In the first part of this series ("a generic system"), I described the various pieces that you must have in a karaoke system. This part was kind of theoretical. In this post I will give some examples of what I call all-in-one systems - systems where all or most of the pieces come in one package. The next post will describe other ways to configure a karaoke system.
I mentioned some disclaimers in my previous post. I wish to repeat disclaimer #2, because it is especially relevant to this post:
2. This is not intended to be a buyers guide. I will mention specific products and reference specific websites that sell stuff. Please interpret these as examples and not as endorsements. When and if some manufacturer or retailer decides to give me some money, then I will be happy to state that their equipment is the best stuff around.
Combined systems versus components
Not only is there a bewildering assortment of products, features and prices, but it is made even more confusing by the fact that the components that I spoke of before (mixers, amps, speakers, etc.) are often combined into one package. When you buy a system, you have to decide whether to buy all the components separately, or to have A and B in one package, or to have B and C together.
Years and years ago, when I worked for Radio Shack (Ummm... t wasn't called Radio Shack at the time, since Marconi had not yet invented the radio.) Years and years ago, when I worked for Two-Campbells-Soup-Cans-With-A-Sting-Between-Them Shack, I would tell customers to buy all the components separately because that way you could gradually upgrade your system, one piece at a time. I liked to give that advice cuz people spent more money if they bought all the pieces separate. I was working on commission.
Since I am no longer working on commission, I can talk about combined systems.
All-in-one system, toy category
This first category is what I might recommend for a kid who loves to sing. All the pieces are packaged together in one compact and convenient package. Nothing else to buy.
Well, almost nothing else to buy. These systems generally come with a small selection of songs. You're going to want to buy some tunes. Hannah Montana and High School Musical are kind of a necessity.
Here are two examples of all-in-one toy systems.
Emerson GQ755, $70 from Amazon
Another one, $160 from ToysRUs
If the kid you are buying for is 14 or older, I would suggest staying away from the toy category. At 14, kids become hearing impaired. That's why you need a bullhorn to ask them to clean their room or empty the dishwasher, and that's why they turn up their music so loud. The sort of system in the toy category just will not have the kind of power than a 14 year old desperately needs. And believe me, when they try to get that kind of volume out of the system, the system will provide you with 100 watts of pure distortion. Not only will it be karaoke, and be loud, but it will also sound bad. Is "bad karaoke" redundant?
But if the kid you are buying this for happens to be "your kid within", and that kid within wants to enter the lucrative profession of karaoke hosting, then I have another reason why you should avoid the toy category. The equipment is not road worthy. If you start lugging these toys around to bars, you will be laughed at. But more important, your toys will fall apart very quickly.
This exhortation goes for home stereo equipment in general. Home stereo equipment is just not designed to be hauled around every night. Exposed knobs will break off and speakers that do not have a cage over them will get poked out. If you want to be a KJ, buy KJ gear.
But if the kid you are buying this for happens to be "your kid within", and that kid within wants to enter the lucrative profession of karaoke hosting, then I have another reason why you should avoid the toy category. The equipment is not road worthy. If you start lugging these toys around to bars, you will be laughed at. But more important, your toys will fall apart very quickly.
This exhortation goes for home stereo equipment in general. Home stereo equipment is just not designed to be hauled around every night. Exposed knobs will break off and speakers that do not have a cage over them will get poked out. If you want to be a KJ, buy KJ gear.
All-in-one system, low end pro category
Speaking of which, here is one example of an all-in-one system that was designed for KJ use.
This system, the Vocopro Gigstar, is available from Karaoke Warehouse for $380. (By the way, did I mention that I do not intend this to be a buyer's guide?) It comes with all the components, well, almost all the components. I don't see any listing for microphones, so I am guessing you would need to chat with the folks at Karaoke Warehouse about getting a set of mics. I am sure they will be glad to sell you a few.
Oh, and a TV. You need to get a TV to show the words. Actually, there are a lot of bars that have TVs these days and you could hook this system up to them. I will discuss this further in the post "Getting the word out".
The particular system comes with something over 300 karaoke songs. This may sound like a lot. It is probably enough songs if patrons are content to dig through to find something they can sing. This collection is definitely not a big enough collection for someone who comes in looking for a specific song.
Referring back to my rather clever component diagram in the previous blog, this all-in-one system combines all the pieces that are within the dotted line.
The system is attractive because it is pretty much all in one box. Less stuff to carry around. That's good. It's also pretty inexpensive. That's good. But please note that I am giving this system as an example, and not endorsing the equipment. I don't know if I mentioned that. In fact, I am gonna un-endorse this equipment. Well... not this particular piece of equipment, but just the idea of an all-in-one system.
First, there is the whole argument I used when I was at Radio Shack. The only way to upgrade an all-in-one system is to replace it. And trust me, if you decide to be a KJ, you will want to upgrade. At some point you will read the manual for this equipment (that is, unless your a guy) and find out that you can hook up external speakers. So you take some of the exorbitant money you are now making and buy a set of speakers. Now you are lugging around two sets of speakers - one set in the box and the other set in separate boxes.
Then you will find out that the amp in the all-in-one box just doesn't cut it. The Vocopro gives you a place to connect to an external amp, so you will buy a second amp to run the second set of speakers. And you go to your gigs carrying a 53 pound box with 47 pounds of stuff you don't use.
Components also make sense when equipment breaks. If something breaks in an all-in-one system, you are dead in the water. If something breaks in a component system, you can replace that particular piece.
Another issue that I have with all-in-one systems (in general), the audio quality of this system is probably not all that fabulous. Now I should say that I have not heard the Vocopro system, but... The manual says that the system is rated at "100W total power (peak to peak)". I will talk about the whole subject of power in a later post (Watts and RMS and Ohms, oh my!), but this equates to about 18W of power per channel RMS. If you are looking for a karaoke system for a living room, or one to take to a retirement center, then 18W per channel might be just fine. But for a bar where people listen to music to drown out the demons in their head? Not nearly enough.
Another comment I will make about the likely sound quality... the speakers just aren't in the right place. You probably don't want the speakers to be directly connected to the mixer. More about speaker placement in the post "Speakers - getting those karaoke vibrations going".
Ok, so I have come down pretty harsh on this system, but let me back off just a little bit. Let's say that you have a gig at a bar that has it's own sound system. And let's say that you can hook into their TVs. For that scenario, something like the Vocopro Gigstar is certainly cost-effective and pretty easy to schlep around. I know a karaoke host down in San Miguel, Mexico who uses a system like this.
Another point... I started out with some pretty inexpensive equipment. And lousy. Inexpensive and lousy. Did it make sense to start that way? Hmmm... good question. One argument would say that the $500 that I spent on the first equipment was wasted. Another argument would say that this relatively small investment allowed me to decide whether I liked the job. The real bad decision would have been if I had spent $5000 on equipment that sat in my basement.
This system, the Vocopro Gigstar, is available from Karaoke Warehouse for $380. (By the way, did I mention that I do not intend this to be a buyer's guide?) It comes with all the components, well, almost all the components. I don't see any listing for microphones, so I am guessing you would need to chat with the folks at Karaoke Warehouse about getting a set of mics. I am sure they will be glad to sell you a few.
Oh, and a TV. You need to get a TV to show the words. Actually, there are a lot of bars that have TVs these days and you could hook this system up to them. I will discuss this further in the post "Getting the word out".
The particular system comes with something over 300 karaoke songs. This may sound like a lot. It is probably enough songs if patrons are content to dig through to find something they can sing. This collection is definitely not a big enough collection for someone who comes in looking for a specific song.
Referring back to my rather clever component diagram in the previous blog, this all-in-one system combines all the pieces that are within the dotted line.
First, there is the whole argument I used when I was at Radio Shack. The only way to upgrade an all-in-one system is to replace it. And trust me, if you decide to be a KJ, you will want to upgrade. At some point you will read the manual for this equipment (that is, unless your a guy) and find out that you can hook up external speakers. So you take some of the exorbitant money you are now making and buy a set of speakers. Now you are lugging around two sets of speakers - one set in the box and the other set in separate boxes.
Then you will find out that the amp in the all-in-one box just doesn't cut it. The Vocopro gives you a place to connect to an external amp, so you will buy a second amp to run the second set of speakers. And you go to your gigs carrying a 53 pound box with 47 pounds of stuff you don't use.
Components also make sense when equipment breaks. If something breaks in an all-in-one system, you are dead in the water. If something breaks in a component system, you can replace that particular piece.
Another issue that I have with all-in-one systems (in general), the audio quality of this system is probably not all that fabulous. Now I should say that I have not heard the Vocopro system, but... The manual says that the system is rated at "100W total power (peak to peak)". I will talk about the whole subject of power in a later post (Watts and RMS and Ohms, oh my!), but this equates to about 18W of power per channel RMS. If you are looking for a karaoke system for a living room, or one to take to a retirement center, then 18W per channel might be just fine. But for a bar where people listen to music to drown out the demons in their head? Not nearly enough.
Another comment I will make about the likely sound quality... the speakers just aren't in the right place. You probably don't want the speakers to be directly connected to the mixer. More about speaker placement in the post "Speakers - getting those karaoke vibrations going".
Ok, so I have come down pretty harsh on this system, but let me back off just a little bit. Let's say that you have a gig at a bar that has it's own sound system. And let's say that you can hook into their TVs. For that scenario, something like the Vocopro Gigstar is certainly cost-effective and pretty easy to schlep around. I know a karaoke host down in San Miguel, Mexico who uses a system like this.
Another point... I started out with some pretty inexpensive equipment. And lousy. Inexpensive and lousy. Did it make sense to start that way? Hmmm... good question. One argument would say that the $500 that I spent on the first equipment was wasted. Another argument would say that this relatively small investment allowed me to decide whether I liked the job. The real bad decision would have been if I had spent $5000 on equipment that sat in my basement.
In the next post "Working dog category", I will give some examples of karaoke systems more commonly used by the pros.
Copyright (c) 2010, John Seymour
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