Karaoke Forums

Hey all!

Any of you that's been reading my posts lately know that purchased a new karaoke system last month. It has worked out well, and my goal to have one of the absolute BEST karaoke systems seems to have worked.

Word had gotten around quickly on how much fun my system is to sing on, and my singer are way up!!

I did so well on St Patty's day, that the owner at one of my venues asked for my help in regards to advice on the proposal they were getting from a "professional audio installer."

The guy intially came back with a $12,000 proposal + install, and now it is at $13,000. The owner is just shaking his head in frustration... he doesn't have that kind of money for the system. At his beckoning, I gave him some ideas, but I am at a loss for a certain component, and need help.

The jist is that the house system needs to be "mixerless", because all that will be played through it during business hours is the satallite radio, but the DJ or KJ can just jack into it with their equipment.

What I think I need is some type of passive XLR/ line level "A/B Switch" with a level control... with XLR and RCA inputs on the back, and XLR inputs on the front. Rack mountable too!

Does such an animal even exist or am I just dreaming. HELP!

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Good music, good friends, howling good times!

A passive mixer is just a resistor network and can be built for less than 5$. L pads can also be incorporated. For a consult I would need a list of the units involved and hookup desired. Also size and layout of the club.

I am currently working with a system pull which of course is used but I am shopping out all the amps and testing. It takes longer but used can usually be bought for half price unless it is higher end stuff. Check Ebay pawn shops and Craig's list for bargains.

I could put in a fairly decent system for 13k and warranty it for 3 months or so. Give me the specs of the bar and we will go from there..

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I am suggest they go with active speakers. actually, with a little work, I think I've found what I want:

http://www.violetaudio.com/index.php?op ... view&id=20

The remote is nice since the staff will be able to remotely control volume and other functions.

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Good music, good friends, howling good times!

I would tell him to buy a simple line mixer and an EQ with a limiting circuit and then label the mute switches / volume knobs "TV", "DJ," "XM RADIO," and so on. For $12k the guy that owns your venue must have a pretty big place, or that salesman is selling him a lot more components than this, or .. he is a con artist!

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Jeff Wheeler, moonlight DJ/KJ

I agree, hence the reason I got the gig. I do NOT want to put a mixer in this system for several reasons.

1) When there is no DJ or KJ, all that this system will do is play satellite music, and the ball game, and barmaids will be operating the system. It needs to be basic... i.e. a volume control....

2) When the DJ or KJ arrives with their equipment, all they need to is jack THEIR mixer into the system.

I am convinced that the ADP61 Studio AV Preamp Decoder unit is the way to go, and while I think this might be slightly overkill, it fits the bill nicely, and has enough inputs that anything they may want to do in the future this will allow for it, and any DJ/KJ will be able to use it as well.

Obviously, since they want me to be able to run vocals through it, and use it for the DJ as well a 70 volt line system is impractical. I could go with passives and two amplifiers (or one big one), but active speakers add a ton of flexibility, and simplifies the overall build significantly.

With speakers, wall mounts, cable, the preamp, rack, sonic maximizer, and various hardware the system cost comes to about $4800.

Thoughts?

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Good music, good friends, howling good times!

That is like a home theater A/V receiver and costs about $1200. Does he need the video capabilities? If not, I can't imagine why you would avoid the supposed complexity of a simple line mixer and EQ with limiter (tune system to room properties, keep DJs/etc from damaging speakers) which is not hard for a bar-back to turn a couple knobs or push a couple switches to change from TV to DJ, but that A/V receiver is a better solution? Maybe I don't understand what he wants it for.

A line mixer would still get used by the KJ or DJ just as an output from their own mixer. I am not suggesting something complex or bigger than 1 - 2 U.

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Jeff Wheeler, moonlight DJ/KJ

You're saying "line mixer" which really means nothing. Give me an example of what you're talking about.. a model or a link to follow, and then maybe I could compare.

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Good music, good friends, howling good times!

Means a lot to me. It is a simple, sometimes rack mounted, mixer which doesn't have mic preamps. It is designed to mix line-level signals.



http://www.zzounds.com/item--BEHMX400
http://pro-audio.musiciansfriend.com/pr ... X&ZYXSEM=0

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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.

Yeah, that's completely off the radar for what I'm talking about mick... way too basic... which is why I said "line mixer" means nothing to me... the term is so generic its meaningless. I need specifics, which is why I listed the product that I did, as an example of the feature I want. So far, the AV control that I listed is the only thing that really does everything I need it to do.

I've already configured in a 70 volt line system to run the outdoor system... And even with the AV controler at $1195 the total system looks like this:

Upstairs System

2x JBL Eon 315s $998
3x JBL Eon10 G2s $1497
Cable $250
Rack $400
5x Wall Mount $350
Sonic Maximizer $189
Audio ADP61 Studio
AV Preamp Decoder $1195



Downstairs

1x JBL Eon 315 $499
1x Wall Mount Bracket $70


Outdoor System

70 Volt 200 watt amp $300
4x 70 volt all weather
Speakers $280
Speaker Wire $70

Patch Cables $100

Various Hardware $100

Total System Price: $6298

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Good music, good friends, howling good times!

Had my meeting with the bar owners, and I got the job! Whahoo!

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Good music, good friends, howling good times!

Ok Add a driverack to your list. With a Drive rack you can run all 3 zones and up to 6 zones from one location.

I suggest a 4820 for an install.

http://www.prosoundservice.com/m9_view_ ... ack%204820

You could get away with a 260 though.

http://www.avgiant.com/dbx-Driverack-26 ... rol-System

The key here is not to swat a fly with a house. This little number does exactly what the bar owner wants the system to do, and won't scare the barmaid when she needs to change progams or adjust the volume. Note the price tag. I spent a lot of time going over this one before going this.

http://www.fullcompass.com/product/242782.html

3K is way overpriced for this little bar. Its got 3 zones, and the want to be able to run the DVD, Sat Radio, and or the game(s) in any of those zones. This will do exactly that, inexpensively and easily. It has an option to run a remote control to a zone, so if they want to add that at a later time they can.

I love the flexibility of this thing. It uses the Euroblock connectors so I can use XLR, 1/4" or RCA, and run mono or stereo! I'm running two stereo lines one rca, and one XLR, and the third will be a mono XLR run to the small downstairs bar.

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Good music, good friends, howling good times!