Karaoke Forums

Hey, posting my formal introduction to the community. I like this forum and am hoping to learn a lot from you all and your experiences rather than going about it on my own… I’ve already learned a lot just from reading tons of posts here!

I'm a total noob at karaoke and have only recently taken an interest in it. I’m a singer, musician, and sound engineer in my spare time, and my g/f and I had a party at her house where we did karaoke with her little CD+G machine, and I set up some lights and was the KJ.

I enjoyed doing it a lot and helped her do a 2nd party recently, but I used my band's Mackie mixer to have 4 mics set up, and used my laptop running Sonar to add some vocal compression and FX. We still used her machine to read the discs and output to the TV and speaker system.

Well now I'm thinking more seriously about doing some parties and hoping to make a couple bucks at it, so I'm looking into a more professional, yet compact, setup.

I've been reading a lot of posts here and am checking out all the popular karaoke software. So far Siglos seems to have the features I want for a reasonable price, but I'm still evaluating. I'm also looking at a small mixer, probably the Behringer X1204USB, since it has built in FX AND compression, and the price is right.

The biggest lesson I learned from the two "shows" was that mic wires are a PITA!! In my band, we're totally wireless because mic and guitar cables drive us nuts, and at the last party where there were 4 mic wires being handled by a bunch of drunks, the tangle was horrific . So... I'm trying to decide if I want to get a 2 or 4 mic wireless system. I haven't read enough reviews of what's available out there, but am considering the VocoPro 5800 system with or without the chargers, just because it’s not too expensive and looks to be a convenient solution (4 mics, single rack-mount setup).

Something I want to incorporate into the setup is a DMX light system that would sync up my LED par cans to the tunes. There are some great apps out there (Showmagic, Enttec's DMXIS) that “play” lights, but they are VST plugins that I don’t think the karaoke programs can use… please correct me if I’m wrong, but I’m not sure how the karaoke apps I’ve seen could incorporate a VST plugin to run a light show in time with an audio track. I’ve tried looking into this, but so far I haven’t found what I’m looking for. I’ll keep searching though!

Anyway, thanks everyone for being so helpful and informative and I look forward to having discussions with you!

Cheers,
Benjamin

Welcome. I have a set of Vocopro's as a back up, they work okay. I use AKG's and they do well but in a tight space they suck; feedback, etc. I use a wired SM 58 as the primary now. Very happy with this; no feedback, no off-on switch (I handle that via the Mackie), and that mic just stays on the stand out front, easy.

If I need wireless I have them but, for the money, the wired SM 58 is my way to go now. And in the karaoke world, wired seems to work fine, go with a wireless if more want to sing at the same time. Easy.

Shure SM58's get the review they do because they rock. If you have the dough, get their wireless system...?

Mark

Welcome Ben / Groovy.
Just a singer here, and or tries to be one.

Since you seem to know the site you've seen you'll get plenty of help. I believe there was a semi recent thread on mics. I prefer cords, they're pretty consistant. I never know what I'm getting with a wireless. However, when we go to this one friends house, he has a wireless that I have to admit kicks a$$. Sorry don't know what the brand is.