Karaoke Forums

Been around awhile and seen the many varied personalities that visit here...
Just an observation: Original Poster usually asks a direct question like...
WHAT KIND OF LAPTOP SHOULD I BUY ? and them someone will tell the OP what a mistake it is to use laptops verus desktops and then arguments or DISAGREEMENTS start.
Maybe someone will ask about a problem with a particuliar software app and instead of answering the question people will state that THEIR program is better...why?

I think if we all just read the posts and if we can contribute DO SO but if not DON'T
this should save alot of grief -- Everyone has opinions and that's how we all learn from other peoples experiances and knowledge ...you just have to know which post and discussions requires your input and which DON"T .....take this one for example

BRAVO

And, of course, no one wants to be told that their opinion, or what they have purchased, or what they like, is "JUNK"

....and that is WHEN an argument start.

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I can neither confirm nor deny ever having or knowing anything about nothing.... mrscott

all true, but at times the fact that people buy junk is why they have problems. sometimes we don't want to here it , but have to.

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the voices arent real, but they have some good ideas

and sometimes, as techies, I think it's our job to give the OTHER side of the issue.

Many times people ask questions because someone told them, "oh, go laptop".. when they don't have the knowledge to effectively use it correctly, NOR know how to troubleshoot any problems.

Sorry it stuck in your craw, but I've seen this happen TIME and TIME again!

I think someone forewarned is a good thing. And like ANY advice, if they don't like what I have to say, skip past it!

Sheesh!

I agree with knightshow...
Opinions are like A**holes, every one has one.
What you do with that information is your choice

I agree. If a statement can't stand a dispute, it isn't strong enough to stand on its own. Matt and I probably argue more than any two people do on this forum, but neither of us shows a sign of taking it personally. I sure don't -- arguments are how facts get discovered. If I am wrong, I will say so. Lord knows I have had to many times.

If you never make a mistake, you never learn anything. I am proud to have made many, many mistakes in my life.

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[color=#ffff55]Mickey J.[/color]
Alas for those who never sing, but die with all their music in them.
-- Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.

I've learned more FROM this forum than probably any other time in my life.

I've troubleshot Laptops a bit, but fully acknowledge my weakness in that area. A good friend of mine Scotty in Oregon helped me when I had one way back... and he admitted he hated 'em! ! so blame the teacher on that!

I'm not saying it's not possible... but the show I was at last night is proof positive that the operator needs to know what he's doing with his software and hardware. He was no newbie to hosting, but was to the venue, and when it was set up for him by the karaoke company's sound guy, he didn't test it when he started... there was a loud buzzing noise I'd never associated with anything yet. Wasn't a hum, but was definately from some kind of interferance.

He fiddled around and by the second or third singer, realized the mic cord was shorting out. My first reaction when hearing it was to tell my wife, "wonder if his mic is screwed up... low volume on top of the noise!"

Then when I got up to sing, the man did a simple search for my song in their database, and put up the wrong manufacturer... I wanted the Pop Hits Montly version and he gave me the SC... **sigh**.

The next venue we went to had probably the worst singers I've ever heard in karaoke, and that's saying something. The host also allowed duets like you wouldn't believe, and this one person who was having WAYYYY too much fun must have sang with all her table of friends. We were really getting tired of it. The gal running the system also didn't walk the rooms to check her sound levels... until halfway through the night, she came up to ask me which version of a song I wanted, and then paused and said, "Hmmm, it's kinda low out here, huh?"

My point to all this is you have to have SOME experience and if you're going to go digital, more power to ya... but by all means, PLAY with it extensively. I was one of the first people on JOLT to talk about going digital, and probably the last host on there to fully do it... I spent a LOT of money trying out pcs, cards, software, reinstallling O.S. because my beta tests crashed the PC so bad I couldn't fully uninstall the unwanted program...

I didn't want to go digital until I was as prepared as possible, so I wouldn't be under the gun when I DID have a problem or two!

and yes, I enjoy debating with ya mcky! I love some of the things you come up with, and do cringe sometimes when a point comes up I don't agree with.

But I didn't join on this site to agree with everyone! Nor am I perfect, nor do I THINK I am! heheheh

I WILL admit that eric's point about calling something "junk" is a good one, and I know I'm guilty of that. What works well for someone might not be my cup of tea. I personally love the concept of electric cars, and I've debated with many people about going electric for a comuter vehicle... and when you get right down to it, you CAN save some energy by doing that. Sure is a lot of hard work to get there, and you still have to deal with replacing batteries and recycling them. Anyway, the point is, I'm hear to learn as well as to help a bit with what I know. Part of that is the good natured joshing that goes on with all of us... as long as nobody calls each other stupid!

