Karaoke Forums

Hi All,

I am in the process of starting a karaoke business in the Boston area, and I was wondering if you good people could recommend a 'starter' set of CDG's to purchase? I guess I am trying to get good quality for a reasonable price. I saw a set from DKKaraoke and one from Monster Hits that seemed like a reasonable value, but quality is very important to me, as I have sang at karaokes over the years and there is nothing worse than a host with the cheapo CDG's that sound terrible; let's face it: people go to karaoke's to sing and they want to sound good!

Anyway, thanks in advance for any advice you might be able to give!

-icenine

ps. I have been reading posts on this board for a couple of weeks now and I look forward from learning a lot from y'all as I venture into this business! Thanks again!

Welcome icenine. I've got no "good" opinion on the subject. I'm just a singer who hangs out here. I'm sure you'll get some good answers as the minions here chime in.

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Jazz and Swing Live (as long as I do).

Well, thanks for the welcome just the same, Penn!

I have been all over the web and this seems to be the place to learn. It seems there are a lot of very experienced karaoke hosts here who are kind enough to help out those of us who are just starting out. Hopefully, I will be able to return the favor someday to someone else just starting out!

Thanks again!

-icenine

Depends on what you are looking for...

I personally thing the Sound Choice Foundations 1 & 2, as well as all five Bricks would be a way to get started.

I would also go and try to get EVERY one of the Rising Starz discs you can find. #1-10 are excellent, and aren't being made any more.

Other discs that are good fillers are the All Hits Karaoke brand, or Helluvadisc, or Monster Hits. I believe they are all one and the same company... they certainly sound similar, and the track listings are nearly identical. I personally have most of the All Hits.

And PERSONALLY I would recommend the Supercore set, and then the BEST OF the various years from either TOP HITS Monthly or Pop Hits Monthly. Many of the older discs can't be found anymore.

Search this site: There are some good discussions about karaoke manufacturers that are Good, and some that are just outright BAD! !

Pioneer cdgs are good if you can find them... they have been discontinued for a long time now, and I still haven't got a full set!

Best of luck to you!

One quick thought: If it's cheap - chances are it's not worth it!

Matt

Hi there! First welcome to the forum and the business. You'll find as many opinions on discs as you will find KJs and singers. My personal opinion of DK is not favorable....for the most part. But many people swear by them. Monster does an OK job, not a bad value for the dollar, on some discs, but I would hesitate to buy a complet set.

I used to swear by Sound Choice, but their quality seems to be less consistent than it used to be. Foundation one and two, and the bricks are, by and large very good...but pricey. Sweet Georgia Brown is cheap and the quality suffers sometimes, but they do a good job on some songs....so sometimes the price of a disc is well worth it if they have a song you want.

Chartbuster is not bad for the most part, and I like most of the top/pop hits monthly. Nutech generally sucks, but has a few winners tossed into the mix.

Have I thoroughly confused you yet? Good! Now you can feel like the rest of us. It's kind of a hunt and peck world out there in the karaoke disc market.

Nutech's "Karaoke Hits" isn't bad! It's 27 discs click HERE for a listing of what you get that are around $80.00 or so. While I don't consider them to be terrific, they are more than okay! for over 500 songs, you just can't beat that!

I personally only like SOME of the Sweet Georgia Brown discs (no offense intended to Blondekj!)... there are a total of 66 discs in the set, and on many, the swipes are off time! I can deal with questionable lyrics (mistakes), and even some sounds that aren't the best, but the lyric swipes HAVE to be on time!! (That's a PERSONAL preference on my part, and a major pet peeve of mine n the Karaoke Business!)

I too hate the DK line, but as Blonde has said so well, many people swear by them.

As sure many on here will agree, Sing to the World

do a great line in discs and custom tracks.

As you would have to import them, it's much cheaper if you get a few at a time (or a lot).

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Imagine!

Hi Icenine - Welcome. Personally I do like the DK set. If ya start out with them it gives you a real good base from which to grow. As stated above, there are as many opinions as there are people as to which are the favorites. You'll find every brand has some ya really love and some ya don't think they've done a good job on. As long as ya week out the dogs, I'd say DK, Soundchoice, PHM/THM, Chartbuster, then some of everyone elses also.

Icenine.>Welcome!

As a start set I would look at Soundchoice foundation series 1 &2
they run about $500 each and give you about 61 discs of a good BASE.
Personally I have the DK MIllenium set 115 discs for about $1,000 .
Whichever "starter discs" you decide on pay close attention that if you are mixing mfg's that you don't duplicate a lot of songs ..it would be like throwing money away. Good Luck

Wow! Thanks for all the great replies!

It seems like it's 'different strokes for different folks' when it comes to CDG's. Although, most of you seem to agree that Sound Choice is high quality.

I would love to get the SC foundation and the bricks, but they may be too expensive for me right now. BTW, is there much overlap of songs between the foundation sets and the bricks?

The DK set is attractive to me because it includes over songs and would be a nice start. But, on the other hand, if the quality is not up to snuff then I am not interested. My goal is to position myself as a quality karaoke host right out of the gate.

Do you all think it would be worthwhile to order discs from 4-5 manufacturers to see which I like for myself? Or do you think the variation in quality from disc to disc, from a single manufacturer is too great?

Thanks again for the warm welcome and I wish you all a very Happy New Year!

