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One stereo channel or two mono channels on the mixer - correct!

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Thanks everyone...Lotrs of plugs...! Plugs everywhere...!

Hey guys what's up? Well I have everything now. Everything is plugged in. Speakers seem to be working well. I am only getting sound out of one of my mics and I'm not sure what to plug the dual 1/4" cable into on the mixer coming from my 1/8" out of the laptop. I do have the soundcard ordered but I want to use this method for tomorrow's small family gathering. So what do I plug the 1/4" jacks into?

Got it!!!! Well I am slow, but I am old and by golly, I just rocked my house. Roadhouse Blues for the first tune. I couldn't have done this without you guy's expert opinions. I have a long ways to go, but I'm ready now. Now all I have to do is master that mixer!

Have fun!

Thanks Sevarin. With no experience in a band, dj or kj, and no one to help me in person, this would have been a lot tougher with you and the guys.

An friend of mine who won Karaoke Scene's best kj was using his laptop for background music. He had raved over using a Turtle Beach usb device to improve the sound quality. Now on the other hand I have noticed issues with laptop outputs that don't sound as good as the cd deck ones. An also some noise issues. That is pretty much expected. But there's one thing I would take into consideration. Sharing a ground with a high speed digital motherboard. In audio design this is pretty much taboo if you are seeking low noise and interference. I would question how much isolation occurs between an outboard usb device and the laptop that is how clean the usb power supply circuit is. A faulty ground connection may invite interference. The other thing is that you may get a hotter and higher quality signal from the device more like a cd output (it's all in the digital decode and audio output processing). As long as it is at least 16 bit it or 24 it should be adequate.

Anyone using compuhost with an external usb sound device?
I was having trouble with noise on my Presario 6000 laptop when it was connected to ac power. I thought that I had it figured out when I connected my mbox up through usb and lifted the grounds on the powered eons; quiet as a Sunday in the south.
Unfortunately, when I opened my Compuhost software it did not list the mbox device as an option for audio out, just the onboard chip.
The windows audio properties show the mbox and it's set as the default audio out.
Any ideas? I tried reinstalling compuhost.

I am running a behringer U-control with no issues with compuhost. In fact I just tried to set up a playlist with compuhost without it installed and it would not save the playlist.

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

I'm seriously considering moving to laptop now for my shows. I've been content with discs since I started. They're always reliable and I got a dual player with pitch control e.t.c. so I can switch between singers perfectly fast enough.
However, last week I did a gig where we had a couple of live bands and karaoke. It was a nightmare to run because there just wasn't not enough room for my discs and the stage was cluttered as hell. Just finding the next disc and finding a place for the slips was like trying to juggle with my left arm tied behind my back and my right eye closed!

A laptop would have eliminated all this so maybe it is time for me to look at it seriously now.

mr.fahrenheit do you rip your discs with the drive in the laptop or do you use an external CD drive (for example a Plextor) to rip? How to do they playback on the laptop? Any 'stuttering' with the lyrics?
I like the look of that lexicon Alpha soundcard. Anything made by lexicon is going to be good.
My only last concern is the licencing issue. Some guy came on to a UK karaoke forum that I go to and started banging on about this new 'Produb' licence telling everyone they need to buy one if they're doing karaoke with a computer, but its hugely expensive and turns out that Produb themselves don't even know if it covers karaoke properly anyway.

With discs, I got no problems with reliability or legality, but after last weekend I discovered I got huge problems with space & organisation!

thanks, the u control seems to be inexpensive so worth the try, I've a GC discount card to burn

I simply cut off the earth from the 3 pin plug and it stopped the hum

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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."

My Behringer UCA202 just took a dive. It created some really nasty static cracking noise (in the highs). Took me a while to figure out it was actually the external Sound Card. I switched cables, excluded components one by one, etc... (2 hours)

Anyway, since I needed a new one and no GC had it in stock, I took Lonnie's advice and went with the Lexicon Alpha. I also downloaded the latest software from their website and will give it a shot tonight. I'll let you know...

BTW, the guy at guitar center told me, that he heard that a lot lately about the Behringer UCA202. He also said, that they use the cheapest material to build them. That's why they're so cheap.

Now I don't know, if that's really true, but wanted to share that experience with you.

Boy, if you're right, then I have a LOT of backpeddling to do, Sev!

I still use USB out for my computer to RCA using Soundblaster MP3+, and a mixer that has a USB out.

But for everyone else that I've recommended that option too... I feel BAD now!

Hmm, the Alpha is similar to an Mbox device. I'm concerned that it would not show up as an audio device in Compuhost.
Anyone running Compuhost with the Lexicon Alpha?

Works just fine

Ok, I'm more awake now, so I can write a little bit more.

I tried the Lexicon Alpha yesterday and guess what? I still had that cracking static noise! I couldn't believe it! It was working fine going from my Laptop Headphone port to the mixer the day before. No noise, no nothing.... So I figured, it must be the Behringer USB Sound Card.

So there I am, singing my opening song and that noise is back again. I was pi$$ed!

I was thinking for a second and remembered, that I had issues with my Echo Audiofire2 and Vista before. I stopped using the Audiofire, because my Firewire Port on my Laptop is very sensitive, meaning if I accidentally touch it, it might disconnect and the sound would be gone. But before I stopped using it, I had some sound issues with it, too.

Fortunately I have Windows Vista and XP on my Laptop (Dual Boot). So I restarted the Laptop and booted into XP, installed the Lexicon Alpha driver real quick and off I went with the show. No cracking noise, nothing...

This is the first time EVER I run into a problem with Vista. But I guess, I stick with XP for now.

Bottom line is, I could almost bet, that the Behringer works just fine under XP, too. It must be something they recently updated in Vista though, because I was running Vista and the Behringer for almost a year now and never had that issue before.

It's just weird, can't figure it out...

I'm keeping a close eye on this post. I've just implemented a Behringer USB device and am running Vista. So far, it has worked flawlessly. I'm only using part of the show, still mainly with discs. The only real issue I'm now having is with running Karaoke from my laptop, I can get it to work with the extended desktop, through the s-video out into my switchbox. My issue is that when I switch from the laptop to another input....I lose the signal from the s-video and have to go through and set it all up again. This is very much a pain in the azz, but I don't know that there is any way around it. I sure haven't found it yet. Thanks, MrD

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[highlight=midnightblue]MrD - KJ/DJ Specialist
Visit MrD on facebook - mrdsentertainment
& on myspace - larrynance[/highlight]

how are you switching from a laptop to another unit?

I used a simple a/b switch and never lose my s-video...

wonder if this is something unique with the newer os?

That sounds like you are having the wrong switchbox. Vista shuts down the extended desktop, if no load is provided in the cable. A good switchbox keeps that load, even when switched to another input.