Karaoke Forums

So my friend and I have been talking about starting a karaoke business for a while now and I finally have enough money saved up to make our idea a reality.  I just the other day bought a nice laptop that i am planning on devoting strictly to karaoke, now i just need the sound equipment.  My friend that i am starting the business with used to run open mic nights and he has some little speakers that we used to run our karaoke shows on, but they are only little speakers that aren't even close to big enough for even medium sized bars.  i have connections where i know i can run some shows, and the majority of them are outside, so i know i need at least 12" speakers and probably a sub.  I have no idea where to buy what i need though.  Here is what I need help with, my budget is around $1000, and all I really have is a laptop with lots of songs.  What would you recommend I get with $1000?  Like I said, i need the mixer, amp, speakers, pretty much everything other than the laptop and the songs.  Any help would be greatly appreciated, thanks!

Sorry to tell you, but it's gonna take a lot more than $1000 to get started.  I've got $7000 invested before my first gig.  My books alone cost me $700.  Look into American Musical Supply.  You can do payments through them.

$1000 budget is pretty low when you take into consideration good equipment for a PA, book making costs, supplies, advertising, music (this is a ongoing expense).  Then you mentioned you had a laptop with "lots of songs"?  You didn't state if you had the original discs or not, if not you are going into this business completely illegally right off the bat.  There are VERY few actual legal download sites of karaoke on a pay per download basis.  I wouldn't even attempt to start a business like this for under $5000 minimum for a good quality PA & decent 'core' of legal music.  Then you will need singer monitors (video) & knowledge of how to tap into the house video screens around the bar (usually splitters & cables or RCA lines.

What is your experience as a kj, rotation management, people skills, mic skills?  Bars are going to want to know & will ask about a following, can you bring people in the door?  You will find many bars will expect it all from you & some won't even advertise themselves - mainly because they aren't paying their ASCAP type fees, so they expect results from the ones they hire.  What experience have you had with sound equipment and knowing how to dial someone in on the fly, feedback problems, speaker placement?  

You could go with something like this for your speakers, these are powered which means the amps is already built in & these are powerful enough for small to medium rooms, portable & will sound better than many of the speakers that a budget like this will get you.
http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/ ... sku=606060
Then get a small mixer something like
http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/ ... ku=630138X
This would pretty much take up your $1000 budget, but will get you an ok sound, keeping the portability in mind as well.  You may still need to purchase mics & all the cords as well.  Get a couple of Shure PG58 mics, here is a package deal with mics, cords & stands.
http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/ ... sku=600334

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[schild=4 fontcolor=00008B shadowcolor=00BFFF shieldshadow=1]Having a Flashback![/schild] [font=Verdana]Just about a year ago my son and I started our karaoke business, like you I thought $1000 to $1200 would be plenty to get us the music, equipment etc. that we would need.  When we finally got the first system put together I had over $5000 invested in just the bare minumum, mixer, amp, player, mics, music, speakers,  monitors, monitor stand, table, road case and a small light package.  And I shopped long and hard for every piece of it to get the best price I could.  I second the previous post about making sure you have the original discs for your music.  Our player came with a hard drive with 6600 songs on it, but we didn't use them because we can't find the discs  to back them up.  Having offered that discouraging information, I must add, Good Luck with your new endeavor, I hope you manage to put it together and are a great success![/font]

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Dusty Rose
Blue Rose Classic Karaoke
More Sound! More Selections! More Fun!
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Here's my 2 cents. Sweet Georgia Brown 66 disc set for $100. They are not very good quality but you get a lot of songs for not a lot of money. Get some powered speakers like Peavey PR15P or Behringers. Again, not the best but lightweight and no amp to carry. You can get a minimal mixer for prob $50 too. Songbooks, print only 1/2 dozen and you're set. You can get started for $1000 but.... don't expect to command much money from the start. Use winamp and cdg plugin so people can bring their own discs. Reinvest every penny you earn in improving your rig and song collection. Buy used discs off ebay, listen to your singers and get the songs they want - the tips from them normally covers more than the cost of the song (especially if you use tricerasoft at $1 a song... and it's legal!) Once you have some cash get speaker stands, a flight case, better mixer, better mics and so on. Devote time to making sure you have accurate and up to date books. If you host at a location with wifi use legal downloads on site to instantly supplement your song collection. Be prepared to spend more than you are earning in the first year if not the second year too depending on how many gigs you get.

I'm still using my peaveys and shure pg58 mics but i'm getting ready to upgrade to new speaker stands, external sound card, jbl eon 15 g2s. If you go with wireless mics consider getting good (Ansmann) rechargeable batteries. They'll pay for themselves in less than a year, maybe 6 months.

