Karaoke Forums

Hi All!! Right now am using a da8900 amp for karaoke 600 watts. It is a mixer and amp all in one unit. My question is about mixer boards. Are the vocopro boards any good. I am thinking about going to separate mixer and amp for my next set up. I have been using the vocopro amp and mixer all in one for 10 years with only one repair. And according to my customers it sounds better than the other dj who has pro equipment. Thanks for any recomendations. You guys are the best!!!

VocoPro usually has a bad rep (good for repairs, but bad because you have to repair them). The only thing I ever liked about Vocopro is their video mixer and a wireless dual microphone... but for amps and mixers and players??? ((Oh My) (to paradoy the Wizard of Oz!)

No, my recommendation is to go with a more professional quality amp and mixer!

PM - I think you are better off staying away from Vocopro for pro applications. One for the quality , the other BIGGER reason is PRICE.

When compared to some of the PRO AUDIO manufactures you will find them MUCH higher for items like POWER AMPS and MIXERS. They do have some KARAOKE features you will only find on their products. If you've had luck with them ...stay with them.... Just be forwarned The majority will give them a less than acceptable rating when asked

I second that. Back in the day I started out with Vocopro equipment, not knowing any better. I think, every single piece of equipment stopped working sooner or later. The player itself I had to return 4 times.

IMO stay away from Vocopro, put a little more money down and get quality equipment. It pays on the long run.

Just FYI, they list an absolute maximum (peak) rating at the lowest stable ohms to give the illusion you are getting a nice powerful amp. The amp section actually only pushes approx 75-100 watts per channel into 8 ohms which most speakers are rated at. Even at 4 ohms, it's 'continuous' power is 150 watts per channel.



Agree with everyone else, I wouldn't use VP equipment if they gave it to me free for endorsement returns.
Get a good mixer like Mackie, Yamaha, etc. As for the amp, what speakers are you going to be running. This will make a difference on how much power the amp should actually puch for maximum efficiency and really bringing the sound out!

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

I'll give you another view. If you are comfortable the the VocoPropowered mixer, you should take a look at the Audio 2000 AKJ7050. It's virtually identical, but with a slightly better power rating ( 180w /side @ 8 ohms RMS), a better repair record, ( it's internal passive components are of a better quality than VocoPro), at a much lower price.

The reason that your customers like your sound over "Pro" equipment is that in many cases the "pro" stuff is really made for straight DJ work, without all that's needed for Karaoke.

BTW- I put "pro" in quotes, because if your equipment has been successful for you in profeessional venues for years, that it IS "PRO" equipment. Snobbery runs rampant, but it doen't change the truth...

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"No Contests, No Divas, Just A Good Time!"

" Disc based and loving it..."

allow me to BACK the akj amp mentioned above. I've actually had compliments on the clear quality of the sound using it, as opposed to a "pro" mixer. I started out with the AKJ, loved it so much I bought another, and I STILL have that second one after ten years. I bought a third one when the first FINALLY died.

Well, I don't much trust untrained ears myself. I have been now to 160+ different karaoke shows across the US and Canada. Consistently the best sound is not from "karaoke mixer" and "karaoke amp" setups. It is from pro audio equipment set up properly, with pro (Shure/Sennheiser/AKG/Audix) mics, and with pro speakers (EV, QSC, Mackie, JBL, Peavey, and even Behringer). The karaoke mixer and amps don't have proper EQ and they can't handle compression.

I recommend the Yamaha boards because they do compression and have easy-to-use and decent effects. Combine them with an equalizer (I like the DBX Driverack) and some powered speakers, and you will have the best-sounding setups out there. Really top pro level.

I currently run a Yamaha MG166CX or MG124CX with DBX Driverack PA and Yorkville powered speakers. Or a lower-level Behringer setup. I use Shure and Sennheiser mics. Pro singers and band players complement me on my sound and say it is some of the best they have heard. Previous to me, one club had a single-amp mixer setup and they didn't know what they were missing until they had something better.

And I learned most of the basics here at this group. And in some cases should have taken the advice of Lonman and LondonLive sooner than I did. But I took a lot of their advice and have by far the best karaoke sound in my area. Even if I am bragging a bit.

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[color=#ffff55]Mickey J.[/color]
Alas for those who never sing, but die with all their music in them.
-- Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.

but your bragging is at the advantage over those of us that DO use "karaoke" equipment. I've been doing this a LOT longer than you, yet the only time I voice my opinoin on threads like this is when people DISS the very equipment I use.

You're opinion is duly noted, and while it may work for you, I would challenge my sound against anybody that doubted it. It's all in how trained your ear is. Just because you buy the "pro" equipment, doesn't mean that your show will immediately sound great.

Same goes to those that have the "karaoke" equipment.

I'll take that challenge

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

You are essentially dissing the pro equipment and people who use it by your statement, suggesting that it is not necessary and someone using it is affecting superiority for its sake.

When you suggest that in sufficiently magical and expert hands the provably inferior karaoke equipment with bass-treble equalization is as good, you are bragging that you can somehow make a silk purse from a sow's ear.

My stuff doesn't sound good only because of my increasingly skilled hands and ear. It sounds good because, set up at least competently, it is inherently better than a karaoke amp.

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[color=#ffff55]Mickey J.[/color]
Alas for those who never sing, but die with all their music in them.
-- Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.

