Karaoke Forums

I'm familiar with MTU. I use Microstudio to produce homemade karaoke discs.
Think I'll migrate over to their site and see what the have. Thanks for the tip !!

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"Life is tough. It's tougher if you're stupid."

Yup, my reasons exactly. I rip to computer, then play on computer.

I don't use a hoster program, just either plain ol winamp, or I've been leaning towards clubdjpro, as I love the video and dual player features of it.

If I may add my 2 Cents. Stay away from the CAVS 203G or 203G USB. It's embarrassingly slow. Some of you who have read my previous posts know that I'm only now in the process of ripping my CDGs to go to a computerized system. I've been using a couple of VocoPro players with the CAVS 203G. If not for filler music, I'd have to be a significantly better BSer than I am to fill the time it takes either of them to load a disc. I couldn't find a regular old CDG player when I re-established my business this year. I used to use a 3-tray Pioneer (Can't remember the model #) back in the day, and I loved it. Close the tray and push the track button and get the singer up - have the next two singers ready to roll in the other 2 trays. Easy.

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Eat, Sleep, Host Karaoke, DJ
Love It! (Periodic Bath is Good!)

Hi Mike -
May I suggest using the Cavs 203G USB with an external hard drive only. Then using a seperate player for disc use. I have done it this way and it works well. It is a nice work around if you don't want to work with a laptop. If you are trying to use the Cavs 203G to play discs it's a losing situation. You can not switch back and forth between the USB connection and disc play without a huge delay in time. Plus the fact, like you said, it loads extremely slow.

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[updown]~*~ MONKEY BUSINESS KARAOKE~*~ [/shadow][/updown][/glow]

Thanks for the suggestion, Babs. Fortunately, I only have to deal with it for as long as it takes me to get my CDGs ripped. I just remarked on it, because I would hate for someone else to suffer the frustration that I have with both the Cavs unit and the VocoPros. I like to provide a "high-energy" show. It was always sort of my trademark back when I first started; and it's just impossible when you're standing there waiting for a disc to load. I would guess (without exaggerating) that 7-10 additional people could sing in a four-hour gig with an old CDG player versus these new thing-a-ma-jigs.

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Eat, Sleep, Host Karaoke, DJ
Love It! (Periodic Bath is Good!)

The answer to the slowness problem during a show is 2 players. A disc based show CAN be run just as fast if not faster than a computer based show. I not even just talking the dual & triple trays - i'm talking 2 separate units. One is always cued up with the next song while the current song is playing. I still run laser disc players & these can take up to 20-30 seconds to load a disc (worst case). 2 players & a simple video switch can make all the difference between what people perceive slow disc based shows in which the kj's have to stop the current song, open the tray, pull old disc, load new disc, hit number & wait until cued up vs a fast disc based show where the next song is always cued up in the 2nd player, the current singer is done singer, you call the next singer & start their song. Then get the next song ready once all singer adjustments are done.
But again, computer is just easier - not necessarily faster.

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As far as today's top cdg players I would suggest looking at the table top dual player from Numark.

http://www.pssl.com/Numark-KMX02-Karaok ... ey-Control

Maybe a little pricey but I've used the cdmix one for years b4 going digital and LOVED the unit - I would think this would be as good if you need a cdg player

The answer to the slowness problem during a show is 2 players. A disc based show CAN be run just as fast if not faster than a computer based show. I not even just talking the dual & triple trays - i'm talking 2 separate units. One is always cued up with the next song while the current song is playing. I still run laser disc players & these can take up to 20-30 seconds to load a disc (worst case). 2 players & a simple video switch can make all the difference between what people perceive slow disc based shows in which the kj's have to stop the current song, open the tray, pull old disc, load new disc, hit number & wait until cued up vs a fast disc based show where the next song is always cued up in the 2nd player, the current singer is done singer, you call the next singer & start their song. Then get the next song ready once all singer adjustments are done.
But again, computer is just easier - not necessarily faster.[/quote]

Hey thanks for the post Lonman and it's nice to meet you. Of course, you're right; and I tried that for a very long time. Indeed, the video switch is still velcroed to the top of my Odyssey rack. I stopped doing it when I realized that in my case it wasn't any faster unless I didn't want to use filler music. I only have two inputs on my Behringer mixer unless I want to use the Aux. inputs which make coordinating the mixing and/or fading too difficult due to separate main volume controls. Or maybe I just don't know how to work the darned thing, but I did try using a total of 3 players for the longest time 2 for karaoke and one for filler music and I could never get it properly coordinated. I'm looking forward to going to the computer.

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Eat, Sleep, Host Karaoke, DJ
Love It! (Periodic Bath is Good!)

I would guess (without exaggerating) that 7-10 additional people could sing in a four-hour gig with an old CDG player versus these new thing-a-a-ma-jigs.

Easily an extra 7-10...could mean an extra song or two for each person on a quiet night...or at least an extra song for a few people. There is nothing more painful than going to what would otherwise be a great show than having to w----a-----i-----t while the CAVS player and CDG player interact. I think there are a lot of dealers with CAVS players and they're unloading them on unsuspecting people. Great for home use but not in a commercial setting.

k

Hey guys ,

Thanks for the fantastic ideas, very helpful ....

Maybe my requirements are a bit less, considering I'm putting together a tribute act at this point, mostly Journey , and probably some Jefferson Starship as well.


I can get half my act off of a couple cd's as far as Journey goes, I would just need to be able to program the player to cue a given order as dictated by how I want to sequence the show. I didn't really think about that till today , but I would need to be able to sequence the playback.

Starship is a diff set of problems, I can't find much material by them that's available as a Starship compilation it's usually 1 song with 10 other artists that I don't cover I don't have to do them if it's too much hassle,
or I can just throw in a couple of their tunes for grins.....

I have a cd player that skipped a song and of course that is horrbile, especiall when you tell the audience you have a live band out in the parking lot..........
not really......... ........, still if skipping due to vibration is my main obstacle, I could come up with some cushy suspension tray for the CD + G.

edit:
I also play guitar so I've got tons of gear already to haul around and not really
time on my hands to be doing much puter work..........