Alright guys well I just recently got a promotion at work  :oh yeah: and now I think I can add a little to my budget for my system.  I am thinking closer to $2000 now, hopefully being able to make monthly payments.  Everyone was talking about books and music and such but don't worry about that, I have been doing karaoke at my house running parties for my friends off of my friends crappy pa system for several months and have built up a library of around 10,000 songs off of ebay and also have already printed up some high quality song books at the local Fedex Kinkos store.  Also like I said, i have the laptop already, so I know I will need to spend money on stuff like lighting and promotion and such down the road, but right now I want to focus solely on the speakers and such.  I really don't know a whole lot about sound equipment, been doing a lot of research but most of the stuff I find is just about how good stuff would be for playing music, not as much for singing in microphones or doing karaoke shows, so I figure asking you guys would for advice would be my best bet.  Thanks in advance!

Most folks on here paid upwards of $10,000 for those 10,000 songs. Now I ask you... what incentive do the manufacturers have to make new songs if you go and buy them for pennies from someone selling their ripped discs or worse... copies of discs. The manufacturers call it "displacing a sale"

There are decent sets of legitimate discs for 25c to $1 per song and you don't need anywhere near 10,000 songs to start. You'll have your songs paid for after just a few weeks of doing gigs.

Unless they are original discs you bought & ripped personally to the computer, chances are it's an illegal library if you bought from e-bay.  NOT the way you want to start a 'legit' business as you will be illegal from the get go.

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I started with SGB (Sweet Georgia Brown), and DK Encore 1 and 2 that I bought used for $200 (which was a good deal 8 years ago) I bought a single disk JVC player and a powered mixer amp and a good set of speakers. I had all wired mics then. I probably had $1500 in my first system. I had a gig before I started though, so I had a place to make a fool of myself and learn how to be a KJ (well, I'm still learning though).

I bet you can do it for $2K. You will change everything within the first year, but you'll find out if you can do it, and if you can make any money doing it.

Thanks for all of the tips guys but no one is really answering my question.  Don't worry about songs, I already have lots of them, and LEGALLY, original discs for every song I have.  I started this thread to get advice on sound equipment.  Here is something I was considering because it seems pretty good, it is in my price range and I can make payments on it.  http://www.americanmusical.com/Item--i-YAM-EMX512SC-PAK2--P-On      How would that work out for me?

That's an ok system.  The amp is a little underpowered for the speakers which really puzzles me why pro audio stores always package speakers & amps that aren't perfect matches.
I honestly would still opt for the system I outlined earlier in this thread over this package.

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Ericlater would be better to ask on this, and I know it has been poopoo'd by many on this board, but the Fender Passport 250 or 500 all in one is not a bad starting place. I have heard it, and was impressed. Just make sure you know how to mix music tho, because it all depends on you to keep it sounding good.

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/ ... sku=480665

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/ ... sku=483712

Just my $.02

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Let's Kick the Tires and Light the Fires!

I have a yamaha version of the passport which is neat  because you can seperate the mixer from the speakers and it sounds pretty good.  I hesatated using to do karaoke as I thought it would just be good for dj work but it passed the test in March.  I bought it so I wouldn't have to tear down my main system at the bar I do.
for a wedding or major dj event off course I'm gonna use my main system but for the monthly gig I do for cheap change the Stage Pass does the job well. I got it at Daddy's Junky Music for around $650 tax included.

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

Here ya go, a couple packaged systems, just rigt for you and your price range

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/compare? ... pid=631015

If you want good sound I suggest. Bose L1 System. It will sound as good as any similar priced system out there. It will also have the smallest learing curve. There isn't a thing you can do to hurt the system, it's fail safe. All you will need is a mixer and microphones.

http://www.bose.com/controller?event=VI ... =l1_m1_2b1

0% intrest financing for 1 year. I even know a really good dealer that more than likely can get you free 1 day shipping.

Not the Bose L1 again!

Biggest rip off on the market.

Underpowered and Overpriced.

Sorry, I wouldn't recommend this to anyone.

Here was an independant user review from a user from another forum that got into some technical readings.

I have tried this unit before and found it lacking to say the least.

I decided after reading much hype about it by others on the web and a Bose rep/seller who is a DJ tell people it was all about the setup and settings.

So I have now been using the Bose system for 30 days, I have used the setup and settings suggested by the Bose Rep/sales/DJ and this is what I have found.

1. Bose volume output into the room greater than a conventional system.

Not according to a Decibel meter, in fact the decibel drop with L1 exceeds that of a conventional system at 40 feet by 6 decibels at the center of the room when both systems are reading 100 DB at 3 feet.

