Karaoke Forums

Hi folks,

I'm new around here. Saw the "introduce yourself" forum, looked kind of un-necessary so figured I'd just jump in here. I'll forego the talking about myself, hope you all don't mind missing out on that, and answereing a couple of questions:

Years ago before CDs were available I would purchase country soundtracks on cassette by Music Maestro and the production was always excellent. One would suppose their Karaoke CDs would also be as good but before spending $ since the opportunity is available to ask, does anyone here have experience with Music Maestro country music karaoke CDs? How about their 70s Rock sound?

Also, I want to get what I've heard called a "foundation inventory". I saw a good deal (very inexpensive...ok..cheap price) its like 995 songs for $89.95 on Sweet Georgia Brown CDs. Anyone want to comment on that brand? Good? Bad? Trash? or what?


Thanks in advance for your help.
Jimmy Orrell
Monticello, Arkansas

Music Maestro country - decent. Rock sound trash! SGB overall trash (with a few gems according to some that use them, I haven't heard those myself).

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welcome Jimmy...ok the two brands you are speaking of arent the most popular brands around. I use SGB because of their ecclectic mix of songs...jazz and blues and pink floyd, I dont use a lot of MM. Neither are rated by the majority here.

In fact some would rate DK discs (insert projectile vomit here) above

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"Be who you are and say what you feel... Because those that matter... Don't mind...And those that mind... Don't matter."

The only time I will ever use a Music Maestro disc is if I don't have it in any other brand.
Some of the Sweet Georgia Brown stuff is ok, but I only have a few discs. Must be the "gems" that others mention here, but they wouldn't qualify as that in my book. Just passable.
If you want a decent start on the cheap, I recommend the Supercore set. Get the 2008 version. I have it and am pleased with the majority of the stuff on the discs and others have said they are decent for the money.

I'm not a fan of Sweet Georgia Brown CDGs. That's just my opinion though.

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[shadow=pink][glow=deepskyblue]. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
[updown]~*~ MONKEY BUSINESS KARAOKE~*~ [/shadow][/updown][/glow]

Early on I bought a Music Maestro Country Club Pack... 15 discs of just the basics... and it's a good, solid collection. MM's non-country is variable tending to the awful. The absolute worst sounding karaoke track I've ever purchased is MM's "Shoop" (Salt N Pepa). But then again I've got a few solid MM rock ones too.

SGB is definitely a cheap way to get started, and I used the set a lot that first year and a half. Whether you can do the same really depends on the competition in your area. If I had the people in this forum running shows down the street I never would have got away with it.

You'll still see Sweet Georgia Brown on the screen 3-4 times a night in my place. There's some that are really good and because of that I haven't bothered to swap them out. But out of the 65-70 songs done each night... well you get the ratio.

edit: I'll second diafel's suggestion of Supercore for a starter set. It's the only pack I bought early on that I still go to a lot.

MM doo-wop is surprisingly ok. Later rock not so hot. Supercore 08 can be found for $40 on sale at the moment.

The Elvis "Velvet" collection from MM is a must for any Elvis fan MM has this way of reproducing the 70's sound and are way better than SGB So far, I haven't heard one good cdg from SGB, also very poor recording! Isn't MM out of business though

I'll weigh in on the SGB debate. The short version of my opinion is that their whole catalog (basically) for less than $100 is a good starter set for the price. I bought it several years ago and don't regret it.

Compared to something like Sound Choice or Sybersound, SGB's quality lags far behind, and this may make it unappealing for professional KJs. Having said that, I've been to many good shows that feature SGB discs in their collections. Most of the problems I've had stem from the graphics rather than the sound, either because the lyrics are comically inaccurate, or the swipes are not timed correctly, or whatever, but there are some where the sound is not very good either. Overall the quality is better than NuTech or Backstage or a bargain-bin brand like Killer Hits in my opinion, although I admit this isn't saying a great deal. It's definitely hit-or-miss, though: if the songs you want to sing are bad, it doesn't help you that some others are good that you don't care about.

The nice thing is, even if you don't like the collection, you're not out much dough.

I also bought the Supercore collection for about the same price and like it too. You get more songs with the SGB collection but the quality of the Supercore is higher. The nice thing is that there isn't excessive overlap in songs between the two collections, so you might do well to buy both.

For me money was a bigger concern than quality, so the low price was a big factor. If quality is more important to you and you've got plenty of money to spend, go for the Sound Choice Foundations and Bricks.

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Reward: nine yen in drawer.

Supercore, isn't that the old "Hot-Stuff" pack from Nutech If yes, it sure is a great buy, love that pack

SuperCore is comprised of several different brands.

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yep.

Country Hits Monthly
Top or Pop Hits Monthly
Star Disc

just to name a few!

I will say I have the first couple of years that they put those out. I realized I was duping a lot of the songs later so stopped getting them. Good tracks, though!

I agree on the MM Velvet Elvis, also. Couldn't have made the Elvis fans any happier when we got that. The early Elvis versions are fine because his earlier arrangements were a bit funky to begin with. We substitute the Elvis songs from our Sound Choice Foundation for the later years because he had more orchestration then and the MMs fall a bit short there.

Actually, SuperCore is a compilation set, using music from several different sources. The company itself was originally known as KJ Tools. If you have the original KJ Tools set ( which was only 12 discs but has been expanded under the SuperCore label) you will find that all of the versions are exactly the same. I believe the SuperCore set to have the absolute best value/quality:cost ratio.


