Karaoke Forums

Hello

Just becoming accustomed to karaoke background music products and am seeking advice on sources that comment/evaluate the quality of different productions of the same song. I've heard some terrible renditions of the original background music for various songs. Some come much closer to the original production than others.

Are there websites devoted to people commenting on and rating the various Karaoke productions of the same song? Maybe like rating it through 5 stars with comments about how close (good or bad) it comes to the original background. Thanks.

There are manus that have more 'good' renditions than not - SC is probably in the higher percentage. Drawback, they haven't made anything in like 5 years so nothing new.
SBI/Sunfly, Karaoke-Version, Zoom are next on the list - most of the time.
Some of the worst are Backstage, Sweet Georgia Brown, Music Maestro. Although each do have their own diamonds in the rough that are better than even the best manus. But as a whole, not reliable.

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If I was just starting out, and knowing what I know now about the U.S. licensing BS and legal crap, I would only buy Zoom, SBI, Sunfly. Those brands would basically make up my library, mainly Zoom.

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Electro-Voice Evolve 50... Taking Sound To The Next Level.

Thank you Lonman.

I'm sorry, but I don't understand how you are using the word "manus" (Manufactures) in your post.

Thanks.

I would have to agree with Alan, here.
Zoom, for the most part, is JUST as good, if not Better than Sound Choice ever was.

SBI is relatively reliable. Their Country is very good.
All Star Karaoke offers downloads and has pretty good renditions. They are hit or miss, but better than some.

Sunfly pretty much sucked for a long time. Now they are produced by SBI, so they have greatly improved.

SBI is pretty good for heavier stuff, and only rock.

Zoom is GREAT for Pop and the rock they have been releasing is awesome!!

Karaoke Cloud is questionable in that they do not give you an itemized receipt on downloads. Many are questioning their legality. Quality-wise, much like the old Charbuster, as a matter of fact, some of it IS the old Chartbuster. My biggest complaint with Karaoke Cloud is there are no sound samples. You don't know what you are getting til you got it.

Karaoke Version is another really good brand. You can hear samples of the songs you are interested in, AND they have a cool request system. Sometimes you even get a song that you want made. They let you know when a song that you have voted for is made.

I hope this helps, and welcome to the site!!

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I am the ONLY SANE 1 HERE

You'll have a tough time locating new Sound Choice discs (Not available for downloads). Not only have they not made anything new in several years, the only new "pressing" is in the form of lump sets so it's 3000 songs minimum or used discs off ebay and the like. There are hoops you must jump through, including being a KJ, before you can purchase the lumps (Called GEM). Don't worry yourself with the hoops unless you wish to explore the GEM sets. Many here do scour the ebay's and Craig's List's for used stuff.

I agree with the last few posts. Zoom hardly ever misses a few of the others mentioned are getting to be more hit than miss. And you can purchase the downloads directly instead of discs, if you want MP3+G files.

I don't know if you are in search of the best recording tracks or the best karaoke tracks? it's not the same... SC is of course a good choice for karaoke but if you are looking for the best sounding tracks in terms of recording, they are not the best, way too compressed and electronic sounding! The best recording tracks out there are from Paris Music http://www.parismusic.co.uk/ (which you can also find on itunes) Karaoke-Version and Zoom, the rest are pretty much dedicated for karaoke entertainements

Have to disagree that Zoom is in Sound Choice's realm. Perhaps on some of the pedestrian tracks, but the guitar and keyboard on Sound Choice can be stunning at times.

If you are into country, Chartbuster is often the best for that. Though it rarely is great for rock.

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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.

Speaking of ChartBuster, the one Digitrax cut I downloaded was a very good reproduction.

manu = manufacturer. Some have a better track record of being more consistently good. SC is one of them, very few bad tracks.
A manu like Music Maestro have more consistently bad tracks than good.

As far as a website that people rate a song made by different manus, it would be no different than coming here, but as you can already tell from just the few responses that what one feels is the best version, another will poo poo it and say another is the best version even if it really isn't, but in their mind it is (and vice versa). I know some that swear by the Sweet Georgia Brown tracks as some of the best out there, when in fact they are mostly garbage.

