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Everyone loves karaoke. Whether in someone’s living room or the local bar, once a microphone and screen appears the party lasts all night long. The best thing about karaoke is that it doesn’t take much gear to throw a great party. People come by the store all the time asking about karaoke equipment, so here is our guide to throwing a great party.

Microphone

The most iconic part of karaoke is the microphone. Hand someone a microphone and their inner diva shines. Luck for you, though, karaoke does not require a fancy microphone. For around $40 you can pick up a microphone and cable that will get the job done. One we love is the Shure PGA48. It comes with either a 1/4″ or XLR cable, and it has an on/off switch. You’ll probably also want to get a basic stand to go with your microphone. Remember that the clip that holds the microphone to the stand will always come with the microphone and not with the stand.

Tunes

Gone are the days when you need stacks and stacks of CDs to sift through to find the perfect song. With the advent of the internet and YouTube, you can put the words to virtually any song on your screen. Simply hook a computer up to your television and navigate your internet browser over to YouTube channels such as Sing King Karaoke for hours of music to sing.

Making it Loud

A quiet karaoke party should probably referred to as a poetry reading. If you’re going to go through the trouble to singing your heart out, you want to be heard. Powered speakers are going to be your friend here. Unlike older styles of speakers, where the amplifier and speaker are separate, with powered speakers the amplifier is build into the speaker. All you have to do is plug the speaker into the wall and you’ve got more power that a child holding a permanent marker. Plus, for under $300 you can make plenty of noise. Check out something like the Vector VRE-12A speaker. It comes with several connections on the back, so you can run the microphone and music straight into the speaker without a mixing board, and it has bluetooth so you can listen to tunes as you clean up the party.

Hooking it all together

Once you’ve gathered all the gear together, it is time to hook everything together. Obviously every set-up will be a little different, but the basics are always the same. Here’s a diagram showing how everything is connected.

Diagram showing the connections required for a karaoke set-up

The set-up comes down to three basic parts:

  1. Send video to the screen: There are lots of ways this can be accomplished. The usual method is to use a VGA or HDMI cable. However, you can also share your screen with the TV through an Apple TV, Roku, or similar device.
  2. Send audio to the speaker: You can get an audio feed from either the headphone jack on the computer or TV, depending on what your device has. Remember that if you are using an HDMI cable, your computer will probably default to sending the audio signal down the HDMI cable rather than the headphone jack. You will either have to over ride that in your computer’s sound settings or use the headphone jack on your television. On the back of the speaker there will probably be several ways you can connect audio.
  3. Plug the microphone into the speaker: It may seem like you need to plug your microphone into the TV, but that is not the case. Since the audio and video are separate, the microphone runs directly into the speaker. On the back of the speaker you can balance the audio for the music and singer to create the perfect mix.

If you don’t have the right cable to plug two devices together, take a picture of the connections and bring them into the store. We have a full selection of cables, so we’ll be able to find the right combination to work on your gear.

Pro-Tips

Here are a few quick tips to take your karaoke game to the next level

  • To prevent feedback, be sure that the microphone can not “see” the speaker. Feedback occurs when the sound from the speaker is picked up in the microphone, creating a loop of sound. Position the speaker to the side of the singer so that they can still hear the audio track, but the microphone is less likely to hear the speaker.
  • If the music from your computer sounds crackly, turn down the volume on the headphone jack. You probably want to leave the headphone volume on your computer around 75% when sending the signal to an active speaker. Above that level you run the risk of “peaking”, where the signal gets stronger than the speaker can process, causing that crunch that sounds like gravel in a garbage disposal.

Stop by Starsound today and we will help you get the party started!