Karaoke Forums

I ran across a thread recently where a guy was aking what discs to but to get started and I can't remember how it was titled to do a search. I am looking to determine which discs are good for filling in my collection. I have a bout 3500 songs and I am flavored very heavy on the country side. I wnat to add more country but mostly pop, rock and party songs. I know that SC is the best, followed probably by chartbuster. I have several star disc that work well, a lot of early MM discs that sound good just have to adjust volume occasionally, multiple DK which work well, some supercore, big country and a set of SGB which I consider only fair at best. Most of the bricks and essential discs are loaded with standards and older songs which I have many of. Is there a collection of say over the past 5 years that is predominately pop/rock that would cover most of the most requested stuff. I also know that some of the makers that were good a few years back suck now. How about ZOOM are they any good. Any help on what to advoid would be nice. Thanks.

Pop Hits Monthly has a Pop line that is predominantly Pop music. They also have an Urban, Rock, and Country line as well. There's also Top Hits Monthly (now out of business).

Quick hitz and big Hitz are good for new stuff.

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The Line Array Experiment is over. Nothing to see here. Move along.

Thanks, CB and DG

Zoom is pretty good. People on here will recommend the Supercore sets but as in your situation I found we already had most of the songs on them in the Sound Choice Foundation, etc. Karaoke.com has a bunch of Pop Hits Monthly on clearance for $2.00 right now. The month to month ones may only have a few songs on them that stand the test of time but there are some Mega Hits of the year discs in the sale.

Chartbuster puts out collections of "The Best of" both years and decades and I am pretty happy with the country and the One Hit Wonders but the newer Pop can be iffy. The orchestration isn't as satisfying as Sound Choice or Zoom and the sweeps don't keep up. But the versions are good enough to have them for "testing the waters" so to speak. It has just gotten to the point that I find the collections are better for the older songs as they usually include ones that have stood the test of time and are proven to be popular. But for the newer stuff I listen to the big hits and buy the ones that seem most singable or suitable to our venue on customs.

SC is the best if you believe they are,

Some prefer CB, others Zoom, PopHits, Pocket Songs, DK, and so the list goes on.

I used to prefer Sound Choice. They used to be the best, hands down. But lately, I've noticed that I don't like some Sound Choice versions as well as others. They tend to have too much base or many of the recognizable high tones in the song aren't prominant enough. Two, for example, that I replaced for this reason were "Broken Wing" by Martina McBride and "Billie Jean" by Michael Jackson. Parts of the song were so bad it was hard to even tell what the song was from just the music. Chartbuster is usually my preferred version over Sound Choice for country, especially older country. I am finding that I like Pop Hits Monthly the best for most current pop, and Zoom is usually good for everything. SBI versions are great for classic rock, and they make many songs that no one else has. Also, Party Tyme is a brand they sold in stores like Wal-Mart and Target. I guess they still do. Many of my Party Tyme versions are my favorite. I thought the music was really good for almost all genres, and I sing blues, country, rock, pop...you name it. My husband likes to do a lot of old school rap and stuff like "Butterfly" by CrazyTown, and Party Tyme seems to be a brand he likes often also. There is also a brand called Mr. Entertainer Karaoke, or something like that, that is fairly new on the market, and their stuff is usually good also. Sunfly is a hit or miss. Sometimes it's good, sometimes not.

You particularly wanted to know which brands to avoid. My least favorites are Star Disc (some of their songs are so bad I can't even do them), DKK (they have a midi melody built in most of their stuff that drives me crazy), and NuTech (some of it), Legends (quite often are not the full version of the song, example Fleetwood Mac songs are usually cut short). I only like Pocket Songs for those obscure songs you can hardly find under any other manufacturer. They tend to be ok for showtunes or something like Michael Buble (but only if you can't find it in another version). The Pocket Songs tend to be inconsistent in volume. Hope some of this helps.

Please realize that these are generalizations. It doesn't mean it's true for every song out there. Even manufacturers that I hate can put out something good once in a while, just like reputable ones can put out a crap version (like Sound CHoice seems to do a lot of lately).

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It's called Karaoke Therapy...

So what's your favorite version of "Strawberry Whine"?

Chartbuster country is damn good IMO.. If you want the newest stuff, just join their auto release in which you'll get the latest release every month.

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Sound Choice has made the best tracks, in my opinion. When you hear a really kick-butt guitar solo or instrumental, it is most often Sound Choice. But not all their tracks are the best, and I also prefer Chartbuster for country as they have great pedal-steel, rhythm guitar, and fiddle players.

I am also a Pop Hits fan, plus I personally like DK a lot. They aren't very available now, but when I bought all the Premiere/Encore/Applause disks from karaoke.com for $5.00 or less apiece, I feel I got a great deal. I also picked up a lot of Pop Hits disks after they went on sale, which buoyed my recent selection.

On the download front, I have been pretty happy with the SBI tracks I get from tricerasoft.com. They have a growing library of stuff.

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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.