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Majority kj’s here have grown accustomed to short-cut words, manus, sbi, kv, imho, btw, lmfao, gtfo, etc. No diss (disrespect) here, it just makes sense for less time typing.

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To be fortunate enough to derive an income from a source as fulfilling as karaoke music has got to be as close to heaven as we can get here on earth!

Just as a footnote to that, I don't think you will find any Karaoke Site/Forum out there, where there is a rating system for each individual song track that was reproduced by multiple manufacturers (such as "My Way" on Performance Tracks, DK, Pioneer, Pocket Songs, All Star, Sunfly, Music Maestro, Sound Choice, SBI, etc...). For the most part, you will find that we rate the different manufacturers as a whole, and acknowledge the fact that each of them have their own F***-Ups.

That's kind of what I was getting at.

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Sort of playing devil's advocate here...

Music Maestro is great for Elvis and old doo-wop. Much of the rest of it is touch and go. And Sweet Georgia Borwn vol. 31 is a great disc - the version they have of "Cold day in hell" is fantastic.

I would also add Sing To The World to this list of goodies, many of their tracks are even better than Zooom. My new karaoke track mostly consist of Zoom, SBI/Mr. Entertainer (same music), and STTW. And if Sunfly's version of your song is not up to your expectation then Easy Karaoke will nearly always fit the bill.

The OP never specified specific genres, or even ithat was an issue. Nevertheless, I offer the following opinions based on accuracy and quality of reproduction:

Country - Chartbuster

Broadway / show tunes : Pocket Songs and Stage Stars

Oldies: This one is a bit complicated. Music Maestro has very generic so-so production values, but their reproductions are pretty much the closest to the originals for this genre. For better production with a bit less accuracy Supercore did a decent job, as well as SOME Sound Choice and Chartbuster.

Though some push Music Maestro for Elvis, I prefer Chartbuster. This is one artist where Sound Choice should be avoided at all costs.

Pop - This gets even tougher to a certain time point. Sound Choice and DK are great up until the last of their productions. Zoom is certainly their equal. However for songs from the last three years or so I prefer Sybersound / Party Tyme. This goes for country as well.

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" Disc based and loving it..."

The main problem there is that SC is NOT producing and Zoom is!! And what Zoom is producing is outshining SC by miles!! An example, I just bought Zoom's version of Silent Lucidity, to replace my SC version cause it skips. It makes SC's version look almost as bad as SGB's version. The tone is better, then drums are better, and the backing vocals are better. Check out In The Air Tonight, SC's version is flat with terrible drums. Zoom's version is crisp, clean, and the drum attack is heart poundingly good!!

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I am the ONLY SANE 1 HERE

That wasn't the question now, was it?

Sound Choice still has about the largest library out there, and its tracks are on average better than Zoom. I have heard plenty of Zoom tracks, and while they are OK their guitar and keyboards are generally workmanlike at best. Sound Choice has real players with real chops. Hear their SC8146 tracks and you'd think you were listening to Dicky Betts and Toy Caldwell. While there are certainly "blah" SC tracks, there are many, many outstanding ones.

Zoom is OK, but I am not nearly as impressed as some seem to be.

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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.

Again, what good is SC's extensive library if:
Someone isn't a KJ but wants to buy new?
Someone doesn't want CDGs?
Someone is a KJ but wants to pick and choose?

SC is only viable if someone is a KJ and wants to buy a bulk set library or someone doesn't mind used CDGs. That list is so small that it doesn't even make SC worth discussing in 90% of the time. Then what's the percentage if those 10% find out about their current business model?

So true, I'm no KJ, just a solo performer who is constantly looking for the best sounding track and none of the SC tracks fits my high standard, I tried but way too compressed and too karaoke sounding

Well there ya go., Ya'll finally changed my mind. I am putting all of my SC product on eBay and my two GEMs up for cheap.

Good thing I have a 1000 or so SGB discs to fill the void.

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-Chris