Karaoke Forums

I am looking for a Karaoke player in the $100 to $150 range that has REVERB instead of ECHO. Since these terms are often used interchangably, here is what I mean:

By ECHO, I mean the vocal will have a repeated sound that decays over time, so if you said "POP" it would sound like POP-POp-Pop-pop...

By REVERB, I mean the vocal will have an extended decay of the original sound, with no repeats, so "POP" would sound like POPPPPPppppppp...

Many of the specifications list echo and many of the units I have listened to indeed do have the repeating-sound echo which is not what I want. I want a player that can provides true reverb. All I need is a player to plug into a powered PA Speaker, but if I have to go the route of a combined player and amp system, I can go up to $400 if that gets me reverb.

Does anybody know of such a unit?

You might try some older Pioneer players. They did indeed have two separate knobs, reverb and echo.

You can find many cdg type of players on ebay... but since you're buying an older, in some cases refurbished unit, you may not get long term dependability.

Niow, having said that, you might be better off getting a microphone mixer, or a mixer that has such settings on them. Although the players have the mic connections, most of us that have used them like that prefer the sound from an outside mixer... even for home enthusiasts!

I won't press the issue any further, but if you're interested, please comment back.

I honestly do not know of a player that has an actual reverb built in. I have a couple of the original (1990) Pioneer players (laserdisc only) that Matt spoke of & those also have a delay/echo but not a reverb - unless there are some even older that had them. I do believe their original dual tray laser disc/karaoke amp combo had a separate reverb/echo setting, but it's been a while since i've seen one & those do not play cdg at all.
Like stated, it might be time to move to a mixer that has the effects built in. Plenty of boards that are easy to use & are cheap enough for home use. Here is one for an idea.
http://www.americanmusical.com/Item--i-ALE-MM6FX-LIST

Your cdg player & mics plug into this. The advantage is more eq flexibility & cleaner sound over the mic preamps of the players. Plus the digital effects gives you alot more options including the reverb you are seeking.

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

Thank you for the input. I have given thought to using an outboard reverb, like the Alesis picoverb on the microphone input and just leaving the karaoke player's echo turned down. However, that would add about $80 to my overall cost. Same goes for a low cost mixer with built-in effects. I sure would be simpler, and cheaper, if the karaoke player had reverb built in.

I am putting together a small portable system to sing to small venues, like retirement homes, and have even considered a CD player and mixer feeding a powered speaker. Having CDG isn't important for this application, but if I do go with a CDG player, that would allow me to take on an occasional Karaoke party should the opportunity come up.

As a recordist, I can really hear the difference between reverb and echo and, other than some old rockabilly songs, never use a repeating echo when I record. As cheap as DSP has become, you'd think karaoke players would have reverb. I just tested a CAVS system and it had very annoying repeat echo. Still looking for a reverb Karaoke player.

If you are going to use your system for some small gig, it best that you follow Lonnie advice; get a small board.
The mic preamp in even the better player will clip and overload even at relatively low volume. So even if you can get good vocal effect from such unit, the vocal will not sound good.

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

Good luck in your quest.

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

Thanks for the suggestion of a small mixer with effects. I haven't shopped tiny mixers in a while and did not realize they had sub $100 mixers with digital reverb. I use a Behringer 12-channel mixer in my home studio and it has been a stellar performer, though it doesn't have effects. I checked Behringer and they, too, have a mini-mixer with digital effects http://www.americanmusical.com/Item--i-BEH-XENYX1002FX-LIST. If I go the mixer route, I will check the Alesis, Behringer and similar models and find which one works best for my needs.

Of course, the fact that mixers can be sold for under $100 with digital reverb does make one wonder why the karaoke equipment manufacturers don't incorporate reverb into their units? I sure would have liked to have an all-in-one "grab and go" solution, but after listening to the all-in-one karaoke machines in the $100-$400 range, I found them all lacking, both in reverb and in overall sound quality. That led me to consider a karaoke player and a powered PA speaker. Now, it looks like I will have to drag in a player, mixer and PA speaker in order to get decent sound.

be careful with the Behrenger with effects. I had a 12 channel one that the FX went out within a month!