2. Bose covers a wider area of the room with sound.

This is true within a 20 foot arc of the stick as compared to a conventional speaker on a stick with a 90 degree horn. However once between the 20 and 30 foot arc decibel checks become much more level between the two types of systems with a much hotter level in the focus area of the conventional system. However if as in any conventional system you are using two speakers on a stick seperated by 15 feet and focused to the center of the room the arc coverage is actually better than the L1 and decibel level of the conventional system is now 3 DB higher than the L1 inside that 30 foot arc. And the coverage area exceeded 180 degrees with a two speaker conventional system.

3. Bose system has virtually no feedback.

This was true! I could actually put the Microphone directly against the grill screen of the L1 without a hint of feedback (when the mic is plugged straight into the L1 power base, plug it into a mixer and then mixer to power base and the feedback is horrible)

So I decided to investigate why, what I discovered was when the Microphone is plugged into a mixer the sound comes from the entire L1, when it is plugged into the L1 base mic input everything from that mic comes from the lower third of the L1 speakers. Or in other words the sound is projected on the floor. I added a second conventional speaker and sat it on the floor under the speaker on a stick. I ran music to the left on the board and mic to the right. I sent the left hand out to the speaker on the stick and right to the speaker on the floor. Guess what I Could turn the gain up on the mic and still stick it against the grill of the speaker on the stick with NO feedback. So there is no mystery there!

All test between the two systems were done in the same location (outdoors with no intervening walls) Decibel readings were taken at 3 foot directly in front of each system, and then every 5 feet on 180 degree arcs at 5, 10, 20, 30 and 40 feet from the systems.

Bose system used was a single L1

Conventional system used was a single Peavey Impulse 100 with a 750 watt per side amp.

For the mic test a second Impulse 100 was added but placed on the ground.

Final testing was done with two Impulse 100's on stands at 7 feet to the horns on a 35 degree angle to the centerline of the arc.

All test were done with a DB output of 100 decibels at 3 foot from centerline of each system speaker.

What did I learn?

1. There is a lot of Hype in the Bose system that doesn't pan out in live testing.

2. $2500 can be spent a lot more intelligently in a conventional system.

3. I have to pay the shipping for returning this system for a second time!

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

Look at some of the package systems from YAMAHA  / PEAVEY  / BEHRINGER

You CAN get a decent PA SYSTEM with 2 15" speakers and enough power to host at 90% of the indoor venues for about $1,000  ( mixer/amp/speakers).

You can also spend $4000 for just 2 speakers an amp and a mixing board.

You don't haul gravel with a Caddillac Pick up when a Chevy will more than do.
Why spend $4-$5000 on a Pa System when you can SPEND much less and get the same job done???

I agree with the last poster, jamkaraoke, why encourage this person to drop 5K when he's just starting out.  I've seen dozens of people do the same only to sell their gear when they decided it was not their cup of tea.

A good powered mixer with plenty of EQ and digital effects, and a decent pair of 15-inch speakers, that's how I started 24 years ago.  Things were much better then, .

As for the Fender passport system, we have 1, nice for outdoor cocktail music or wedding ceremony music but I wouldn't attempt to use it for sound reinforcement, ie party music or karaoke.  Nothing less than a 15 inch for good sound.

And bose has it's highs and lows, too bad it's not in the sound, .

I have stayed away from promoting my choice of the Passport for a start-up system because, apparently, no one takes the system or me seriously.  I am adding my 2cents today because it is becoming clearer that I am not the only one playing in  small venues.   Please note, I have the PD250 and know folks who have the PD500 (250 watts vs 500)

I will acknowledge that the knobs on the Fender do not facilitate mixing, and I was warned about that before my purchase. Nonetheless, I get the job done.  I will acknowlege that having my wife's help allows me to concentrate on the mix.  I will also acknowledge that my six cordless mics now go through a separate mixer which helps get the job done.

For anyone starting out, unless you know you will be playing The Cow Palace, Albert Hall, or Madison Square Garden in the next few months, get the Passport

I just used it last month at a private party (at the recreation room of a large private community).  The room was the biggest I ever played, well over 2500 sq ft.  The Passport worked and didn't require much more power than I use in the smaller venues where there are usually lots of people packed together.  There were about 80 people in attendance at the party.

I will admit that I was a little concerned before setting up, but relied on the people who had recommended the Passport to me.  They were confidant in telling me when I purchased it that it would easily handle a room the size of that rec room.
AND IT DID!

PS:  If I should run into a situation where I am offered a gig in a much larger room, or with several hundred people in attendance , I would consider:
     
     -  Buying the Fender PD500 Passport
     -  Borrowing a system from one of my friends
     -  Renting a system for the night

Then again, the PD250 might just handle a larger crowd in that size room?


PS:  One thing I never mentioned, which I see is worth noting after reading the Bose L1 post, is that there is NO FEEDBACK with the Fender!  Fender claims that's the case and it's true
      Also, the fender fits in the trunk of our car and my wife sets up the speakers by herself