See, we even disagree here. I think it is perfectly valid to call junk junk. If someone calls my stuff junk, fine. Certainly I have had that happen, and I either 1) choose to defend it or 2) don't. Later I may modify my opinion.

I have bought plenty of junk, and if everyone had kept trying to convince me that it was just peachy keen, I might still be using it.


If you are misleading someone that a piece of junk is really a professional piece of gear, you should be called on it. Or so say I, anyway.

I have gone to a lot of karaoke shows now. The sound at the majority of them is not very good, partly because of ear and partly because of gear. The #1 biggest problem? Junk microphones. Most shows that have good mics have decent sound, and what is so stupid is that it doesn't cost that much -- if anything, in the case of wired mics -- to have decent ones. I consider it a disservice to karaoke hosts everywhere to claim that crappy microphones are acceptable. They are not, and if you can't tell the difference you simply have no ear and should listen to someone who has one.

I challenge any of the crappy microphone defenders to post a song online with them singing through that mic, hand-held. We will then get to see 1) their mic and 2) their ear when they evaluate their own submission.


If I ever make an ad-hominem attack, please call me on it. I talk about what people say, and I try never to attack the individual. I wish that more people would take that approach, myself, but when people get personal and make personal attacks I simply try to ignore what they say after that.

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[color=#ffff55]Mickey J.[/color]
Alas for those who never sing, but die with all their music in them.
-- Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.

You've answered your own question:

Sometimes this "sidetracking" can be very beneficial. Maybe the OP doesn't know of anything else and decides to try what was discussed. Maybe it works better for them, maybe it doesn't, but the point is that they've discovered and tried something they may not have known about otherwise.
I also agree with the others that sometimes it necessarry to tell the poor soul that he owns junk. It may not be necessary to put it quite so bluntly, but if he truly does own garbage, he needs to know.
Great points about the benefits of arguing were made by knightshow and mckyj and I have to agree with them on it. If everyone got along and agreed, how would anybody learn anything?
It's not always a negative thing, you know.
As long as people leave the personal attacks at home, it can be quite a positive thing.

But this is how it is. If I had a question about my Behringer amps power to my Behringer speakers. The answers would be about me using Behringer equipment and more than likely I would never get the information I needed. So why would I even post such question. I wouldn't. I would be labeled a junk user and put on the "D" list. My best option is to pm someone I trust and not deal with the junk that comes with asking simple questions. I'm just saying sometimes its about helping someone at where they are standing and It's not about making everybody just like you.

I use Behringer amps too, and don't consider them to be junk. There are many who use them successfully with national acts, which is good enough for me.

I have Yorkville, Peavey, and Behringer speakers. Guess what I use most? The Behringer, which used properly blow away some Peavey and Mackie installations I have seen. Other people can tell me it is junk all they want. My own evaluation says it is not.

On the other hand, I was shown how my Behringer mixers and equalizers are not as good as I thought they were. They are more junk than I thought they were previously, though I consider them usable they are not what I prefer now.

The equalizer I have seen how bad it is, and have taken it off line. Based, again, on my own evaluation of the evidence. I still have one or two mixers in service and consider them OK, but if I had to make the purchase again I would probably buy a different one.

I also consider Mackie overrated based on what I have heard and seen, and I am not likely ever to own any of their gear. I would buy Allen & Heath, Soundcraft, or Yamaha instead. Others mileage may vary.

If LondonLive tells me something, I listen. Same with Lonman and a couple of others. They have told me consistently that Behringer is iffy, and I have slowly come around. I still think the amps are good, and that some of the speakers are OK if not top-notch. I also think that you can't beat the bang for the buck. But compared to some other brands, they are relatively junk.

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Find the grain of truth in criticism, chew it, and swallow it.

pmsl I hear ya Jay...there ya go, it's either like you explain or you are once again privy to a certain person's "my manhood is bigger than yours" list

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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."

OK folks time to take this to "The Ministry of Arguments".

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You can be strange but not a stranger

But it's NOT an arguement!

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

Yes it is!

I LOVE that Monty Python Skit! ![youtube]k3HaRFBSq9k[/youtube]

"No it isn't-Yes it is-no it isn't-This isn't an arguement it's mearly contradiction...." from Monty Python.

I agree with Matt's original post. If someone wants to pound a nail and asks which sort of screwdriver to use for the purpose, isn't it only reasonable to suggest a hammer instead?

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Okay, who took my pants?