Karaoke Forums

I know... you guys are probably tired of questions like this, but I have searched and just get bits and pieces so please help! I'm hosting permanently in a very popular bar and have to get away from these CDGs.

I had my computer savvy son build me a lunchbox computer for this and my music apps. I went that way instead of a notebook because I wanted a good sound card with decent outs (I got an M-Audio Audiophile 24/96), all  types and numbers of video outs onboard, and no need for an external drive. This in-house gig will let me keep things set up, so the monitors and PA can stay and I'll just take the lunchbox home.  The computer itself is decent I think... dual core Athelon 64, two gigs of RAM, 500 gig hard drive, with room for another if needed.  Both DVD burners are listed as CD+G compatible.  He managed to put it together for less than half the price of a similar notebook.

My son doesn't live with me or even close, but he visited over the weekend and we messed around with freeware... Audiograbber, Karafun. It works kind of but not the way I want. Audiograbber is actually ripping clean... I've tried several brands and conditions of CDs, and slowed to  4X no artifacts. Karafun looks great but I can see that it's not a player that I can easily use onstage. The files are all Winamp and I don't know how to change that and that's just one issue...

What about Power CD+G Burner and Siglos player? Do  they work well together? That's the sponsor of this site isn't it? Are they dead easy to figure out? I don't mind paying for software, but am hesitant to purchase a large suite like  many of you experienced pros use to start off until I get my feet wet. Just the basics, but I do want dual screen, key change,  and the ability to organize files by the old disc numbers (because of the books), title, and artist. And the ability to easily import downloads from sites like Tricerasoft.  


Any... any... help would be appreciated. Even links to old threads. Thanks-

Bill H.

I did this search 6 months ago, and can state with confidence -- Compuhost.

It costs the most (well I guess MTU raised their price to $20.00 more than Compuhost) but it is definitely worth it. It gives you rotation handling, doesn't rely on links to Winamp, has excellent features to handle video, MP3+G, ZIP, and other common formats, and is reliable and crash free.

The scrolling rotation display and promo trailers make it worth much more than most of the others right out of the box. Those features help 1) promote other events or your own rules and 2) get singers up to the microphone faster.

I have used MTU Hoster, Sax and Dotty's, and Winamp with Pacemaker and MP3+G. All in all, I think it is clear. You can look at some other threads about software and about Compuhost, and I think those will bear this out.

mckyj57, how does it handle file management? The search I did on Compuhost I believe showed some people having problems with naming files, and having to manually do it a lot. True? Does it give you the  flexibility to create different databases according to song, artist, and originating  disc?

Bill H: Make sure you check out MTU Hoster. They have great options for song book - an .rtf is created as you enter the discs, then you can create the book through Word and format how you want it.

I have the cd-g burner as well as the player.....awesome together



from your pc audio out...run it to your amp(stereo) into the cd in.....then out to your speakers....sounds awesome

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WE GOT THE LIGHTS/MUSIC...ALL WE NEED IS YOU

I just switched to Compuhost and love the fact that I only have to open one program to run my show.  When I don't have singers i run their filler player that plays the dj mp3's I have on my hard drive.  The search feature on the filler player when you are in the add song menu is as easy as searching the karaoke database.
Before compuhost I ran justkaraoke which was good for the karaoke part but had to run winamp beside it for my filler player. I personally believe that some of the issues I had was due to incompatabilities between the two software in the sound engine part. Which is why I went with COmpuhost.
As to the ripper I suggest to use powerKaraoke's CD+G burner as it gives the best rips I have seen, other than from say MTU Hoster's rips.  I tested one song in Audiograbber, KJrip N zip, Hoster (when I had the machine it was on-have since sold it for parts) and power cdg burner.
 The only two that did not generate artifacts (misplaced dots on the screen) was Hoster and Powerkaraoke's CDG burner. So for winamp/tricerasoft Mp3+G users I highly recommend PowerKaraoke ripper.

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

I'm checking in from time to time and reading all your suggestions. My son will be back in a few days but I need to do some homework in the meantime.

Karen K- I put together my current book in Word And OpenOffice using tables and entering each song manually so I could sort each column by title, artist, or disc/track. If I can still use that with MTU, and add to it, that would be an enormous time saver.

