Karaoke Forums

Upgraded to pc based karaoke after using a JVC 3 disc system for home use for a few years. Have 2 BMB karaoke speakers (home use), and a older model 100 watt per channel Akai amplifier (no mic inputs).

What do I need to do to use my laptop with my current amp and output to the speakers? Do I need a mixer board with 3 min inputs (prefer 3 inputs)? Do I need a preamp? Both? I am not sure what to hook my audio out cable from my laptop into and also support the mics.

Thanks for any help and advice and for putting up with yet another noob question.

Chris

a couple ideas,
for the low price, Behringer
http://www.guitarcenter.com/Behringer-X ... 1153503.gc
however i must add, one of the jobs at GC with every shipment was to open every Behringer product as it came in and test them all, we had between 40 & 50 % that we had to send right back non functional right out of the box before they even hit the floor.

Mackie, Tried and true
http://www.guitarcenter.com/Mackie-802- ... 1391874.gc
a bit higher price, no fx, but you definately cannot go wrong with their quality, and they have a very tight sound to them.

my personal choice
http://www.guitarcenter.com/Yamaha-8-In ... 1172629.gc
also, top quality, i prefer the slightly warmer sound i get from these pre's over the mackie, but that is purely subjective. i can say that in 9 years at GC i NEVER sent a single Yamaha piece back for warranty. i even had to send a Midas back once.

any of these will do well for home use, i have seen some of these with pro KJ's as well.

getting your pc to mixer, easy way, a 3.5mm stereo to 2 1/4in mono cable from radio shack or the like. of course better quality cable = better quality sound, but most of them are decent anymore. beyond that you start getting into external sound cards.

hope i helped a little bit, have fun!

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Paradigm Karaoke, The New Standard.......Shift Happens

Yes...helpful. Thank you.

So with the Yamaha, my line out from the laptop sound card would go into which input? Then I assume it is as easy as running an audio out RCA cable to my amp input?

The mic inputs appear to be XLR...does the mixer also accept pin jack connectors?

Chris

I am also a fan of these boards. The on-board compression is a nice addition. I own this one which I use for practice, and I use the 12-input and 16-input models for gigging. The effects are simple but good-sounding.

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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.

if you do a 3.5mm trs to dual 1/4" mono or dual rca, you can just go into track 7/8

as far as the mic ins, i assume by "pin jack" you mean 1/4", yes all 4 other ins have 1/4" jacks under the xlr, if the cables are not permanantly connected to the mic, i would suggest just getting a few xlr cables. you will notice an improvement in the clarity of sound from the same mics.

out to your amp, if rca is your only option going in, than just a simple 1/4" to rca cable will do well. the main outs on these boards is 1/4".

Enjoy

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Paradigm Karaoke, The New Standard.......Shift Happens

Ok...the board arrived. However, still a bit stumped.

The output from my Dell PC sound jack is 1/8 I believe. It is a single input (1/8") into the Headphone jack and I will need a dual input (RCA) into the board. Will that dual input go into line input jacks 7/8?

I have standard RCA audio jacks as inputs for my amp (Aux inputs). What jacks on the board should be used to connect the amp? Again, I am using standard RCA cables...not phone type jacks.

When all is said and done, I should have output from my PC running to an line input pair on the board, and output jacks on the board running into my amp input RCA audio...correct? Do I need converter plugs (RCA to Phone plug) for this board for my setup? Sorry...new to all this...

Thanks!

Chris

Is the Mackie and the Yamaha rack mountable?

The outs are phone outs. You need adapters to adapt it to rca. Very easy to do. I had to do this to hook into my mixer from my sound card which has RCA outs. I took a couple of female RCA to 1/4 phone to make it work.

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

Yes they sell these cables at Guitar Center, or your favorite music store.

