Karaoke Forums

Hi,

Ok, this is what I currently have:

Voco Pro CDG 8800, Voco Pro DA-7909RV, Furman Power Conditioner and Voco Pro wireless mics along with around 200 or so cdg's. I'm buying either an HP DV7-1023CL laptop or the DV9933cl depending on the price difference at Costco. I'll also be using the 320G hd from the computer I'm replacing as an external hd.

1. Do any of the hosting programs include a ripper? I know Siglos doesn't how about Compuhost or MTU?

1.5 What are your top 3 votes for best hosting software.

2. If the host program doesn't do the ripping I'm leaning toward Power CG+G Pro from what I've been reading. Pros/Cons?

3. I don't know what sound card comes in the laptop, the 1023 has Blu Ray and a subwoofer so I'm guessing it has a better card but I don't know for sure. If the card blows, what are my options?

4. Audio Out? My player has RCA inputs and I'm guessing the laptop has the standard headphone size jack for audio out. Is there a cable that splits that to left and right channels? Or is this the benefit of an add on sound card?

5. Video directly to the TV from the laptop right? My player looks like it has video in, but I'd be using the laptop to play any odd discs someone might bring so I really wouldn't need to run video through the VocoPro right?

6. Almost forgot, how/what do you use to rip your regular music discs to your hard drive and will the hosting software allow you to set up a playlist for pre-show or intermissions?

7. What am I forgetting or what else would I need? We host parties at the house almost every month with 20-30 people average with 8-10 of them singers. I have also hosted a couple of parties for friends and filled in one night at the bar at the lake marina recently and have been invited back. I'm not a pro at this but by no means an amature either so if that helps with suggestions as far as how I'll be using it then great!

I know it's a lot of questions but from what I've seen browsing this board you guys have a lot to share. Thanks in advance for all your help.

Thanks,
Ken

I will respond to one question, the hosting software choices.

1. Compuhost
2. Siglos Professional
3. Hoster

Obviously I am a big fan of rotation keeping. I like Hoster OK, but I find at this point their insistence on KMA format tiresome. It would be easy to support MP3+G, which allows you to have backup software on hand.

Siglos doesn't have a ripper, but the cost of their software and PowerCDG Burner/Ripper separately is still

I find Compuhost's interface to be the best for gigs/parties, and Hoster best for practice. I would dearly love it if Hoster supported MP3+G, as I could put both on my laptop and use them as I want to.

Compuhost is by far the best for running a rotation and gig. Siglos is unpolished in comparison.

I prefer Hoster myself, the kma point does not bother me as I do not plan to use other formats. Hoster is an all inclusive - ripper (that is compatible with many more drives than most of the others), songbook & hosting program. The new version also has song & singer history & some basic rotation (which i've personally never needed, prefer the hands on approach myself) which is supposed to improve in the next upgrades.
The other 2 programs mentioned need a separate ripping progam - I believe it is included in CH though. This one is more drive specific it seems, I 4 drives that are compatible fully with Hoster but only 1 is compatible with the CH ripper.
Best thing is to download the demos of each & see which one is going to fit the bill for your needs. What works for 1 may not be great for another.

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It sounds as though you are working on a fixed installation in your home. If this is the case may I suggest that you go cheap and use AutoKdj as a hoster and Audiograbber as a ripper. Both of these programs are freeware. AutoKdj has more rotation options than any other software that I know of at any price.

As for hardware don't use a lappy, any old desktop that you dig out of a dumpster will do, just get a good sound card for it. The old computer will sound no better or worse than the new one. This way you can get your feet wet in computerized karaoke without spending a bundle. Voco Pro....I suggest that you sell it and buy real equipment with the money you didn't spend on the lappy.

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Okay, who took my pants?

Thanks for the responses so far. As far as the VocoPro equipment, Santa brought it for Christmas so selling at this point is not an option and as long as it's on a solid table I haven't had problems with it. The laptop is replacing a desktop with a fried motherboard. My equipment is rack mounted and surprisingly portable thus another reason for the laptop.

You've helped narrow down my choices for hosting software to demo, but do any of them allow you play regular audio tracks? Our parties tend to start an hour or so before anyone is ready to karaoke and I'd like to set up a playlist and just let it run until the party really starts. Also, do any of the cdg rippers do the same for audio cd's or do I need winamp or something like that?

Thanks again!

Ken

Compuhost has a filler tunes player. I don't know how well it works on a playlist, though -- you may prefer Winamp for that.

The people who make siglos has a ripper which in my opinion blows all the other MP3+G rippers away. You might need a renaming program like CDGAUtoname to rename certain songs but it gives perfect rips all the time for me.

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

Works fine. I use playlists all the time with COmpuHost.

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

I use audiograbber for my dj Music and PowerKaraoke's CDG Burner for my Karaoke discs, although I am purchasing more downloads than discs at this time but it is nice for me to know I have the means in case I can't find what I am looking for for download.

