LEARN ABOUT KARAOKE

This page explains the differences between the various karaoke formats like; CD+G, DVD, MP3+G including converting your CD+G's, Magic Sing. We also talk about DVD Region Codes, Multiplex Audio, Dolby Digital Audio and PAL and NTSC.

CD+G KARAOKE CD+G also known as CD+Graphics has the largest range of Karaoke songs available in the world today. These discs can be played in a normal CD player but no on-screen lyrics will be visable, some discs also where stated may include lyrics in booklet form. CD+G is the professionals choice in Karaoke and if the song isn't on CD+G it probably hasn't been produced for Karaoke. The CD+G library of songs features well over 70,000 English songs. There is no video clip on a CD+G, only a coloured background along with the scrolling song lyrics which highlight in time to the music.

A CD+G KARAOKE SCREEN SAMPLE

Some CD+Graphics discs feature two versions of the song on the same disc, one is called a (Karaoke Version) which features the songs music with some chorus line backing vocals and the other track is the (Vocal Version) which features both the songs music with lead and chorus line vocals. Click to view range of "Vocal / Karaoke" discs available. Where only one track of each song is present it is the (Karaoke Version).

DVD KARAOKE These discs will require a DVD Player for playback, discs are region coded to either 4 or 0, region 4 discs will most likely be in the PAL format. Most DVD players are backwards compatible with other optical media discs like, VCD, SVCD and CD, and some DVD players will like the Sonken MP-1000 Karaoke Machines also enable you to play back the video component of a CD+G disc.

A DVD KARAOKE SCREEN SAMPLE

DVD Karaoke discs can either be PAL or NTSC format, Dolby Digital or Multiplex Audio featured. They feature a background video clip along with lyrics scrolling across the bottom of the screen. Video clips are not of the original artists unless stated and vocals are cover versions. ^ TOP PAGE   < BACK PAGE

MP3+G KARAOKE & CONVERTING CD+G DISCS TO MP3+G FILES What is MP3+G? MP3+G is very similar to the very popular CD+G disc based format and most if not all MP3+G songs are deprived from the normal CD+G song library, MP3+G is today's digital equivalent to CD+G enabling you more flexiablity and access to your library of songs. Karaoke Home Entertainment can supply you with songs already converted from CD+G into MP3+G files which are ready to play, you can purchase any Sunfly or Sundown Karaoke CD+G disc as a Custom MP3+G Compact Disc, Click Here: www.khe.co.nz to view entire range of discs. This MP3+G disc can be played instantly in the Sonken MP-1000 Karaoke Machine or you can transfer the MP3+G files onto a USB Memory Stick or SD Card enabling you to store thousands of songs and select them fast from the on screen menu. You can also make your very own Custom MP3+G Disc featuring only the songs you want this option lets you make your very own compliations you can have from 5 to 130 MP3+G songs on single Compact Disc made just for you, Click Here: www.picknmix.com.au to start making yours. Both of these two CD options featuring MP3+G songs gives you a fail safe backup option should your files become corrupt or lost on your USB or SD Card, you will have a master on CD to restore your library. Lastly you can also purchase ready to play MP3+G songs by Digital Download from www.picknmix.com.au. MP3's are compressed music files that have CD quality music stored in a small file size. MP3+G's consists of two files (.mp3 & .cdg) that must have the same file name, with different file extensions to work. During playback the two files are paired up playing the music with lyrics (+G Graphics) shown on a display. MP3+G is easy to play, just like the CD+G you can even buy MP3+G songs on download. Buy converting your CD+G discs to MP3+G song files you can store all your songs a USB Memory Stick, Hard Drive even Media Cards for playback through a Karaoke Machine which has the MP3+G playback feature. That enables you have all your songs in one place without the need to continually swapping discs so you can quickly search for and play your songs. Downloading songs vs purchasing CD+G discs + free software to download You can download songs in the MP3+G format from several websites including www.picknmix.com.au then simple transfer the MP3+G files to your preferred media storage type to play the songs on your compatible MP3+G Karaoke Machine. Prices for Karaoke CD+G/MP3+G discs start from $9.99 the average price is $19.99 for around 15 songs or $1.33 per song which in most cases will be cheaper than the downloading song by song option, and you have an original master disc should your files become corrupt. Use this free recommended program Audiograbber (Windows XP) to convert your CD+G's to MP3+G format, Click Here to down the PDF instruction file on how to convert from a CD+G to MP3+G file or use this free recommended program MP3+G Toolz (Windows 7), Apple® Macintosh® is not supported by either program. Please Note: KHE.com.au provides this information as a customer service initiative but does not provide any user support for these software programs. Click to view the current range of Karaoke CD+G Discs discs or if you want ready to play Karaoke MP3+G Discs click this link, or maybe you would like to make your very own Custom MP3+G Discs then click this link. For more information please visit our MP3+G information web site: www.MP3G.com.au. ^ TOP PAGE   < BACK PAGE

