Karaoke Forums

Hi,
I want to build a (good, but cheap) karaoke system for semi-professional purposes (want to start Karaoke nights in my local village in Andalucia).
And the more I look into the hardware the more questions I have.
What I know is that I need 2 mics (Shure SM 58 (better wireless??? What is your experience?), boxes, a tv, a cd+g/vcd player and a mixing board.
On the markets there are loads of all-included systems, but they seem to be pretty expensive.
People recommend JVC triple tray players. Is it very useful to have a triple player, or would it be enough to connect another cd-player for inbetween music?
If a one tray player is enough, would the following 70 $ player do the business ?

Also, what kind of mixing board will I need to go with a graphic playser?
What kind of out-/input would I have to look for for both the mixing board
and graphic player?

Your help is really much apreciated.

Jürgen

for any kind of pro show, don't go cheap on the players. If the triple tray is overkill, then go with a 222 player (single tray).

The RSQ505 is awesome and handles DVD and VCD as well...

If you search in the threads, there is plenty of advice on how to build the systems!

Even though I opted for an unusual path... You need to look at what you're wanting to do, the size of the room you'll be doing it in, if you'll be doing anything else, and your budget.

I started with a Fender PD-250, a pair of speaker stands, and a karaoke player. Total cost: $1000

I bought this because I wanted something portable and I could use for things other than karaoke (hook to a home stereo, outside parties, etc). The PD-250 comes w/ 2 mics which I've been told rate between the PG-58 and the SM58. The mixer on the PD-250 will handle 4 mics, 2 stereo inputs and has reverb for each channel and on the mains. The room I'm playing is very small, about 20x30 (maybe smaller), relatively quiet crowd, in a hotel where I have to keep the volume respectable. Given the small audience, the small space, and extremely limited budget it was sufficient TO START WITH. If the audience is small I'd consider this as a possible option.

I am now doing larger shows and have to hook up to powered speakers and the Fender is inadaquate. If you expect to do larger groups shows, skip and go with one of the routes recommended here. I'm upgrading myself right now so I can get more sound and flexibility than with the Fender.

I've used REAL cheap players and decent players at this point. There isn't a link for the player, but I can guess it was the Ritech 3700 or 3900. The 3700 I ordered was DOA. The 3900 works just fine for DVD's and VCD's but the decoding for CD+G's is pretty slow. The colors don't track smoothly across the screen (they 'jump'). For home use it might be 'ok' but not for a show. I get better results with a $40 CD+G boom box player than with the Ritech 3900. I just bought an RSQ 333 triple tray player for $250 (including 2 day shipping to Alaska). Spend the money on a good player up front, you and your customers will thank you later. I still have the ritech's which are my backup units if the RSQ/JVC unit fails but I never did a show on them.

On the video side you can go big or small. I'm using a 13" TV connected to an RF convertor. You could use the composite video directly to the TV, but if the cord might get stepped on I'd go with RG-59 since they're available in longer lengths and cheaper. You could use larger displays, but for the singer in the smaller setting I use this is sufficient.

Since you didn't give your ideas on budget I'm basing these on a very limited startup costs. Don't skimp on the player. You can go lower budget on the sound system, but don't go low quality. Make sure the system will play to the room and crowd you'll be using it with.

Remember, what I didn't doesn't work with everyone. It worked for my situation, but it's not a typical situation starting out (asked to do start doing a show in 2 days and you have no equipment, live in Alaska, and shipping for $60 in cables is $71).