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Karaoke Gift Buying Guide
What Is Karaoke?Basically, karaoke is the act of singing to recorded music that does not contain the the lead singer's voice. Modern karaoke players display the synchronized lyrics on a monitor or TV screen. Many thousands of song titles are available in all genres.
Who Enjoys Karaoke?
Anyone who enjoys singing, regardless of their age. There are nursery rhymes and other songs for young children, country, pop, and rock, hits for teens and adults, and all the old classics.
What Are Good Karaoke Gifts?
There are a few things you should know before shopping for karaoke gifts. Karaoke players, speakers, music discs, and accessories, make great gifts if you know what you're looking for.
| Karaoke Disc Players | Portable Karaoke Systems | Karaoke Music | Karaoke Microphones | Karaoke Speakers |
Karaoke Disc Players
Karaoke disc players are a stereo component similar to a standard CD or DVD player. They contain features such as "digital key control" and microphone jacks with mic volume and tone controls. The most common karaoke disc format is the CD+G (Compact Disc plus Graphics) and virtually all karaoke players will play these. There are also "multi-format" players that will play DVD and VCD discs as well as CD+G's and others.
A karaoke disc player can easily be added to a home stereo system. The stereo system should have at least a 100 watt amplifier and heavy duty cabinet speakers. Do not try to perform karaoke through surround sound systems with satellite speakers. The small speakers will not be able to handle the vocals of live karaoke and may easily be damaged. I would actually recommend a separate set of PA speakers to use while performing karaoke.
Karaoke disc players come in a variety of models and prices. Below are a few of the better selling ones for home use.
Portable Karaoke Systems
Also known as "all-in-one" systems, these are self contained units. They range from small boombox types to large powerful units. These are your best choice if you plan on taking your karaoke system with you to parties or outdoors. All these systems contain a built in karaoke disc player, amplifier, and speaker(s). Some have a built in monitor or even a video camera.
Below are a few of the more popular portable karaoke systems.
Karaoke Music
The karaoke CD+G discs are by far the most popular type of karaoke disc. They also offer many more brand names and song titles that any other disc type. Some CD+G discs are labeled "multi-plex" which means that there are two versions of each song the disc. One karaoke version (no lead vocals) and one demo track that contains lead vocals for helping you to learn the song. Both versions will display on-screen lyrics. Karaoke CD+G discs will contain between 6 and 15 songs depending on the brand and series.
There are many thousands of karaoke songs to be found on the various disc brands. You will find music in every genre like nursery rhymes for children, country hits, pop hits, rock hits, Christian music, old classics, and even Broadway musicals. Below are some good places to find karaoke discs and they all have song search capability.
Karaoke Microphones
Microphones come in two types, wired and wireless. The only real difference between the two is the wire (cable). Wireless microphones are a must for professional karaoke hosts as they cannot have the mic cables strung around the floor for customers to trip over. Wired microphones are fine for most home use applications.
The quality of a microphone, as with most things, is typically related to it's price. The moderately priced microphones are generally fine for home use. Professionals will usually opt for the higher end models. Wireless microphones come in either UHF or VHF frequency. It is debatable whether one frequency has any real advantage over the other. Microphones are a great gift for anyone who owns a karaoke system.
Below are links to some of the more popular karaoke microphones.
Wired Microphones
Wireless Microphones
Karaoke Speakers
While heavy duty stereo cabinet speaks (NOT surround sound satellite speakers) may work satisfactorily with karaoke, the best sound is achieved with PA speakers that are designed for this purpose. The live vocals of karaoke place a heavy demand on the speakers.
Below are links to some popular karaoke speakers.
