Karaoke Forums

Hi everyone,

I'm trying to gather as much information as I can to make an educated purchase on a karaoke setup that I will use at home as well as bring to other people's houses as need.

I will be using my Lenovo T500 as the basis of the setup.

I'm looking for an external sound card that would be ideal for karaoke.

The one I'm currently looking at is the M-Audio Fast Track Pro.

Is this card suitable for karaoke? It has dual mic inputs and 4 outputs.

This would be the setup.

Dual mics > fast track pro > external stereo/speakers
Laptop usb > fast track pro > external stereo/speakers

As I understand it, the Fast Track Pro also has input for a mixer should I get one at some point.

Would this work as a basic setup or am I missing something?

Thanks in advance.

Look at the Lexicon Alpha, it's a great interface. Sounds great - actually like it better than an internal $180 card I have on my main karaoke rig.
http://www.zzounds.com/item--LEXALPHA

I personally would not use the computer as the mixer, you will get much better sound if you get a small external for the mics & run the sound card into.
http://www.zzounds.com/item--YAMMG82CX

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Thanks for the reply.

I wasn't planning to plug the mics into my computer directly. I plan on connecting them to the external sound card/controller.

What about this one?
http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/UA25EX/

I've been reading a lot of good things about that particular model. Made by Roland for professional recording.

Has clean sounding inputs from what I read.

As for the mixer, my friend is going to let me use his Numark Total Control.
http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/TotalControl

I also bought these mics to start with.
http://pro-audio.musiciansfriend.com/pr ... sku=271318

The mixer interface is basically a dj board for a computer software, not really karaoke friendly.

That sound interface may work fine to plug the mics into, again I am not very familiar with connecting mics to a unit like that, I prefer using the USB interface to plug into an external mixer along with the mics in the external mixer - then plug the mixer into the external PA. It may work fine. What are you using for the PA?

The mics are fine for basic entry level home use. Probably will have a little more handling noise and maybe a little on the tinny side - where a regular mixer could help more as you can eq the mics individually.

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Thanks for the reply.

The UA-25EX also use a USB interface. I'm not sure if there's some confusion there.

Since this is a basic home setup, I'm not using dedicated PA speakers (unless I have to).

I have a shelf AIWA system that has mic inputs for Karaoke so I'm assuming it can handle this job.

It's has 4x 100 watt speakers.

This setup is going to be used in a 20' x 20' living room. I assume that is enough power for that kind of space.

Do I risk melting those speakers with this kind of setup?

I'm not looking to do anything fancy on the hardware side just yet. If this is capable of basic karaoke for use with family and friends then I'm satisfied.

If I risk damaging my current speakers then I'll look into buying PA speakers like Behringer or Mackie, but I don't want to spend extra money unless I have to.

Thanks for taking the time to respond.

Generally home stereo type speakers are not up to the job of handling live vocals - adding the compression will help a bit, but still isn't normally recommended. They will to a point, but if you turn them up - which I know I have done parties that can get pretty loud in even the small spaces, then your risk grows for blowing them.
As far as the USB sound interface, I do understand that is what it is & can handle mics as well, but these are geared more for recording purposes to get the vocal to the computer for processing, not so much for general mixing purposes like you are intending as it limits ability for effects & mic equalization. Which is why I stated run the music on the computer, piping it through the USB interface to a small mixer. Run the mics to the mixer, then you run the mixer to your PA source in this case your stereo.

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Unless you are planning on making recordings, I think you may possibly be looking at things backwords.

You can send the output from your PC INTO a mixer, where it can be mixed WITH the Microphones, and the entire output sent OUT to an amp and then to speakers.

An external soundcard can give you a more direct, noise-free path to the mixer.

Of course some soundcards are meant for home recording, and have inputs as well.

Here is my advice, but I may be shot down by other professionals on here - My advice is strictly intended to serve your needs for home and casual home parties - not pro use.

For a non-professional home system, I use a Fender Passport Pro PD-150. It is extremely portable (like a large suitcase - and under 40 lbs.), packs 75 watts per channel, a built-in mixer with reverb, 3 mic inputs as well as a stereo input and effedts return.

It sounds excellent and clear, although lacks some bass response. It has excellent feedback elimination, and the speakers can be mounted on standard speaker poles if you like.

It runs about $500 - $600 depending on the deal (zzounds.com is usually the best). Usually they throw in a basic microphone and cord as well (something to get your started).

All you would need is your laptop and karaoke software to run through this. You would simply use a converter cable to convert your headphone out on your laptop into a dual RCA jack to plug into the stereo input on this mixer.

Of course you could still go with an external sound card if you like.

I have this exact system that I have used for several years at home and at friends houses and it has never ceased to amaze people.

Wow, thanks for the suggestion.

Musician's Friend has the PD150 on sale today for $399 so I went ahead and ordered it.

Do you konw if the PD150 can be used with an external mixer? I read a lot of reviews and the only big negative the mixer leaves a lot be desired in some situation.

It's not a deal breaker for me, but it'd be nice to have the option to bypass the built in mixer if I wanted to.

For home use it should be just fine. It will be better than the home stereo for sure as far as karaoke goes.
If you have a chance you may want to find a local store that has one of those in stock. I personally do not care for the sound, the mixer is extremely basic with simple high/low eq on the mic channels - most vocal adjustments are going to involve a midrange, but you can fake that adjustment with the high/low, basic reverb only (no digital multi-effects) & a basic 'tone' control - one knob that adds highs in one direction & lows in the other on the main & no room to upgrade - ie can't use an external mixer with it. Musicians Friend has a pretty good return policy though if you find it not what you are expecting.

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Thanks for pointing that out. I didn't know what kind of adjustment the built in mixer has.

So I'm going with a dedicated mixer. What would you recommend for speakers for home use?

PA speakers or studio monitors? A friend of mine suggest 2 KRK Rokit 8's.

If you are using it strictly in your home, then some small studio monitors could work fine - mind you studio monitors are made to represent a very flat frequency response so you may need to do some eq'ing to get a desired sound, they are also designed to be close range (near field) so they won't really push alot of power. You won't get that party/club atmosphere with them - don't know if that would be an issue for you or not & if you planned to ever do larger places/parties or take them outside, then they aren't going to do much.
Me personally would go with the PA speakers, they could always be moved out of sight when the party is over. As to what to recommend is what you are really expecting? Just something to sing on, something to have some kickin' parties with, is bass a factor?

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