Karaoke Forums

I have been a CDG user for years and have an excellent method of running rotation that is absolutely fair and simple with discs. Now I find myself stumbling a little with hoster because it does NOT keep track of rotation. Hubby used the system for the 2nd time Monday night and of course as luck would have it, we were slammed because it was St. Paddy's Day. Then to top it all off, a drunk stumbled sideways, hit the bin holding the books, slide it into the table where the slips were being kept, and the whole thing came tumbling down - slips everywhere.  Thank goodness he didn't push it just a little harder - would have then hit the table where the computer station and rack were sitting.

Anyway, just wondering from Hoster users if there are any innovative ways of running rotation that I haven't thought of - other than just referring back to the top of the list. We had so many the other night - not a real rotation, but randomy people running up with slips - only going to sing one song, etc. We were discussing this on the way home. No discs - no concrete way to keep track of rotation.

Any suggestions? Yah, I know, other software keeps track of rotation but WE DON'T HAVE THAT....

PS: Anti-computer hubby admitted that he was able to get a lot more singers through using computer - only had a couple of songs hiccup (require reloading, another hazard of the hoster glitch we encountered loading discs first time around)...and he was able to load singer's discs just fine. Now wishing I had a white keyboard instead of a black one (wanted it to be cordless, never thought about how dark it would be and for a non-keyboarding person, almost impossible to see.)

K

I just use Hoster as a player so my rotation is exactly the same as when I use discs.  New singers get inserted, I add their song & drag it to the spot in the playlist.  I still prefer slips over nothing personally so I have them laid out like I normally would with discs, never needed discs to keep track of the rotation, just slips.

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Thanks Lonnie. Figured as much. Looks like Hoster is busily working on getting rotation capabilities for us, so I'll just continue to use slips like I always have. Was hoping someone had something BRILLIANT I hadn't thought of!

K

Then it begs the question... Why did you spend $200.00 on MTU when it doesn't do what you need it to?  AutOKdj (freeware) has more rotation options than you can shake a stick at, plus a kiosk.

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Okay, who took my pants?

Frankly at this point I'm not 100% sure....

K

No one is really sure...

Hoster has some good points, but quite frankly it is way overpriced at $20.00 more than CompuHost. For gigging, I now use CompuHost. It has excellent rotation features, great audio/video insertion capability, the promo trailer display works really well, and it has decent searching.

In fact, thinking about things, I can't come up with any way that Hoster beats CompuHost, and I have used each one for quite a few gigs. If you rip your CDGs at 192K to MP3G, there is no discernable difference in audio quality.

I believe the promo trailer and video insertion (again for promoting upcoming events and food at the venue) makes CompuHost pay for itself in just a few weeks.

i myself use hoster it not the best out there but it does some good things also and no doggle for the laptop if not for that would buy compuhost rotation works fine for me after first round new singers goto the bottom of that round and if i get really busy i can fit new singers in that is what makes the mess i must say but disks all over the place was not the best a host friend holds all the slips in one hand all night now that i cant do one slip from each singer ok

One more thing i guess the way to go is with a program that plays zip files like sax just dont like all the add on to use it one thing for hoster crash protection is good if power goes out when you turn lappy back on rotation is still there for ya

Funny thing is that everyone that bashes Hoster stating it's the most expensive refuses to state that Hoster is an all in one self contained system, meaning it has a songbook prgram built in, it has a ripper built in.  Compuhost sells for the same price however you need to have a separate ripping program...not built in (this may be free with purchase but still a SEPARATE program), if you want to make a song book it's an extra $30 charge making the price to be compared to $30 more than Hosters base price that does it all in one.  A few extra bells & whistles on CH side re graphics & audio clips (which is supposedly coming out in Hoster 4.0), but not making it any better IMO.

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[shadow=deepskyblue]I'm impressed, I've never met such a small mind inside such a big head before.[/shadow]

Karen you guys have been at this a lot longer than I have, but the way I do it is have the sung slips (I call them the discards) set up as a mirror image of the front table on a table just behind me to the right. The main reason I do this is because I keep the singer's slips here with me and that keeps them sorted. But another reason is so I have a backup of rotation in case something happens to the front.

My front table is actually my subwoofer cabinets. They're my brickwall of defense, protecting me and my equipment in this rather active room. I've had to put them there in this unusual position because of this.

So the front slips are fairly safe anyway. But I can leave the front open to the room so they can see what's coming up and make individual adjustments, since my true rotation is the back table.

The regulars are constantly making changes depending on the flow of the room. If someone does something that really goes over,  three or four of them may come up at once and switch their next song out.

Everyone, myself included, is so used to slips laid out on a grid that I think I'll always be using them. But I need to get out and watch someone using a hosting program to see if I'm missing anything. As far as I can tell, locally it's all players or CDGs.

I had no question in my mind when I started comparing programs/systems that Hoster was the most all-in-one. I'm not real savvy computer-wise and being able to download the program, rip the discs, and format/print book all in one, (in addition to the crash issue, which apparently doesnt' happen often, but everything comes back the way it was before crash) it was the most appealing to me.  

They are constantly adding new features, and the scrolling 'ad' thing is one of them. They are not really open about talking about what's coming because competition just takes it and runs with it so who knows what is really coming from them. I have never had a company respond SO FAST when there was a software problem. A lot to be said for that. Why, the company owner even called me when it happened. A lot to be said for the support and the number of operators who are ready and willing to offer advice, etc.

I haven't had many questions (in fact, none I can think of) since I started using it. Amazingly simple, and I believe I made the right choice - just was a little bruised after the first round of disc ripping .

K

Not a clue....sorry.

Not a pro KJ, but, I have run lots of my own "shows" at home for our frequent parties...I have my collection on a computer.
The rotation I keep on Microsoft Excel...name..song..artist..song number.
When a "customer" submits a slip...I add it to the Excel file.
Each row is a "customer"..each column is a rotation round.
Works well...if someone asks when they are next..I can show them on the screen.

Adding the next song is a simple matter of edit-copy from the Excel file and then edit-paste into the player of your choice.

I can see two problems with that method.  Firstly, Excell is huge and could run your computer out of resources in a hurry if you're running an older model.  Second, once you have the name pasted don't you have to use the hosting software's search function?  In order to play the song the hoster is going to need a fully quallified path name isn't it?

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Okay, who took my pants?

I use a computer and i always have the slips in front of me on my table.  I will never stop using slips.    Even with a program that tracks rotations.

Excel files are VERY small compared to the data you put on them. For purposes like rotation management, that would be neligible on resources. Once you pull it up the memory resources are redirected back to your system. the most it uses is when you first start the program.