-icenine

There is NO overlap between the foundation and bricks, nor foundation 2. They are designed to be completely stand alone from the rest of their stuff...

Where you'll get the duplication is the various spotlights added on afterwards... and some spotlights have the same songs. Also, if you add star series or power picks into the mix!!

For a good collection of "today's songs", I'd check out the "Supercore set", but be forewarned. They are a collection of various songs from different manufacturers. So when you get the other type of discs, then you'll probably get some duplication.

Another route to go is also think about the Sing To the World like Barry mentioned, or also, custom discs in general, from both Pop Hits Monthly, and Sound Choice. $5.00 a song is good for getting the very songs you want. YES you'll pay more for them over time, but not having a lot of "filler" will help.

Course, I LIKE having a lot of filler! !

Ice,
there ya have it.. I nearly have every US commercially distrubuted brand of DVD, laser discs & cdg and even some vcd's that have come out. these folks won't steer ya wrong.. as far as where to start.. this business does take some $$$ to get going in.. and some cajones too..

honestly it's not that bad when ya get a few years under your belt.. just alot of BS like any other job..

Good Luck, Ice.

I will give serious consideration to Sound Choice, Knightshow. It sure sounds like you swear by them.

I will also look into the 'Sing to the World' as Barry mentioned (which I have never heard of), and the 'Supercore' set.

I am hoping I don't have to purchase every disc out there, Brian! Thank goodness for this forum and all of the experienced KJ's. I would hate to have to wade through all of these disc manufacturers on my own.

I am still going to think hard on the DK millenium set. It is really hard to pass up the 1700 songs for the price that SC would give me only 900. If the quality is somewhat comparable then I think it may be the way to go for me.

I am thinking I need about 2500 song to start hosting a show. I would then add new discs each time I got paid. Does this sound reasonable to you guys?

I think that's a good plan. Get the DK Millenium set for a starter and then build from there. That set gives you a good starter pack and when you compare the cost vs quality and what you get, its hard to beat. Once you have that it gets you up to about 3-4 years ago, so you'll soon need to add to it to catch up with more recent stuff. But that's a good start. My opinion is it beats the heck out of mix and match with dupes etc. just to get started.

sent you an PM Ice.... please respond to matt@knightshow.com when you can.

Matt

Ice,
the deal with trying "just about everything" out was an expierement that started several years ago by a partner.. and my curiocity keeps me on edge everytime I see a new CDG or DVD manufacturer at a trade show..
or my retailers get pitched on new media.... I have them watching out for me.. i don't recommend going collecting like I do.. trust me when I say.. making books for "Off Brands" is a nightmare!!! your shows will do better staying with your Singer's demands.

For a really cheap option SOME of the BackStage discs are OK. (*Some are dreadful) Eagles, Clapton, Billy Joel & Shania Twain are OK and really low price. I've got the full set and they sure do fill up your book but I'll go through them and let you know which is which.

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Imagine!

I was doing some research the other day for a online fellow that's thinking of starting off in the business. UNFORTUNATELY he likes many of the "specials" that are offered on some of the karaoke sites... without looking too much into what he's getting.

Here's the "link" to that discussion.

[sarcasm]Thank you for using my post as your case study![/sarcasm]

First I want to clarify to you all other forum members. I am not going into the business full time (yet). In fact, I will be using a karaoke system about 98% in my home, and doing irregular part-time KJ'ing (if that's makes sense ) at friends and relatives parties and an occasional church function.

Second, and let me quote you,



I never said that I LIKED those systems. I said I was interested in, and smartly & FORTUNATELY, I sought out the advise of those experienced like Knightshow. And they gave me their opinions, thoughts, insights, experiences, etc. For that I am thankful. Many thanks, Knightshow.

Now since that has been said, I am finalizing my system. Since I will be using my system mainly at home, I've decided to get the CAVS JB-99 player with a library loaded. I will match that with one of these configurations.

1) A mixing amp like the AKJ7050 with a pair of Yorkville Y115's or maybe the Carvin 1540's. The only thing I don't like about the AKJ is I wish it had a 2nd pair of speaker outs.

OR

2) A mixer like the Mackie DFX-12 with a pair of active speakers, such as the Mackie SRM450's or the SRM350's (if and when they come out).

OR

3) A separate amp (i.e. Crest, Crown, Mackie) with the DFX-12 and going back to passive speakers.

Decisions, Decisions

Anyway, let me close that it is great that you can go to a forum and seek advise and people are kind enough to offer their invaluable insight. It's not too often that people are willing to share their experiences in their livelihood so unselfishly.

Thanks,
Mark

you're welcome Mark... and I wasn't using you as a "case", but only posted the link back to your initial query to keep me from reposting all the other stuff... the player, the amps, the speakers, and the music packs...

Of the amps you're talking aobut, I think the AKJ works best for a start up... I like the mackie mixer, but i have my out to speakers first going to my akj amp for MORE power and clarity, and then out to speakers!

SO even though I upgraded, I'm STILL using the sucker! ! AND if I need to, I have three other mic connections!!

I would like to say I wish you the best of luck. I have a friend (yes I DO have them! !) that just bought the cavs unit, and I personally think he got stroked!! The library he got is mostly Music Maestro, and some THM and a few CB... To be honest, even though I started out that way (one disc at a time, but still... they were inferior discs), I really wish I'd started out with the SC Foundation...

Matt