-densie

Better to get two patch cords and two of the following adapters


http://www.guitarcenter.com/American-Re ... 1129366.gc



http://www.guitarcenter.com/Horizon-1-4 ... 1530779.gc

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

coming 3.5mm (aka 1/8") out from your sound card, you need something like this
http://www.guitarcenter.com/Live-Wire-3 ... 1170938.gc
that will go into 7/8 you are right.
from your output of the board you need
http://www.guitarcenter.com/Live-Wire-R ... 1166752.gc
this will go to your rca inputs on the amp.
if you can get away without using adapters, all the better (they can be tempermental)
if not, Danny has the right idea.

you're doing fine, relax and trust yourself, you had the right answer in your question.

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Paradigm Karaoke, The New Standard.......Shift Happens

Thanks so much guys. Great place here!

So I should then use the Stereo Out phone jacks to my amp with the adapters on my RCA cord. What is the Monitor Out used for?

Chris

to run out to monitor speakers (usually pointed back at the singer so they can hear how they sound).

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

Thanks for all your help guys. I am up and running.

However, I have 2 questions. The first is in reference to the amp I am using...the Akai Am-73 Reference Series amp...an oldie but a goodie. It is rated the AM-73 105 watts per channel into 8 ohms. This is probably way to low to be of any value in powering BMB Karaoke speakers (for the home...smaller set). I can get nice music levels but the mic levels are extremely low. If I use an XLR mic it is better, but still the volume controls and most of the gains have to be pumped way up. And if I try a lower level phone jack type mic (remember, I had a JVC disc player for the home), it is worthless as almost no volume can be heard on those mics. Is this directly related to the low power output of the amp I am using?

Secondly, for this amp, I am currently going into the AUX inputs (RCA) from the Channel 7/8 Phone jack inputs. I also notice that the amp has Digital Signal Connection jacks in the back. Are these of any value when using the Yamaha mixer I have? I have included a pic of the front and back of the amp as well.

Thanks so much...

Chris

ok, first.....
you will definately get a stronger input from the mic with an xlr cable.
second.....
you cannot plug an input to an input. channel 7/8 and the aux input on the amp are both looking for a signal coming in, but neither are sending that signal.

mic > xlr cable > chanel 1 yamaha
comp > 3.5mm-2xrca cable > chanel 7/8 yamaha
yamaha stereo out > 2x 1/4-2x rca cable > aux input akai

beyond that, the next steps are basic troubleshooting, what kind of mic is it (too cheap may have a much weaker output), where is the gain set on chanel 1, volume level control (the big white knobs at the bottom) settings on the mixer, dont overlook the effect panning has on volume either. a lot of places it could be breaking down.
being rather new to this, it may help to keep the volume on the akai down some and go down chanel one, plug in your mic and turn the knobs one at a time, turn it up, then way down just to hear the efect each one has for yourself. i find that hearing it explains what it does a lot better than any of us could explain in words. but keep the volume down, gain, compression, highs, midrange, can all create ear piercing feedback when moved to extremes if the volume is up high.

let us know how it goes

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Paradigm Karaoke, The New Standard.......Shift Happens

My bad, I did mean to say I am running the Stereo out to my Akai Aux input. The 7/8 phone jacks are being used as input from my laptop as you mentioned.

I have played with the various controls as you stated, and I am just not getting any real sound from the cheaper mics. The XLR is fine, if volume and gain pushed way up, but the other mics cannot be used.

In your opinion, what is the minimum power I should be looking for to drive the smaller BMB karaoke speakers, that would allow for good volume levels without having to push the Yamaha board to the max for all volumes/gains/etc? Also, would powered speakers be a better solution that replacing my amp?

Chris

Remember to be careful plugging mixers into consumer amps. The output of the mixer is a pro level +4dB output, but the amp is consumer level and expects a -10dB input.

What does that mean?

You'll get way too much input voltage. Consumer to consumer level is like having a conversation in a quiet room. Pro level to consumer is like having the same conversation, but the other guy is using a megaphone. Your ears could be damaged, and so could your amp.

Be careful with turning up the master volume on the mixer too much.

So, would you recommend just going to powered speakers? I am going into the AUX input in my amp...does that still pose a risk? Do I need an amp as part of the equation if using the Yamaha MG82CX?

Chris

Powered speakers would work but then you need different converters.

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

Sounds like a more powerful amp is the easiest solution then. What does different converters imply?