Karaoke Forums

I've done a lot of searching and reading about different hosting software and I've tried several demos, but I can't seem to find a good professional program to suit my needs. I've come up with a small list of essentials and some first impressions of the demo versions I've downloaded. Maybe some of you who are more experienced w/these programs can offer some advice.

-Program has to be stable. 32 bit Vista or XP compatible
-MP3+CDG format, .BIN is a plus.
-Single playlist view - I'd prefer to cue a rotation into a single list as opposed to dragging and dropping names alternatley into 2 different decks.
-Drag & Drop ability of moving singers around in rotation
-Ability to easily toggle between single play and continuous/next song
-Some type of scrolling rotation - preferably the next 3 or 4 singers
-Pane for database view and sortable by Artist, Title and possibly Genre
-A decent non-string search function based on artist and/or title
-Clean, neat layout and easy to use

DJ Power: forget it, overpriced. $300+ for the Vista & karaoke upgrade, and I paid over $700 for the original version. Insanity. Takes weeks to get in touch w/someone, they require a USB dongle for password/activation. Lose it and you're screwed.

Compuhost: Requires a USB license, not interested.

Sax & Dottys: Haven't downloaded it yet. Their screen shot looks clean, but there's no mention of what platform the software runs on. Is this a stand alone program or is this another front end based on Winamp?

Rox Box: Pretty hack looking software w/too many windows and the need to use Winamp. Couldn't move/drag singer rotation box to another part of the screen - there's no menu bar. It wouldn't save a small imported database of 10 songs (cdg+mp3). No way to view your karaoke database??

Siglos Karaoke Professional: Not bad, pretty basic. Although, when adding a singer, there's no way to browse your database w/o entering a search query. Scrolling message only displays the Next singer?? Already crashed once on XP Pro

Tricerasoft Swift Pro 2: Nice and professional looking, but a bit bloated with the DMX controller and preview deck in the middle of the program. Dual deck setup - may be usefull to cue fill music in one deck, karaoke in the other. The perspective of the output video is skewed (like the intro to Star Wars). Not sure if it's a program error or a Demo feature. No scrolling rotation, only a Next Singer screen bewteen songs

MTU: Didn't run the demo because it requres installing Microsoft .NET

Any other programs worth considering?

You have eliminated 3 of the most respected software Mfg's on this site.

I think you can find issues with any program out there but for my money MTU Hoster or CompuHost are the best out there. I really can't speak for Roxbox but there are some staunch defenders of that program here as well.

Funny you should find a problem with the USB Dongle on CompuHost. I like it as it allows me to add it to all of my systems and all I need is the dongle to operate the program on any one of them. I have 3 systems, 2 of which I run MTU hoster on but I have CompuHost loaded on all three. If I want to use CompuHost on any of them I just plug in the dongle and go.

If I decided to use CompuHost on all three systems on the same night I would just have to purchase 2 more licenses and they would send me 2 more dongles. So I fail to see the problem associated with this. Losing the dongle is not an option if you attach it to the computer in such a way that it won't ever separate from it. That is very easy to do.

Could you elaborate on your problem with USB licensing?

To answer your question. I don't know any other manufacturers that offer a simple interface that meets your specifications.

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FlipSide Karaoke
Scott

I do respect a software developer's right to protect software, but USB keys are a PITA. My problem with them is losing them or having someone snag it - ironically, that just happened a couple weeks ago. Someone probably thought it was loaded with MP3s, and I'm forever losing USB flash drives. I only need to run hosting software on 1 computer. So what happens when I get to a gig and realize I lost or forgot my key? I'm SOL.

Vista and XP??? Stable??? If the same code was developed on both platforms at the same time maybe. Yes, S&D is a winamp front end. It has been my experience that if you drag and drop singers around in rotation very much the singers may drag you outside and drop you on your head. You're worried about how it looks to you? What business are you in? Why do you want to move the windows around?

Sorry, but you sound like an independent developer who is about to say that by some amazing turn of fate you have found exactly the right software.... if that's the case, we've heard it all before.

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Okay, who took my pants?

I use RoxBox and there are folks who have made over 75 grand with it. I would suggest you join the forums for each software and really learn how to use it and set it up.

Bin files are used to burn cd's They consist of the cdg and a wav file. They take up the most hard drive space and are not used with hosting software.

Access can be used for ex in RoxBox to look at the karaoke, mp3 and singer history tables. I have about 13k karaoke and 10k mp3's. I have no need or time to look at a data base during a show.

Rox saves player lists for karaoke or DJ I have several that consist of 100's of songs mainly by genre. I can auto or random play or highlight the fill for auto fade from karaoke to fill.

In Rox he singer que scrolls from top to bottom Singers can be dragged up or down and when entering you can actually put the number in for the slot in rotation.

Compuhost, hoster (MTU) and RoxBox with others being developed right now are more than adequate for hosting.

As far as XP or Vista I started with 98 SE Went to 2k Pro and reluctantly shifted to XP for hosting Before I would go to Vists I will convert to Linux.

The main considerations for hosting software is.

Are you going to be doing KJ and DJ both?
Does it have a ripper included?
Does the software have an active forum for help?
Does the tech help include tech support by phone?

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You're kiddin me, right?? . I said stable on XP OR Vista. I have 32 bit Vista installed on a laptop now but I don't have a problem converting to XP if I find software that won't run on Vista.

Yes, drag and drop singers in the rotation. Let's say I add 20 or more singers to a list, I'd like the ability to review the order and make adjustments, i.e. not playing a bunch of slow songs in a row or having the same person singing multiple times before people who haven't

Independent developer? Bout the only thing I could develop is a bad cold! I'm a disc jockey - have been for over 20 years.