MAGIC SING KARAOKE Magic Sing (Made in Korea by Enter-Tech) is entirely new concept in Karaoke, each model comes with a base range of inbuilt English songs (2000+) in the microphone and you can add more songs, by purchasing additional songs chips. There are no vocals whatsoever on Magic Sing (except on selected songs for ET series models only) and all music is computer generated. All lyrics appear on-screen and in the background a static picture slide show runs as the song plays, on selected models you can connect a video camera and replace the static picture slideshow with a live feed signal showing the person singing on screen with the on-screen lyrics superimposed over top. All songs are numbered and listed in a song book which are entered on the key pad for instant playback, on selected models you can also record yourself singing for playback later.

You can purchase additional English and Foreign Language songs chips, we recommend that before you purchase any Magic Sing Karaoke Microphone System that you have a good look through the available Magic Sing song libaries to ensure the songs you are want are available. Then take a few moments to compare that against the available Karaoke CD+G Song Library to be 100% sure you can get the songs you want to sing.

All Magic Sing models also feature song scoring, and selected models also feature games. ^ TOP PAGE   < BACK PAGE

PAL AND NTSC The Television broadcast world is made up of two competing formats NTSC and PAL. The United States, Japan and selected Asian Countries us the NTSC Television broadcast system. In Europe, South Africa, New Zealand and Australia we use the format called PAL. DVD, VCD and CD+Graphics Discs are all made up of either of these two formats, some DVDs have both formats on the single disc, with one format one side, and the other on flip side. Compatiblilty is an issue for some people, as the majority of Karaoke discs come from either the United States, Japan or Asia which are commonly produced in the NTSC video format so you would be best to check if both your Television, Monitor or Video Projector and your Karaoke Machine can play back an NTSC signal. ^ TOP PAGE   < BACK PAGE

DVD WORLD REGION CODES Karaoke Home Entertainment is based in Australia, We are a PAL Television Broadcast Country and our Karaoke DVDS are either Region 4 or 0 Encoded. As the World Map shows there are 6 different DVD Regions and unless your DVD player is Worldzone, meaning it can play all these regions it will be locked into your Specific Region and Television Broadcast format. Keep in mind a DVD player purchased for example in America will be Region 1 Encoded, and the Television Broadcast Standard there is NTSC. So in order to be able to play a PAL 4 (Region 4) DVD in America (Region 1) you will need a DVD Player that is Worldzone (All Regions) and both your DVD Player and Television need to be PAL compatible or Multisystem. DVDS online listed with a 0 after the Format i.e. NTSC 0 or PAL 0 are Region Free Worldzone DVDS, meaning they are not locked for any region and will play worldwide subject to your Television standard or compatiblity. ^ TOP PAGE   < BACK PAGE

MULTIPLEX AUDIO " LET'S YOU TURN ON / OFF VOCALS " You'll see this keyword "Multiplex" (Click To View Range) appear on many of our Karaoke DVD discs. It's a great feature which let's you turn on and off the lead vocals, so you can sing-along with the singer helping you to learn the song. Once you think you have mastered the song turn off the vocals and you become the lead singer! To use this feature is your Audio Button on your DVD Players remote control. All vocals are cover versions unless stated otherwise. On CD+G you can also get "Vocal / Karaoke" (Click To View Range) versions of a song, these discs will have say 8 songs but done twice so 16 tracks, one is a full vocal version so you can sing along with the artist and the other is the Karaoke version of the same song so you can do it solo, you however cannot switch the vocals on and off like on Multiplex DVDs, you simply play the appropriate track. ^ TOP PAGE   < BACK PAGE

DOLBY® DIGITAL AUDIO ON DVDS These Dolby Digital Stereo discs don't contain any vocals and feature only the music of the song. A DVD in general which carries the Dolby Digital Logo doesn't necessarly mean the disc is 5.1 surround encoded. There are 5 different types of Dolby® as listed here. Dolby Digital 5.1 - Surround Dolby Digital 5.0 - Surround (No Centre) Dolby Digital 4.0 - Surround Dolby Digital 2.0 - Stereo Dolby Digital 1.0 - Mono Were possible we recommend that you don't use any surround sound, and that you switch your rear speakers off, as microphone feedback is common with four or more speakers surrounding the singers, 2 Channel Stereo is the best option. VCD Karaoke Discs are in the standard Stereo audio format, which can generally be split in to their separate left and right audio channels using your Karaoke Machine. ^ TOP PAGE   < BACK PAGE

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