Yamaha or Mackie are the direction I'd recommend. You don't need that many channels for your specific needs!

<edit>
WHUPS...
http://www.karaoke-forum.com/viewtopic. ... 388#223388

User Liquiddye just reported Mackie is hurt by the financial situation... so maybe yamaha would be best!

I've had a Behrenger Eurorack 1202 that I've been using for 5 years with no problems

_________________
#####################################

The Alesis effects are the same chip they use in the Pica, Nanao & MicroVerbs.

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

Look on ebay. I just got the next model up from the one Lonman suggested for $100 plus a nanoverb was included. I really like the Alesis Multimix 8 USB and the main reason I got it was because of the built in vocal effects. The vocal effects are excellent, much better than what my $569 Yamaha EMX512 powered mixer has.

I have bad news for you, Lonman knows what he's talking about, there is no Karaoke player with built in reverb, no matter how much you hope and wish there was. Listen to what these knowledgeable people are telling you, otherwise you're going to waste a bunch of time looking for a something that doesn't exist.

I am running the behringer you are talking about and have had it running perfectly since October. I actually llike the sound better than what I use to run and my system hasn't sounded better.

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

The Yamaha mixers also have a simple compression feature that might be something to consider for karaoke.

Just a thought.

_________________
Hate is like taking poison, hoping the other guy gets sick

And my 2 cents: You might try to find a BMB Ninja mini-board. Keychange, Pitch control, and more important for you- Echo, Delay, AND REPEAT controls. Though not technically reverb, by bringing the repeat all the way down and increasing delay it'll end up being the same thing- slow decay rather than repetitons. Great inexpensive unit.

Kinda hard to come by these days, but here it is on e-bay:

http://wantitnow.ebay.ca/KN-X1-Ninja-Ha ... 0305337234

Small as heck, and can even run on batteries. Take a look.

_________________
"No Contests, No Divas, Just A Good Time!"

" Disc based and loving it..."

I am still researching getting it all-in-one, but if all I have to do to get there is add reverb to the mic inputs, here is a reasonably cheap ($50) solution. http://www.behringer.com/EN/Products/MIX800.aspx That little Behringer unit has your choice of reverb or echo, selectable with a switch.

You will also need to get cords for the RCA to 1/4" just to make it work in a players mic inputs.
You are putting too much inline of the mics & will overdrive any players mic inputs. They aren't made for any kind of heavy use to begin with.

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

Can you use a direct box?

I may have found a solution. I have bought (with a 30-day return policy) and am evaluating a Behringer K1800FX. It is sold as a powered speaker for keyboard, but actually has a 4 input mixer which includes a mic input, a selection of digital effects, including reverbs, a 7-band EQ, a feedback spectrum analyzer, a 180W RMS amplifier with 12 inch woofer and horn tweeter, all in one cabinet. All I have to do is plug in a CD player and a microphone and I am ready to do a gig. The reverb sounds fine on vocals.

I don't plan on hosting a karaoke event, so CDG isn't important for me, nor is key change. I will only be presenting singing shows on my own. See my YouTube channel at http://www.youtube.com/avonthetube if you are interested in what I do. I may still use a karaoke player for the CD's so the unit stops playing after each track. That way I can just start the music with the remote when I am ready to sing the next song.

Thanks to the input of this forum, I did some SPL measurements with my existing amp and found that I needed more power, certainly a lot more than the 40W RMS karaoke units I had been contemplating. The Behringer can easily give me 90dBA in a medium sized room and that is all I need for a retirement center. Actually, it will probably have to be lower than that to keep them happy.

I don't know what your budget is? The Fender Passport has a master reverb and individual reverb controls for 4 mic inputs. It's a self-contained unit (with speakers) and is available in 150, 250 and 500 watt "sizes"

Before you buy that unit just make sure that the effect (reverb) is not global, ie it also affect the music.

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