Right click on the icon for the program you are having problems with... Click properties then the compatibilty tab. In Vista you even have the option running this program as administrator.

The first thing to do with any hosting computer is defeat all services and background crap you dont need,,,,

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Wanna run Linux?

linux

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If you click 'Apply Filter' without entering any search query you may browse entire database.

That's what I mean about learning the software or demo you are trying.

The first one that offers a Linux version will take over!!!!

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I seriously doubt it. There are too many problems running Linux on laptops (you may get it to work on some machines, but on others you will not be able to find all necessary drivers). Also software itself is only one part of the deal -- you also get support (ideally support should not be needed, but it often is).

Linux market is currently marginal. Mac has 10 times the market share and yet the karaoke software for Mac is much less developed than for Windows.

For general use yes.


I refer to DAWS (digital audio workstations) which are streamlined (all unessasary services and backgrounds are disabled) and dedicated to sound only, which with linux is not needed) . Most of the professional recording studios are switching to unix based software. DJ'S are doing the same. Kj's are still locked up with inefficient systems and fighting the OS.. period..24 channels using Sonar with XP or Vista will bog down in minutes.

Why should I need a computer that takes a pentium 4 processor, 2 gigs of memory, a 400 watt power supply to play and record music? With Linux you dont. With Wondoze or Mac you do...It is simple as that... I will say it again Linux is taking over the professional digital music industry.

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I own all three of the main contenders (in my opinion).

* Compuhost is the best out there. It doesn't do a lot of what you want, but it is the best package hands down.
* Siglos shows promise, but is nowhere near as together.
* MTU may someday come into the modern world and have a proper rotation and search, but I don't expect them *ever* to do drag and drop. Heck, double-click isn't is hardly in their repertoire. They are reliable and sound good, though.

I disqualify any of the Winamp-based ones (autokdj, Sax n' Dotties, Roxbox) because of the fragility of the connection to Winamp. You have no idea whether a key change took -- you just have to sort of guess, since Pacemaker provides no status information.

The Tricerasoft key changer is awful, so I would not ever use their stuff until they fix that.

I didn't like the dongle idea much either, but in practice it hasn't been a problem. I have two copies of Compuhost (one for my service club) and we have used them for a year now with no trouble. We just keep the dongle in the computer case and have a rule that it never gets set down.

I've used winamp and pacemaker for years. You don't have to guess... it TELLS you what % of Tempo you have set up, What steps of Pitch, and what % of Speed. Right on the left side of the box.

As for fragilty, pffttt! It's never crashed on me once!

I don't use any of the winamp-based softwares. I use WINAMP Period!

For those that don't like it, there are other softwares around.

Abe, have you looked at clubcdpro yet? I think it does almost all you are looking for! It's my second choice for karaoke hosting. My first if I have to use audio other than .mp3+g!

As I have stated many times, it isn't Winamp or Pacemaker that is fragile -- it is the connection from the hosting software to them. Pacemaker doesn't have a way to read status other than the display it gives you, so when you set the key in Autokdj, Sax&Dottys, etc. you have no idea whether it took or not.

If you don't want any rotation managment, auto filler music, audio bits, scrolling rotation display, promo trailers, etc, fine. Use Winamap. But every karaoke host I have demoed Compuhost to has loved it and bought it. (No I am not an employee or investor, just a satisfied user.)

karyoker, thanks for the input. I've ripped several tracks to .BIN & WAV files for testing and have played them with karaoke software on my PC. I assumed .BIN was another format option for uncompressed, higher quality files.



Hard to believe I'd ever say this, but I think I'll stick with Microsoft! I'm no fan of Vista by any means, but it came pre-loaded. I assumed I'd reformat and go XP Pro. I think I toyed w/Linux before Redhat came out, but I just don't know it or really want to learn it right now. The above aren't really big concerns for me. If a program is stable on a specific OS, I can usually figure out the rest. Right now I'm just trying out the demos on an XP box but I'm open to OS.

As far as learning the software, you are correct. That's why I listed the problems I ran across.

I have to agree that at the moment CompuHost has the most feature rich and slickest user interface I have seen. The only bells and whistles I don't use that often are the audio bits. Everything else is utilized in every show. Basically the program is about as bug free as you can get and is very stable in both XP and Vista. As stated I have 3 systems and I prefer to use Compuhost for the gigs that I host. The laptop I use has Vista on it and I have not had one problem in almost 1 year of use.

I originally thought that the Dongle would be a problem, but after a year of using it I have changed my mind. I have never misplaced it or had a show go down as a result of it. Again if you attach the dongle to your show computer with an anti theft cable they will have to steal the laptop if they want the dongle.

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Scott

MckyJ & Knight, thanks. I will try out the demo version of Compuhost, but I'm gonna have a hard time getting by the dongle for the reasons I mentioned above. If you lose it, do you need to purchase another copy of the software? I'll google clubcdpro and check that out as well.

Yes. I gulped a bit at that as well, but it just makes me pay attention when I take it out of the pocket. My laptop case has a net/transparent zippered pocket, so it is part of my routine now to check that pocket for the dongle before I close up shop. Not a problem after a year in two installations.

Now that I have essentially paid $15.00 per month for the software over the last year, I know I would sign up for a lifetime license at $15.00 per month. So it doesn't bother me much any more. If I didn't have the extra copy available at my service club, I would probably buy a second copy just for insurance.

But I don't really even need to do that. I can install Siglos on the system as well, and it will read the same song tree and file format as Compuhost, so if I lost the dongle temporarily I would just use Siglos.

I looked at the supplied audio bits and realized I would never use them. But I went and found some free sound effects on the web, specifically a number of realistic sounding small applause pieces (two to ten people clapping). Now I use those occasionally to trigger audience applause.