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

Vocopro really isn't as bad as Weed is insinuating. I use a VocoPro Mixer amplifier and am happy with the results I am getting out of it. I still have a wired Vocopro mike that I bought for $40 from a friend who had extras. It still works fine although I only use it if one of my wireless mikes gets dropped and broken.

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

Hi Kenj30,

This is Mrmarog again back on Latshaw Systems Karma hosting software. It seems as tho no one will even consider giving it any consideration at all. The neat thing about Karma is that it is completely and fully funtional with up to (5) singers and and (5) songs in the play list. It will perform all of your requests very efficiently and simply and has a very nice hi tech modern appearance. The way Karma can switch between DJ and Kj songs and play them is very nice. It was also developed to run on Vista. I have still not purchased the software myself, and have been using the trial mode at home for months now. I use AutoKDJ, and find it to be an amazing piece of free hosting software. I only gig a couple times a month and this works very well for me.

Mrmarog,
Please don't bash me about suggesting Latshaw...It is only my opinion.

Karma isn't a bad program at all. I use CompuHost and have settled on it for a couple of features I like about it. 1) is the Singer history feature. I find myself using it alot especially for singer who only sing a certain number of songs. for them I can setup their night in one click of the mouse. 2) is that I can export the database for use for songbooks and can use the internal song numbering code instead of the manufaturer's numbers. If they really wanna know what brand I have, all they have to do is ask. I use Fast Tracks for my books and Save it to PDF using PrimoPDF which is a program that simulates a printer so that one can take a softcopy to the printers instead of using up the ink in your printer.
Karma's rotation method reminds me of Sack - O nuts.

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

for home setup, I recommend

Winamp with the plugins. No need for any hoster or other program to run karaoke. Granted the other programs can give a lot of great bells and whistles... but for HOME use?? I use this in my shows and it works great.

Don't worry about the soundcard on the laptop or desktop unit you want. Get a Behringer UCA202 USB device.
http://www.behringer.com/UCA202/index.cfm?lang=ENG

At www.musiciansfriend.com

For ripping, get Audiograbber, free, and it has a renaming tool in it that hooks up to the database. Will do about 80% of the discs out there, and most audio discs as well!

Why do you want to hide the version? What is the point of having three listings for a song, each with an arbitrary number next to it?

Micky, what works for you and I and other KJs or hosts may not work for OTHER hosts or singers.

Many don't CARE, and want to keep it as simple as possible. They don't take it as seriously as we do.

I will say that for a PRO show, it's a killer for me. I'll not look through their songbook if I see that. Nine out of ten times it's an inferior version in my experience... and if those folks can't play outside discs, there's ZERO reasons for me in particular to be there.

Hey, I'm a karaoke snob, and proud of it! !

I can understand having only one listing for the song, with no number. I can understand having multiple listings for a song with the mfr number. I can even understand having one listing for a song with the mfr number.

What I can't understand is having an arbitrary number. It is like saying "take it or leave it, and you won't know until you sing it".


That's the beauty of listing a mfr number, the people who don't care still get to put in the number, the people who do care get to see it.


I am too.

But I am still asking the questions, in all honesty, because I am trying to undestand. If I can't know that it is a SoundChoice "Blue Clear Sky", I won't sing it, because that is the only good version around. Or if it is the one of the bad SC songs, like "Cherry Bomb" or "I've Come to Expect It From You", I don't want to bother with it.

I agree fully with this. If you are going to list multiple version & NOT the manu code of some sort, just list 1 version only. Multiple versions listed for some is to allow the singer to choose the version, but without a code of some sort, why bother?

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I don't bother because I don't go by the number anyway. I go by artist name and then title of song. The number means nothing to me. Add to the fact I loaded the database for my show computer differently in order than what I used to create my songlist. Did it before purchase of Compuhost by using the demo to create the database/export file. So the id numbers don't even match with the songs on my show computer untill you get to add ons. When I do my next books there won't even be numbers to go by, which was intended in the first place but didn't happen for some reason as I thought I clicked to hide the nymbers completely.
Every singer is getting the best version available. I only have inferior versions for songs that are not made by any other manufacturer, MOst have multiple versions but I go with the better quality version.

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

But without numbers you would only list 1 version in your book, not all duplicates correct?

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

One of my book sets also lists only song and artist. This makes sense to me, because we aren't wasting paper. We also operate on artist/song, and have multiple versions, and also try to pick the "best". Very few people care, and those that do will usually ask. But we don't make them fill out a number that is meaningless. It also stops the number-only people from doing that.

The other book I have, for my smaller personal collection, has multiple versions with manufactuer number. I have removed most Nutech, Backstage, CKC, and SGB songs from the book if I have another version. I still keep them on the disk as I have plenty of room -- and there are a fair number of SGBs I will pick instead of the other versions as they often have better instrumentals than other brands. (I never pick CKC, BS, or Nutech unless it is the only one).