Karaoke Forums

Hi everyone, my name is David and you can probably guess where I live given the thread title.

I run a few Rock Band events at weddings and private parties. I'm looking into running RB at a couple of bars and also dabble in becoming a KJ. Right now I'm trying to figure out what kind of PA system to put together for a dual RB/Karaoke setup. I'm thinking that I'll have audio input from a CD+G player, 2 wireless Karaoke mics, my host mic, my xBox 360, and my laptop/ipod. That's six channels...I'm thinking that should be sufficient, but I'd love to get some input.

I'm of course trying to put this together on the cheap and keep everything modular. I don't want to buy crap that will not last the year, but I don't want to overbuy either. I'm thinking of starting out with this Powerpod system but I'm not sure about the quality. If that is crap, my next plan is to go for a Kustom KPM7250T 200w 8ch mixer and a couple of Peavey PR12s. Do any of you gearheads have any constructive criticism about those options?

Right now my setup has been pretty small. I use a projector with an 80" screen as both the monitor for the RB players and for the audience. Ideally, once I get a regular gig at a place I will get a PA system and then a 42" tv as the monitor for the singers/guitar players, and a 20" monitor for the drummer. At that point the projected image would be for the audience and the players can face the audience.

My projector is an Epson Moviemate 72 with four decent but small built-in speakers, so the sound is actually not bad in a room with 25-40 people, but I definitely want to invest in a low-end PA system soon.

My Rock Band book and forms are designed to have a "band" do a three-song set. It takes about 2-3 minutes to do the song and settings selection, so I'd love to have 1-2 karaoke singers between each "band" set. I figure all I need for this is a VGA monitor switch so I can go back and forth from the game to the CD+G player or laptop.

Anyway, that's the plan, please feel free to rip it apart for me before I spent money on equipment. I figure I spend a thousand or less on this endeavor and it doesn't work out, I still have a PA system for kickass parties.