Karaoke Forums

[font=verdana] Vote for the disc manufacturer that you feel has the best discs over all.  [/font]



[font=verdana]My apologies, Being relatively new at this is my only excuse.  LOL  I did mean to put ‘other’ as an option, now I find I can’t edit the choices, so if there is another disc maker that you highly recommend, please reply with a post telling us why you think they are superior.  Thanks,[/font]

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Dusty Rose
Blue Rose Classic Karaoke
More Sound! More Selections! More Fun!
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For contemporary... both pop and country... BHK. They have the best combination of sound and content. I look for both.

I just put their new 2008 one in the flier on Thursday and had three songs sung off it immediately. Pretty much the whole thing will get sung eventually. They really know what people want to sing and KJs out there in the trenches need. No other brand gets it right like these guys.

I can't vote... you don't have some of the manus I buy regularily!

You don't have "misc" or "others" or even an abstain...

sorry!

Yeah Knightshow I'm there. If I had constructed the poll I would have put BHK in there, and on top!

What about Sunfly or Party Time????  LMAO

Kidding!!! my vote is for Pop Hits monthly.  Oh wait.  They're not there either!

OK Bluerose i know your intentions are honorable.

 I'll pick Sound Choice.  J.R.

If you are going on which discs to purchase, then you probably should have left Pioneer out of the equation as you will most likely not be able to find these.  Never heard of Magic Trax.  Chartbuster great country - not alot else.  DK ok.  NuTech -  :puke: .  Pocket Songs - have some good and lots of bad depending on the genre you are looking for.  SGB as a core -  :puke: .  
But you did leave some key players out.
Top Hits Monthly & Pop Hits Monthly good for newer stuff.
Zoom - lots of good tracks not available in the US.

Sound Choice over all the best quality for most - more hits than misses.
Some off brands such as All Hits (aka Sweet Georgia Brown/Helluvadisc/MegaHits) have their good versions.
Dangerous is usually under rated by kj's but have some better music renditions than some of the big boys.
Radio Starz is pretty limited in their selection, but have some good artist discs that have songs no one else have.

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I did a comparison of several discs once for a James Taylor song.  I was looking for a combination of who had the best rendition but also a good comprehensive Taylor track listing.   The disc I ultimately bought was a Radio Starz disc (RSZ620).  The guitar work on it sounded well done, and the covers sounded very close to the original.  Another interesting comparison is listening to they xylophone section on Starbuck's Moonlight Feels Right.   Does it sound like a xylophone, or a spoon clanking on a tin pan?  I've had good louck with Sound Choice.  I've got a Three Dog Night and a Bee Gees disc from Chartbuster that sound good.  I've got a some Monster CDG's that I like for 70's and 80's pop songs.  I've got some jazz CDG's from Pocket Songs that are very good.  In fact there is one where I swear Harry James is playing the trumpet.  I've also heard some good Priddis CDGs.    And I've got a Zoom CDG of Eagles songs that I really like the quality of.  I like the Sunfly version of David Dundas Jeans On, but there is nothing else on that disc I know!  

Some labels are stronger than others, but even the weaker labels can have some standout renditons.

Some labels do a song well, BUT they don't let you sing all the parts you want to sing.   I usually like singing the whole song, but some cdg renditions will have background vocals sing parts of a refrain that you would rather be singing yourself (no words on the screen while you're left blankly holding the mic)--in other words (in my opinion) the song was too accurately rendered, and is a less good karaoke version because of that.

I am curious what happened to SGB.  Are they still around?  Did they get bought out?  Also, is Monster a company or just a major labels brand?  I can't find Monster as a company doing a Google search.

Moonlight Feels Right on Music Maestro is excellent, a few of the words are wrong though.     Real close to original.

You can talk about this all day long and not get anything settled.   Every company has good and bad renditions.  If you are looking for a certain song then do comparisons with different samples.    Other than that it's going to be pot luck.

Legends was left out.  They have their pearls and there dogs.  LG161, Bob Marley is a must have.

Zoom cannot be ignored

Sunfly has plenty of good material (along with the bad)

I don't know when the supply of Music Maestro will be exhausted, but as I've said before their Doo Wop and Elvis tracks are a must have

ASK puts out some desirable titles and is of reasonably good quality.

BHK definitely should be included

Supercore is available every year with a multi-disc collection.  It is a must have for the newer entrant into the world of karaoke

I kow this will be controversial, but if I were starting out, I would buy DK as a base.

That's how I did it, and I am not sorry.

Since DK no longer makes disks, and the original selection is limited to the 2K or so songs, adding Sound Choice and Chartbusters (country only), is the next best. After that it's a crap shoot, for songs not available anywhere else. The folks here turned me on to Dangerous, which I love, and they are very good renditions. I also have bought some of the monthly's for newer stuff, and have been surprised in most cases at the quality. I have some Sunfly that are pretty good. Some of the classic rock songs are very good.

