Karaoke Forums

I have a man cave which has my computer and home theater very close to each other. I would like to add karaoke to the mix. I understand the software aspect of what I'll need to do, but I'm ignorant of how the hardware needs to be set up.

Right now I have a good computer with a Soundblaster Audigy 2 ZS soundcard. My video card (nvidia 8800 gts) has dual monitor capabilities.

The home theater is centered around my Onkyo TX-SR605 7.1 channel home theater receiver.

That's about it. I really don't want to spend a lot of money on this, and I won't be buying speakers just for karaoke, so I need to route the sound through my Onkyo 605.

What else do I need to start karaokeing (is that a word?), and how do I set it up?

Okay, well, I've been researching some and I think I'm starting to understand a bit more.

All I really need is a mixer, right? I think so. So, I'm looking at a couple mixers.

The Alesis MultiMix 6FX
http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/ ... sku=630156

or the Behringer XENYX 1202FX
http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/ ... sku=631267

The Alesis has a usb connection. But, since I have enough sound outputs from my soundcard, would I still want to use a USB connection? Would it be clearer that way?

Both have sound effects... but would that be sufficient for karaoke or would need a dedicated reverb/echo machine?

I think you will find that all the techs will tell you that you will ruin your home theatre setup if you attempt to sing live through it. It is not made for live vocals. They will suggest a p.a speaker setup that can handle karaoke as well as the mixer

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"Be who you are and say what you feel... Because those that matter... Don't mind...And those that mind... Don't matter."

I gig with my alesus mixer and am happy enough with the sound I get...the only prob I have had is I blew a mic channel (well I didnt but the group I loaned it to did) and as it only has two mic channels it meant that it had to go away to be fixed asap or I didnt have enough mic channels for our duo

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"Be who you are and say what you feel... Because those that matter... Don't mind...And those that mind... Don't matter."

Morgan is correct. The Home theater system speakers are not designed to handle karaoke, specifically Vocals. Music playback is just fine but the speakers are not built to handle load that your vocals will put them under. You run a serious risk of blowing your speakers. All it takes is someone with very strong vocals or one good "wooo...hooo!" and your speakers are toast.

The Alesis mixer you selected is a nice little board if you only need 2 mic's if you want more then you need to move up to the next model. The $99 price tag is really quite good for a USB mixer with effects. However it needs amplification, and speakers to go along with it.

There are already some really good threads on this subject on this site. Guitar Center has some really inexpensive solutions that will only set you back $400 to $800 Take a look at the fender passport, or small yamaha systems. They have built in amp, speakers, mixer, and even basic effects.

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FlipSide Karaoke
Scott

Yes it seems like a good amount of people like the Alesis mixer. I confused the one I linked with the 8 channel version with usb. The 6FX has no USB connection. So now I've gottta see if it's worth the extra $50 for a USB connection.

As I understand it, USB bi=passes your sound card...so if you are happy with the sound card as you say you are, then why would you bypass?

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"Be who you are and say what you feel... Because those that matter... Don't mind...And those that mind... Don't matter."

The USB is more for recording sending the signal directly to your computer without having to go through the sound card mini plug inputs. Not so much the outputs - this would still be handled by the sound card.

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LIKE Lonman on Facebook - Lonman Productions Karaoke & my main site via my profile!

thank you for setting me straight Lonnie I have found with the laptop there is less noise using a usb module than the onboard sound card, so whats that about?

_________________
"Be who you are and say what you feel... Because those that matter... Don't mind...And those that mind... Don't matter."

avoid the B 1202fx mixer... had one and it crapped out on me!

I own both the Behringer 1202FX and the Multimix 8 USB. They are about a wash in performance. The Alesis is $40.00 more but has the USB, which it turns out I don't use. The sound of the two is comparable.

I like Behringer gear, and have had good luck with it. A lot of people like it, some people don't. There are other places out on the net that will tell you "Don't buy Alesis, it's junk".