Karaoke Forums

Hi all,

My wife loves Karaoke so I'm going to buy her a system for her birthday. Main use will be family and the odd party.

I visualized a system with wireless mics (preferred but not essential), hooked up to the TV and my little guitar amp (unless it has an integrated amp).

Any advice or direction would be much appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

Scotia

Doesn't sound like you are sure what you are doing to play the tracks. It seems you might mean a CDG player, but I think you should reconsider. They cost a lot and leave no money for mics and mixers.

The cheapest way to go is to use an existing home PC for a player. You can get KaraFun and usually both 1) play downloaded karaoke tracks from a legal site like Tricerasoft and 2) play purchased CDG disks.

Your guitar amp is not going to sound very good for vocals. Players like the Vocopro GigMan and Duet will be easy to use, but are going to sound fairly cheesy. If easy and cheesy is what you are after, get a player like that and go have fun.

If you are looking for something higher end and better sounding, go with mixer/mic/powered speakers.

If you really have a hard $300.00 limit I would use the PC for the player, then:

1) buy a single powered speaker like the Harbinger 12", $150:

http://pro-audio.musiciansfriend.com/pr ... sku=620806

2) a small used Yamaha MG82CX mixer from EBay, about $90.00

3) two Behringer XM8500 mics, $40

http://www.amazon.com/Behringer-XM8500- ... B000TTRGUE

4) 3 whirlwind XLR cables, $25.00 (two for mics, one for speaker):

http://www.zzounds.com/item--WHRMC20

5) one patch cable, $7.50 (connect mixer to speaker XLR cable):

http://www.zzounds.com/item--HOSSTXM

6) One PC to 1/4" adapter cable (you might have RCA version already, connects computer to mixer):

http://www.zzounds.com/item--HOSCMP15

The above will hook up something that will work. You could expand to a second speaker later.

Or possibly for $130 more:

http://pro-audio.musiciansfriend.com/pr ... sku=631033

If you think you might want to do this long term, consider spending more on the speakers and mics. Better ones will make a big difference.

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

Thanks for your advice and you're right, I do not have a clue about this yet. I will investigate your suggestions.
Cheers!

here is an other one...

http://pro-audio.musiciansfriend.com/pr ... sku=485741

I purchased the package deal posted by mckyj57 above, I used a 15% off coupon code and it brought the total down to about $367(free shipping, no tax). GREAT DEAL in my book.

The package I posted has smaller speakers but a better mixer(IMO), but for some reason it has a $20 charge for shipping when the bigger setup had no charge. I dont have a coupon code right now, but they pop up from time to time.

I tried using my home theater(good system) and was not happy. PA is the way to go.

Here is another suggestion to consider, it's more than your 300 dollar budget, but would make a great little PA system for only 500 bucks. You would have to play songs from your PC like mcky57 suggested.

http://www.carvinguitars.com/products/s ... 10&cid=101

Though I wouldn't use their equipment professionally, the hands down best home system for the $300 budget is the VocoPro DuetII- period. An all in one system, it includes all effects including digital keychange, an internal recorder ( You can record a performance, even if you are using headphones), AM/FM, plus dual dubbing tape decks. You can also run it from 12v for a tailgait party. 90 Watts, which is plenty loud for the living room party, or to practice. 2 seperately controlled mic inputs, plus master controls, including music to vocal balance, VCM, and EQ

Simple to operate for the beginner.

I've used mine for practice for around 5 years with no problems.

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

" Disc based and loving it..."