic.php?t=13714

I explain this about halfway down the page of that thread.

You'll need a video card that has a secondary video port, such as S-Video.

I was actually looking at http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?parentPage=search&summary=summary&cp=&productId=2102920&accessories=accessories&kw=mixer&techSpecs=techSpecs&currentTab=techSpecs&custRatings=custRatings&sr=1&features=features&origkw=mixer&support=support&tab=summary for the mixer, I know it doesn't have any effects, but it's cheap, well-reviewed, easy to use, and performs the basic function of mixing and controlling the separate inputs' volumes. For what I want to do, that should be good enough. What do you guys think?

I'm thinking http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?parentPage=search&pg=6&summary=summary&cp=&accessories=accessories&productId=2123173&kw=microphone&techSpecs=techSpecs&currentTab=techSpecs&custRatings=custRatings&searchSort=TRUE&features=features&sr=1&y=10&retainProdsInSession=1&origkw=microphone&support=support&s=A-StorePrice-RSK&x=16&tab=summary for the mic. Once again, nothing spectacular, but for what I need, I'm thinking it should be adequate.

I'm confused about the USB converter. Why not just take the sound out of the line out or headphone jack?

Also, how important is a compressor? How much of a difference would it make, and would it be "important" for what I want to do or not really?

Even if it costs more than $70, if it's not too much more it would be worth it because then I would have some hardware to build upon. Then next year, instead of spending another $70, I could add to it by maybe buying a better speaker, something like http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2103338&cp=&sr=1&origkw=pa+speaker&kw=pa+speaker&parentPage=search. Eventually, I could build a somewhat decent system instead of just throwing away money in rentals. It seems reasonable to me, and while I know the quality won't be great, I also know that people spend $50-200 on full karaoke systems like the ones from Wal-Mart and are satisfied, so I would think this would be even better, since the money would be spent on the audio and not on the monitor and karaoke part of those systems, since I have my computer for that. Then again, I'm still very new at this, and could be way off, which is why I'm here.

As for the computer side and the video, I've got that under control. I work with computers as a hobby and a part-time job (in college). I'll probably just use the laptop's display, but if we do it inside instead of outside it is easily hooked to the TV.

Thank you everyone for your replies, hopefully with your continued help I will be able to get something figured out.

I've found the sound is clearer and crisper when coming out usb than using the lineout. With the lineout you have to use a 1/8" to RCA converter. More than one PC I used in the past had a lot of interferance with that. Also, many times the onboard sound device is inadequate. The USB bypasses all that.