Music Maestro is reknowned for their Oldies tracks- very good. I have one of their 5 disc country sets....ahh....OK, I guess

I'm one of those that think that SGB does have some terrific tracks- MUCH better than those of the so-called premium brands. They are, however, in the minority. Nevertheless, this set provides a huge range of genre plus tracks hard to find elswhere. I recommend it as an inexpensive starter.

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

" Disc based and loving it..."

I have changed my mind on Music Maestro. While they have some decent tracks, they have many, many, clinkers. They are nowhere near the quality of better brands in general.


Sweet Georgia Brown has decent instrumentals at a higher-than-normal audio level. But their lyrics are terrible.

Overall I consider SGB worth owning if you are on a real budget, but if you want top quality probably you should avoid them.

They do have some songs that no one else has. I am glad I have them, overall, but most songs that get much play I have now replaced the SGB track.

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[color=#ffff55]Mickey J.[/color]
Alas for those who never sing, but die with all their music in them.
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Supercore had nothing to do with KJToolz... KJtoolz was all one single manu (Nutech), where Supercore is a conglomeration of several manus.

Rollino:

May I recommend that you look at SGB in the follwing fashion?

The package includes over 900 tracks. Some of those tracks are not available elsewhere. Some of those tracks are actually the best available for a particular song.

Ask yourself this: Do you believe that you'll be disappointed with your $90 investment? Remember, SC which is worshipped by most people, would provide you 4 discs fro the same dollar investment. And..... do you really believe that you'll want and/or enjoy every track on those 4 discs?

Do yourself a favor and ignore the snobbery. Get the SGB collection.

As an aside, many years ago several people I socialized with were into Karaoke. We had parties and rented the equipment and discs (usually 10 discs). With less than pro equipment and a limited selection we had a blast. While I soon purchased a Singing Machine, a friend purchased a professional 3 drawer karaoke player. With the purchase of that professional unit came the SGB collection. No one ever complained about any of the SGB tracks. We were just out to have a good time and between the discs I had acquired and the SGB discs we had a great time!

Lastly, also see the thread on "Disc Preference". Other than complaints that the recording levels are higher on SGB and some swipes are poor, what other criticism of the product has this thread provided? One person suggested that instrumentally the SGB are good and I wholeheartendly agree. Some justify steering you away from SGB by suggesting that there are better tracks available. So which tracks are they speaking of and which manufacturer are they recommending you get for those tracks?

okay...

this isn't snobbery. It's an opinion. Why do you have to slam other's opinions, rather than just giving your own. That makes it a valid opinion. You enjoyed your purchase.

'nuff said!

MY opinion is ALMOST EVERY TRACK in the 66 disc collection is weak or flat out sucks. I'm not about to list all the bad ones. I just don't have the time NOR inclination. I like a few of them, and have mentioned them in the past.

I AGREE that the $90 investment is good. I personally paid a lot higher for the ones I have. And they were a great investment... THEN. Had I known what I know NOW I wouldn't have gotten them, because my investment was to get GOOD songs for my singers. I'm not a home enthusiast. Again, in my HUMBLE opinion, for that useage, the SGB line and many others are perfectly acceptable.

It depends on your needs.

I will say as a pro host, I ended up replacing almost every SGB track with better or similar manus. Even Backstage tracks over SGB in some cases!

Matt

You agreed with me on the wireless mic thread. My point? You understood that the OP in that thread was desiring something for home use. Meanwhile, many others wanted the OP to "step up" in value.

I believe from what the OP in this thread described he is also a home user.

I also realize that for any given track anyone can argue/disagree as to what is the better rendition. The OP didn't ask for the best; he asked if SGB is worth the investment. Some have posted herein that the SGB collections is "trash". I don't think it's anywhere near trash, even speaking of it in its entirety. So, I can only conclude that there is some "snobbery" involved in using such terminology.

Diafel praised the Pink Floyd material. So clearly she doesn't find the total collecion to be trash. Morgan likes some of it as well!

So, if I like the SGB collection and have never intentionally tried to replace any of the included tracks, specifically, I guess I just don't know any better?

Lastly, I and my business partner really like DK. Now, consider the "debate" going on at this time regarding DK on the "Chartbuster" thread. What accounts for that? Is it simply a matter of people who thinks SC is the greatest? Or is DK really and simply "trash" and I don't get it?

yes, you can find a FEW tracks in the SGB collection that are good or at least OK... but over 900 tracks and you only like a FEW?

That warrents the opinion it's "trash" in my honest opinion.

I'll tell you what gets my goat... going to a supposedly pro show, and seeing these tracks played... and you realize the majority of those in their book are made up of the more inferior manufacturers.

I freely admit I have some SGB in my collection. At least three songs I prefer those versions. That's not saying a LOT about SGB! !

Same thing about Chartbuster... it's only been RECENTLY that their pop and rock stuff was pretty good. Mostly their reputation has been if you like Country, then buy CB! I've heard more kjs bemoan the Essentials discs than any other Pro core set because of the serious weakness of the pop and rock. I've only got eight CB discs... two of which I bought on a whim. Passible is ALL I would ever say of those. So frankly, when the more recent posts claiming CB had gotten better at the Pop and Rock stuff, I was very Skeptical.

But then, I also trust the people that are reviewing these.

I learned a LOT about hardware, software and music by being a member of these kind of forums, associating with people so I don't have to reinvent the wheel.