In the right room, in the right hands, karaoke equipment CAN sound great.
Some people have good ears and know how to mix. Others not so much.
Just as in the same room, (or any room for that matter) pro equipment can sound like crap.
Too powerful a system for a small room and you have massive problems trying to balance the singers vs the music, probable feedback problems because you can't turn it down low enough, etc, etc.
All other things being equal, it all depends on if you are choosing the RIGHT equipment for the job.
Here's an analogy:
I have a coloring book. I use crayons to color the picture and I'm able to keep within the lines and use the approriate colors for the right objects.
Now I can hand my 2 year old the most expensive oil paints on the market. Will it be a better job?
Probably not.
She's physically not able to do it.
Will I do a better job?
Probably, but which picture do you think will look better, all other things being equal?
I'm betting the one with crayons, because it's appropriate for the medium while the oil paints will probably bleed through the paper, they tend to run together given the small surface space, etc.
I think you may get the idea.
Professional equipment, while nice to have, is not the ONLY way, nor is it always the BEST way.
You don't use a sledge hammer to hang a picture nail on a wall.......

Edit: BTW: I use pro equipment but have attended shows that use karaoke stuff and it's been fine.

In the right room? Please. I know rooms make a difference. But we don't have real control of that. Nor even any idea of what would be real good until we play it.


I agree. You can't make a silk purse from a sow's ear there, either.


There I disagree completely. If you can make a "karaoke amp" sound good in the room, you can make a pro audio setup sound good.


I disagree again. Unless you are talking EAW arrays, that is. There will be no problem with feedback if the system is set up properly.


A "karaoke amp" is never the right equipment compared to pro audio equipment. Unless the problem is that the operator is simply not able to handle more than two knobs. If that is the case, a karaoke mixer amp can be the right equipment. It still won't sound great.


It is the only way to have a top sound. You can have perhaps a competent but lilmited sound with lesser setups.


Fine is not great.

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[color=#ffff55]Mickey J.[/color]
Alas for those who never sing, but die with all their music in them.
-- Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.

No, I'm NOT! I'm just tired of snobs that say it's INFERIOR. Lonman knows great sound, and you don't see him harping like a... well, HARPY! ! He just does it without dismissing those of us that have used this equipment and KNOW how to use it.

Never said it WASN'T! YOu LOVE to put comments in other people's thoughts, or at least infer where there ISN'T anything to infer. All I EVER said is my sound is GOOD. I've NEVER had any complaints about the sound, and as I said, I've been doing this a LOT longer than you.

SPIN THAT!

mckyj57, obviously you don't have any kind of extensive varied experience with varied equipment or you wouldn't have wasted your time posting arguments.
As for sounding "fine", I wish you hadn't twisted the meaning of my words.
Granted, some things will sound better than others in some situations, AS I HAVE SAID, but in my experience, too big a system for the venue DOES sound like crap.
Why would you overdo something to get "great" sound that only dogs could tell the differnce between and in the process ruin the whole thing?
Just because you think your system is the best job for everything, doesn't mean it is.
Just because you wish something is true, doesn't make it so.
I'll just leave it at that and hope you do too.

Some people have ten years of experience, some people have one year of experience ten times over. I try to be the first.

I never said your stuff didn't sound good. I have heard karaoke amps sound good. I said that I had visited many shows and that consistently the best sound was not from karaoke amps. And you somehow had a problem with me stating that experience.

I didn't even say that karaoke amps had consistently bad sound. The worst sound I have heard is from all types of equipment where people didn't seem to know how to place speakers. When you put them on the floor, it is going to sound bad no matter what you do. You can mix your heart out and no one will even be able to tell. Ran into one of those shows tonight. The smartest person was the singer who figured out to sit on the edge of the stage -- probably the only place you could hear yourself. And she was the only one who could hear the music properly, that is for sure.

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[color=#ffff55]Mickey J.[/color]
Alas for those who never sing, but die with all their music in them.
-- Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.

I won't agree with you as I believe you are wrong, but will otherwise let you have the last word.

_________________
[color=#ffff55]Mickey J.[/color]
Alas for those who never sing, but die with all their music in them.
-- Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.

If you look at the specs note the thd% ratings. That will definitely make a difference especially in the high frequencies.

Hi pm4877

I knew what the responses were going to be to your question about VocoPro as soon as I read it. Everybody in this forum who has "been doing this for years", tried VocoPro years ago, and had a bad experience, so for them it is forever crap.

I use a VocoPro KJ-7800Pro mixer with a Crown amp. I even use VocoPro UHF-5800 microphones on my system. I have yet to hear a system that sounds better than mine, and I karaoke at as many different places, on as many nights as possible. The music sounds great, and the vocals are perfect.

The VocoPro KJ-7800Pro is a great mixer, and I love the video crossfading. Just use another brand amp, like a crown. If you get the VocoPro Amp, you are paying for the name. There are many brands of nice amps at guitar center that you can always pick up on sale most times.

Felix the KJ

Yup, as previously noted, most of the "pro" equipment being used out there is woefully inadequate for karaoke, such as the Yamaha mixers. Very nice for straight DJ work, but almost useless for karaoke. Just not enough there...

_________________
"No Contests, No Divas, Just A Good Time!"

" Disc based and loving it..."