Karaoke Forums

With all the talk about the audio quality, I don't believe the graphics have been discussed very much. Yes, the sound matters most, but...

If I'm trying a song for the first time, I really appreciate the "countdown" dots as seen by a few manus. That way I'm not coming in too soon, then have to stop and wait for the music to catch up.

On the other hand, Lemme talk about SC for a sec... love the sound on most songs and of course the countdown dots. But if I'm trying a song that I'm not VERY familiar with, SC has a way of striking FEAR and PANIC in me, especially in up-tempo songs -- they wait till the last microsecond to bring up the next screen of lyrics while I'm thinking "what the heck is the next line?!?"  :shock:

On the other hand, some manus have what I call "chasing text" -- you know what I mean... you're singing the lyrics on one part of the screen and it's filling in the other part with lyrics still to come. So you never run out of lyrics on the screen. Keep 'em coming, especially during the fast parts!

Not to name names, but here goes (not in any particular order other than alphabetical-ish) ASK (all-star karaoke), AS (Ameri-Sing), DK, MM, PHM, THM, and yes, everyone's favorite, SGB.  Among others.

I'm sure the very drunk singers DO NOT appreciate the chasing text.

3 more points, woo hoo! MMMmmmm.... jelly doughnuts....

P.S. I included DK for the pan-flute haters, and ASK because I have never seen them mentioned. Their stuff in the past (no logo on screen, just white stars sliding right-to-left) was ok, but their new stuff... WOW! They have new releases with EXCELLENT audio and pretty good graphics, IMHO. But I digress... this thread is about GRAPHICS.

Randy J,

       Hmmm , I wonder why I've never seen THIS subject posted before? Some very good points for sure . I know a lot of singers that commented on the very same points at my shows. You know....how come this song has the "lead in" and this one doesn't, etc., etc.? I tell them it depends on the manu and they don't understand why they don't all do it the same!! (and this is while they're  still sober!!)
  Anyway, I think I'm just gonna "stand by" on this one for awhile. Me thinks this could get QUITE "graphic" !

                      Donny "B"      

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It's a wonderful life!!

Personally I like the way Chartbuster does it, especially now that there are few CDG drives to cause the "confetti" that happens with their method. Using a Plextor drive and recent ripping code, I have very few graphic defects in my tracks.

Soundchoice is often a bit worry-making for songs I don't know well, I agree.

I don't mind the chase method as long as they have enough lines to not remove the text microseconds after you are supposed to have sung it.

DK does about as well as any for the non-dot manufacturers, as I find the amount of time from when they paint the screen to when the phrase starts to be pretty consistent.

Of course I know my songs pretty well, and I don't need the lyrics much anyway, but I am getting up to a couple of hundred different songs I do and I do sometimes appreciate the help. That is when I hate the chase method, because I am usually glancing at the screen to make sure I am on the verse I think I am. And if the words are gone by the time I glance, it doesn't do much good.

I like the count down dots too. When I was getting into karaoke in the very beginning (Singing Machine 8 tracks) as a singer, I had a host who would count you down with a quiet 4...3...2...1. Really helped novices and I just thought that was the sign of a good host. Some wouldn't help you at all.

Some songs the words light up a little fast to indicate that they are coming up fast and that you should be singing them fast.   If you are not real familiar with the song you could mistake that as a graphic timing error.   But it's not.   It's a prompt to be prompt.  :O

I think the worst are Pocket Songs, they have some great backings but why only 4 lines of lyrics??? I often need to download the lyrics when I wish to sing some of their backing

Good point. I'm good enough on a handful of songs to use the "glance method" and I know what you're saying. So maybe I should use "1-screen-at-a-time" manus for songs I know well, and chasing-text manus for songs where I'm still relying on the screen.

Do you think the VERY drunk would care if it's "chasing text" or not?  :drunk: