View a selection of Karaoke Machines at Review Centre as we provide up-to-date consumer reviews and price comparison on Karaoke Machines. We have listed the most popular Karaoke Machines and Karaoke Equipment to help you choose which products meet your needs. So if you want to perform a Karaoke classic like a Pop Idol then check out all the Karaoke Machine reviews on this site. You may also want to have a look at our Karaoke DVD reviews.
ComeOnGain.com

How to Choose and Buy a Karaoke Machine

Here are some hints and tips on things to consider when choosing and buying a karaoke machine:

Type of Karaoke Machine

Image of Karaoke MachineThe first thing to decide is whether you want a DVD Player/Karaoke Machine or a stand-alone karaoke machine. If you already have a good home entertainment system, you may want to choose a DVD Player/Karaoke Machine, as you can use your home entertainment system speakers with it. These models are also versatile as you can use them in the same way as a standard DVD player, and they tend to be compact and easy to store.

However, if you are looking for a karaoke machine that has its own in-built speakers and television screen, the stand-alone karaoke machine will be the best option. These tend to be bulkier but are ideal if you are going to be having regular karaoke sessions.

If your karaoke machine is only going to be used by the kids, you may want to consider buying one of the funky and fun karaoke machines or stands specifically designed for children.

You should also check the product description of any model that you are considering to make sure that it plays the type of disc that you are likely to use. The main types of disc used are CDs, CDGs and DVDs.

You can find out more about these different types of karaoke machines and karaoke discs on our Types of Karaoke Machine page.

Effects and Features

When you are using your karaoke machine, you’ll want to make your voice sound as good as you can, and different models of karaoke machine have different features and effects to help you to do this. Check the product descriptions carefully to make sure that your chosen model has the effects that you think you’ll want.

Some of the features and effects that you can get are:

  • Pitch controller – this alters the pitch of the backing track by speeding it up or slowing it down so that you can change it to suit your vocal range
  • Key controller – this alters the key of the song so that you can change it to suit your vocal range
  • Echo – this adds an echo effect to your voice, which makes it sound more professional and interesting to listen to because it gives it depth.
  • Auto vocal cut – this automatically removes the vocals from recordings that contain the vocal track when you start singing, which means that you can play the track with the vocals to help you learn how to sing the song. This doesn’t work for standard audio CDs, so you can only use it with certain karaoke CDs known as “multiplex recordings”.

Accessories for Karaoke Machines

Check to see whether your chosen model comes with microphones and karaoke discs, as this can add extra value. It’s worth buying a selection of karaoke discs so that you have plenty of choice and two microphones so that you can sing duets!

If the model that you’re buying doesn’t include these, it’s worth ordering them at the same time. You can find out more about some of the different products that you can buy to go with your new karaoke machine on our Accessories page.

Warranty

Check the product description to make sure that you are happy with the terms of the manufacturer’s guarantee, as the warranty length can vary depending on the brand and model that you choose.

Further Information

To find out more about the different types of karaoke machine available, visit our Types section.

For details of specific models of karaoke machine, visit our Brands section.

To find out where you can get some great deals on karaoke machines, visit our Where to Buy section.

To find out more about the types of accessories you can get for your karaoke machine, visit our Accessories section.

A karaoke machine has an audio input, an audio output and a way of changing the music’s tone and pitch. There are karaoke machines that have the means of vocal suppression. The machine actually suppresses the original singer’s voice and allows the music to be feed through the machine; the results, it must be said, are not great. Generally, karaoke machines have a microphone input replete with Video CD, CD+G, Laser Disc, et al. Of these, CD+G possess sub code, a particular track that is used to encode lyrics and pictures that are displayed on the screen. Some places that offer karaoke have KTV, which is karaoke with the ability to display video lyrics.

Karaoke machines possess equipment to electronically alter the music’s pitch, allowing the user to pick a key appropriate for his or her vocal range without any change in the tempo of the original track. A well-known karaoke game randomizes the songs that people can attempt to sing. In some karaoke machines, this game - known as ‘Kamikaze Karaoke’ in parts of North America, is programmed to a particular genre so that all can participate.

Karaoke systems like ‘boom boxes’ have a mode that alienates the vocal track from the audio CDs. A process called the ‘center removal’ manages this. This unsophisticated approach often manifests itself in the low performance of voice removal.

Computer programs are being developed that serve the same purpose as a karaoke machine. In place of a normal recorded track, these programs use musical instrument digital interface (MIDI) instrumentation that provides the musical accompaniment. MIDI accurately defines each and every musical note in a musical instrument like the eclectic guitar and synthesizer, allowing computers and electronic musical instruments to swap data.

Tuesday, 10 February 2009

DVD Player

This introduction to DVD playback applications for GNU/Linux looks at Xine, VideoLAN Client, MPlayer and Ogle. In addition to playing encrypted DVDs, unofficially in some cases, several of these players also will play back other file formats.

Xine has quite a large following, and for good reason, as it is a very capable DVD player. In addition, like most of the players reviewed here, Xine is capable of playing a large range of file types in addition to unencrypted-DVD playback. Xine easily can be extended with additional functionality as it supports plugins that enable you to incorporate new codecs (open- or closed-source) or any additional function easily. There are many plugins available for Xine on the Net ready to be downloaded.

Xine only supports the playback of unencrypted DVD directly, but support for encrypted DVDs is provided by a third-party plugin (xine_d4d_plugin). It is unlikely that Xine will support encrypted DVDs directly. The legal status of this plugin is, as always, debatable, but it is easy enough to find and install. There are some useful links on the Xine web site, and a search at Google should find the required links for this plugin. It is stated on the Xine web site that encrypted DVD playback is not going to be supported directly because of the legal issues that surround this area. However, once you have installed the plugin, Xine's playback of encrypted DVDs is smooth with no noticeable problems with audio synchronization or any video glitches.

Xine's interface is tidy and provides most of the function you might require. Depending upon your preferences, you may find that it takes up too much space on your desktop. As Xine is currently not skinnable, there is no way to change the size or layout of the GUI. If you are running XFree86 4.x, with a supported video card, you can switch Xine from windowed to full-screen mode and back again smoothly. If this is not supported by your video card or version of X, Xine still can be viewed in a window, which is the default startup mode.

Unfortunately, Xine does not support DVD menus directly; however, there is a plugin called dvdnav (available from prdownloads.sourceforge.net/dvd) that adds this functionality to Xine. This plugin is a must-have if you intend to use Xine for DVD playback. The plugin works very well, even with the complex animated menus that some DVDs have, and although this is not required for DVD playback, it obviously gives you complete access to all the features available. The code for the DVD navigation was written referencing the original Ogle DVD menu code base.
Posted by at No comments:
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)