My system is almost all DK, SC and CB though. I guess I'm very reluctant to shell out money for something I don't know. Burned a few times, and then you learn.

The one thing to consider, is that if you want a quality show, buy quality software. I've seen too many shows where the guys and gals bought a cheap set to start, and singers had trouble, because the songs didn't sound like the original. Usually these shows didn't last long. For home use this isn't as big a deal, but for performance I think it is. Just my opinion.

legends and sunfly are one and the same I dont like them cos they are so midi sounding

Lonnie and I have always disagreed on sgb I like em for their songs and I dont mind their sound although sometimes you find the odd one that has to be tinkered with

zoom are good but I have heard the odd bad track

dk I wouldnt touch if you paid me...basically cos when I sing I dont want some naff melody line getting in the way of me doing it my way

I like some priddis and some pocket songs and some pioneer...one of those also has a melody line but most of the time its too faint to worry bout

and yeah sound choice is the market leader in my opinion

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I echo what most people have said. The disk manufacturers I have kept in my collection as I pare it down:

   DK -- tracks most like the original, sometimes stolen from them.
   SoundChoice -- for rock and country both. They have the best guitarists  by far.
   Chartbuster -- for country, especially tracks with fiddle / pedal steel
   Pop Hits Monthly -- New stuff, usually decent if not brilliant tracks
   Legends -- for extended coverage of an artist
   Karaoke Monthly -- Tricerasoft downloads of new songs
   Supercore -- solid renditions, often PHM or Pioneer
   Dangerous -- bought the 11-disk set and like it OK.
   Radio Starz --  I just have the Steely Dan Disk, and that is great.
   Big Country/BHK -- I think these are the same. Competent.
   Amerising/AI -- I think these are SoundChoice, and are good.

Tracks I remove as soon as alternatives arise:

   Sweet Georgia Brown -- I still like some of their tracks, but mostly prefer better
   Nutech -- this is really poor stuff
   Backstage -- just generally poor.
   Music Maestro -- some tracks OK, but mostly you can find better.
   Top Hits Monthly -- average at best.
   Stardisc -- I don't own any, and wouldn't start buying them now even if they were cheap. Hate to see them show up when I put in a slip at a strange show.
   HonkyCat -- I threw away the two disks I bought, they are that bad.
   U-Best -- really bad.
   Country Karaoke Classics -- all MIDI.

Oddities and no longer available:

   Pioneer -- I don't have any except the Supercore tracks, but have seen them and like them OK.
   All Hits -- see them come up at shows, they are the same music as SGB but better lyrics.
   Zoom -- I don't see many, and most of the songs they do are not in my coverage area. I buy new tracks from other manufacturers, and don't need past coverage where they excel.
   Sunfly -- See them sometimes, always seem decent but never great. Like Legends, in fact.

They are not stolen tracks from the originals.


Not even CLOSE to Sound Choice quality, these are very midi renditions.  Do side by sides with same tracks.



Zoom & Sunfly (which Legends is/was btw)  have many new & current songs as well, however they do target more for the UK audience, but have many US desireable songs as well.  Sunfly/Legends is more hit & miss in opinion than Zoom, I have several of these discs & they are pretty solid tracks.
The Supercore also is comprised of SGB & THM tracks.

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

Sunfly and Legends WERE the same company, but Legends no longer puts it out under it's own name. It's now it's own entity.

I've heard some great recordings from ASK (All Star Karaoke)

If you ask which is best for sound quality, I'd say the latest from Zoom are on top followed by Chartbuster, both uses real instruments and offers the BEST mastering if you wish to record yourself.  The worst for the sound quality is probably Sound Choice, they have some excellent backing but are only for karaoke uses, they offer a poor mastering which doesn't allow to position the vocals properly in the mix.  Now folks, don't get me wrong here, SC is probably the best choice to build yourself a karaoke collection but not for studio recording, that's all!!

I agree, if I'm correct, ASK is the old Top Tunes

I don't think they were asking for recording purposes, however if you have the right equipment/programs, you can make the SC discs sound just as good as any other backiong track if not better IMO!

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I just got a "2007 100 Best Country Songs" collection from Chartbuster.  I like country and have bought this collection every year starting with the 2003 collection. I stay a little behind on my "new" stuff that way but the collections have a good percentage of songs that I sing as well as songs for my wife and friends so I see them as a good value. Over a period of years I have also bought all of Chartbusters "The Best of Years Country" 200 song collections. I think these collections are great. I also have some of their pop, none of it is really horrible and some of it is great but a bit more hit or miss. I have some sets of CB Elvis that is great and a Roy Orbison CB cdg that is great.  Sound Choice is still the best overall but I like the way Chartbuster puts together and prices their collections.

Jim-n-TN

I'd seen that disc at a local retailers, Jim! It DOES look sweet!

And I respectfully disagree with the comment about SC. I think they're the absolute best... in just about everything they do. Yes, there are a few clunkers in there... but the ratio of hits VS crap is very, VERY left sided!!!