Compuhost and fast Tracks (both made by the same company allows you to enter your songs via csv file from the compuhost database.  You should be able to import the CSV file into open office's spreadsheet program and work on creating your books that way. whicch is probably like what you already do.
I do my books by using the compuhost database and then importing it into Fast Tracks songlist program.  Makes a more professional looking book than what I could do with word and excel.

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

I don't know what they are talking about. Every ripper I have seen rips the CDG disk with a format like MFR0001-01 - Artist, The - Song Title, The.mp3 (and companion CDG file). Compuhost allows you to scan directories for files and import file names in that (and other) formats without trouble. It was plug and play for me, even though I ripped my disks a year before I even knew about Compuhost.

Why would you have to rename a file?


I don't know what you mean by "different databases". It is all one database, and you can search and sort by any of those.

Also most rippers (Power CD+G Burner for sure) put song information into MP3 using tags, and most players can retrieve it.

It's more of a matter that I don't know what I'm talking about I think. Anyway, I have been taking your suggestion and looking into Compuhost. No matter where the title or artist is in the file, search finds it, correct? The dongle idea doesn't bother me... too much.  What's the ripper like? Does it have error correction? And does it let me play customer CDGs? I almost never have this happen, but it has a couple of times... in the two years I've been in this room. Like I said almost never. The reason I'm even wondering is because of the thread over in general...

Yes, one of the big plusses compared to MTU Hoster, which doesn't allow you to do a search like "strait easy". With compuhost you can do something like "sinat chic dk" and get the DK Chicago by Frank Sinatra. With MTU you can't, and even searching for just a title you have to get it exactly right, spaces and all, which is a major pain.


Don't know. I didn't use it -- I had ripped all my CDGs on Linux with cdrdao and my own custom scripts. I suspect it is just fine, if it is up to the standards of Compuhost, which is top-notch.


No, I don't believe so. I have Siglos for that.

[quote="mckyj57 @ Wed Feb 13, 2008 9:43 pm
Don't know. I didn't use it -- I had ripped all my CDGs on Linux with cdrdao and my own custom scripts. I suspect it is just fine, if it is up to the standards of Compuhost, which is top-notch.[/quote]

When I tried CH on my cd/dvd drives, it wouldn't recognize 3 of them (LIteOn, HP & Sony) as being cdg compatible, this is where MTU Hoster is actually a shiner, it know all 3 & rips perfectly.

[/quote]

Again another Hoster plus as it will play customer cdgs.

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Take the $40.00 that Siglos costs and add it to the price, and then Compuhost costs $20.00 more than MTU Hoster again.

There are plusses and minuses to each way of doing it. With Siglos, you can play right then and there on demand. With Hoster, you can pre-rip and put it in the play list -- but if you close the program (or rare, it crashes) you have to rip again.

People talk about the dongle like it is a minus, but it has a positive side -- you can install Compuhost on as many machines as you want. Carry around a dongle and a pocket USB drive, and you can take your show anywhere. MTU Hoster allows you to install on two machines, which is nice because then you can have a ready backup. But you can't put it on a third machine, like I have for practice in my office.

Mckyj57, my reasoning lines up with yours on this. I'm not fond of the way either of these guys handles copy protection, but to me the dongle is the lesser of two evils. Plus the fact that MTU uses a propriatary format for karaoke files is a real negative to me. Price is not a major factor here... I want to get it right  and will pay a little more to do so if that's what it takes.

Now guys... here's a sensitive question. I've looked at getting Powerkaraoke's ripper and player combo, but have hesitated because I have to send my Mastercard info to Poland. Have you guys heard of any problems with this? ...and I'm sorry if I sound paranoid. If you guys say thumbs up I'm getting this one right now.

I have bought Powerkaraoke and gave them my credit card. With their long posting history here, and many people who use their products, I trust them.

I will say that MTU support is pretty good about giving you a third install if you need it -- I had a machine crash and replaced it with another, and had no real trouble getting them to allow me another install.

Thanks.

MTU has new conversion software available for a very decent price - converts back and forth from their .kma to others and reverse. MIght be worth taking a look as then you can convert your Hoster .kma files to anything you want. Go to MTU hoster site and have a look. It was just released on 02/08.  I'm thinking it'd be a good investment.

Karen