Karaoke forum for PowerKaraoke (karaoke software to create, play, and burn CD+G and video karaoke)

[inhishonor]

I purchased and fell in love with Siglos Karaoke Professional. I also purchased a pa system and hooked the laptop up..... OH MY!! Awesome program, great system and poor is too good to describe the sound that came out of the speakers!

With a CDG player the sound is great but I don't want the hassle with changing disks.... and I just LOVE siglos KP.

Does anyone have any suggestions as to how to use a laptop? I have no budget left after all the purchases but I can't work with this sound quality. Any no-cost or low-cost solutions?

Do you use a laptop? If so, what do you use to improve your sound quality?

Thanks in advance for your response!

[adam]

You may rip the CD+G discs to the hard drive using Power CD+G Burner, and then run the show directly from the hard drive of the laptop.
_________________
Adam
info@powerkaraoke.com
PowerKaraoke
www.powerkaraoke.com

[Guest]

Hello and thank you for your response.
I already have the files on my hard drive. The problem is the sound quality that comes out of my laptop.
I did some research and I think I need an external sound card or something similar. I was just wondering what other people use to improve laptop sound quality since it seems to be a common problem for laptops. Are there low cost solutions?

[adam]

Hello,

I'm not sure, what you mean by a low cost solution. High quality of sound and low cost usually do not get along. For example take a look at this:

http://www.emu.com/products/product.asp?category=610&subcategory=611&product=15185
_________________
Adam
info@powerkaraoke.com
PowerKaraoke
www.powerkaraoke.com

[Don G]

[MollyBaloney]

There is a simple low cost fix for your problem. Someone told me about this when I started running my shows with lappy. Go to your local dollar store, get an adapter which is a 3 to 2 plug. Plug your lappy into the 3 and then plug into your electrical source. It takes the ground out. I don't know the technical aspects of it, but I've been using this adapter for a year now and it the sound quality is perfect....

I'm sure this will help you...

Molly

[loehrs1955]

I also had very poor sound quality from my laptop. I started out with just a 1/8" stereo plug into the headphone jack on the computer and sent that signal to my mixer. Most of the music from the internal soundcard was distorted. I found an external soundcard by Behringer, it is called U-Control model UCA202. It plugs into a USB port and has stereo outputs and stereo inputs. Try Googling that make and model and you'll find more info. After plugging in the Behringer, I made sure it was selected as the default soundcard for playback, hooked up RCA cables between it and my mixer and WOW!!!! What a fantastic difference. I've since expanded and am using the Control Room output from my mixer to the Behringer input and use Audacity to record what 's coming from the mixer...... VERY COOL!
Let me know if it works for you.

[MollyBaloney]

I think they weren't talking about the noise on a recording... only the noise that is common with laptops as the output sound from the lappy. As far as recording... I got an external soundblaster sound card and used it for the line in and designated it only for recording. Using my internal sound card as the sound output. Very low cost and I get great recordings. If you are only worried about the initial sound out of the laptop...get that $2 adapter and don't put out the bucks for all these fancy gadgets.

[loehrs1955]

[MollyBaloney]

yes my internal laptop sound card was really noisy... sounded terrible...until i used the 3 to 2 adapter plug. Now our sound is crystal clear. For $2.

Molly

[fragumon]

Personally I never use a laptop. While I understand the need for portability my rackmount 4u system is just about as easy to transport and the components are easy to upgrade. Most laptop sound and video cards are not upgradeable or are extremely difficult to upgrade. Consider this: what happens to your show if one of these vital components dies in your laptop. Since I carry a spare sound (Turtle Beach DDL) and video card(Geforce 9500GT), my show goes on in just a few minutes. Also many bars are making the leap to HDMI tvs. My video card has HDMI output. Also laptops generally have inadequate cooling for extended use. My rackmount has 6 cooling fans and can run cool for hours. Best solution? Dump the laptop!

[MollyBaloney]

I have hdmi output on my laptop. I have an extra laptop and hard drive that i carry with me just in case. Can be ready just about 3 minutes. My other half has a rackmount with everything else in it and we have crystal clear sound. Singer does not sound like he/she is in a paper bag. He has accumulated the perfect sound system over the years he spent on the road as a sound man, including an effectron that Don Henley gave him. I find the laptop fun to use as we can put a scrolling message along the bottom, use our own logo as a background, keep the rotation in order, have buttons configured for sound effects, and many more options. I don't pretend to know about how to get the quality of sound needed. That's where my other half comes in and he doesn't know the computer part of it...so it's teamwork tha makes our show. Plus if you take snapshots, you can put up a slideshow of them before your gig begins. I use compuhost hoster and it's a dynamite program, rather pricey but well worth the money. And it was a lot of work ripping all those songs onto a hard drive but no more scratched disks, and my disks stay in perfect shape in case i have to have the disks again.


Molly