Byte-Sized Karaoke Sing-Off!
Friday, March 27, 2009 by Amber
When the winter doldrums are getting you down, what’s a cubicle-dwelling employee to do? Belt out karaoke in the office conference room, of course!
A few weeks back, with tons of help from our friends at Amazon.com, we held a Byte-Sized Karaoke Sing-Off in the Captivate conference room to test out the top machines. The resulting lunchtime song-fest was a terrifically off-key event that highlighted the Memorex SingStand Home Karaoke System and Singing Machine Pedestal Karaoke System.* We surveyed participating employees and included their input in making our final decision.
Meet and Greet:
The Memorex SingStand Home Karaoke System (l.) is basically a mic stand with a bulbous speaker as its base. You plug in any mp3 player – we used an iPod Touch to great effect – and either sing right along with your favorite songs, or with a touch button, you can muffle the voice and replace it with your own! No lyrics on this one, though – you’re on your own.
Price: $69.99. In Stock at Amazon.com.
The Singing Machine Pedestal Karaoke System (r.) is a classic, suped-up karaoke machine with a stand that looks a bit like a DJ booth, with two flanking speaker towers. It offers two mic hook-ups, with the option to go wireless or plug-in. It has a monitor that displays lyrics – though our model was black and white despite the box’s full-color claims. Also, on board the center pedestal is a small camera to record you singing along – so you could cut your own music video!
Price: $208.00. In Stock at Amazon.com.
Sound Quality:
The SingStand had fine sound quality, but with the music and lyrics issuing from your feet, it’s hard to hear in a larger room unless you are the singer. But that begs the question – are you performing for anyone but yourself? Really? :-)
The Singing Machine topped all of our survey results for sound quality, but it should. It has a full speaker system, with fully adjustable sound tuners for the speakers and the mics. Our wireless mic didn’t work at all, but we plugged in a separate mic and had a lot of fun (see video).
Winner: Singing Machine.
Usability:
Both were simple to set up, simple to get started and simple to get caught up in playing all night. Controls were easy to find on both models, and tweaking pitch was a simple experiment of finding the levels that sounded best.
Each did have drawbacks, though: The SingStand was a bit clunky, and the holder for your MP3 player wasn’t a great fit for either the iPod or the Zune that we tested; The Singing Machine’s video feed was weak and blurry, as was the monitor.
Winner: SingStand
Cool Factor:
This, for me, was not a tough call – the SingStand made me feel like a rock star as I bent the mic stand and belted out Rascall Flatt’s ‘Life is a Highway.’ Not even Rock Band 2 comes with a stand standard. Anything that can make you feel this cool, boost your singing confidence and crank up the fun is worth it in my book.
However, Dee Murray begs to differ with me on which is cooler – for her, she loves the on-board video camera where she can be a ‘Dancing Queen’ as well as the best singer Captivate has seen, like, ever. And, she has a point: The Singing Machine is thick, heavy and sleek – a definite pro-level karaoke machine, or at least as close as you’re going to get with a home set-up.
Final Word:
Well, kiddies – we have a tie whose tie breaker was also a tie! So, here’s the breakdown:
If you want something to play with yourself or in a small space, like a living room, where awesome sound quality takes a backseat to feeling like a rock star and playing all your favorite songs (not just ones on the karaoke CDs), go for the SingStand.
If you’d rather play in a larger space, like a dance hall or at a party, go for the singing Machine. Sound quality is top notch, the monitor displays all of the lyrics to karaoke CDs, and the video monitor is a fun extra worth checking out.
All of these machines were loaned to Byte-Sized and are available for purchase from the folks at Amazon.com. When ordering, please let them know you heard it from us!
* There was a third combatant in this Karaoke Sing-Off, but it didn’t work out of the box, so, rather than call it out for being a worthless piece of junk, we allowed it to bow out of the competition gracefully.
A few weeks back, with tons of help from our friends at Amazon.com, we held a Byte-Sized Karaoke Sing-Off in the Captivate conference room to test out the top machines. The resulting lunchtime song-fest was a terrifically off-key event that highlighted the Memorex SingStand Home Karaoke System and Singing Machine Pedestal Karaoke System.* We surveyed participating employees and included their input in making our final decision.
Meet and Greet:
The Memorex SingStand Home Karaoke System (l.) is basically a mic stand with a bulbous speaker as its base. You plug in any mp3 player – we used an iPod Touch to great effect – and either sing right along with your favorite songs, or with a touch button, you can muffle the voice and replace it with your own! No lyrics on this one, though – you’re on your own.Price: $69.99. In Stock at Amazon.com.
The Singing Machine Pedestal Karaoke System (r.) is a classic, suped-up karaoke machine with a stand that looks a bit like a DJ booth, with two flanking speaker towers. It offers two mic hook-ups, with the option to go wireless or plug-in. It has a monitor that displays lyrics – though our model was black and white despite the box’s full-color claims. Also, on board the center pedestal is a small camera to record you singing along – so you could cut your own music video!Price: $208.00. In Stock at Amazon.com.
Sound Quality:
The SingStand had fine sound quality, but with the music and lyrics issuing from your feet, it’s hard to hear in a larger room unless you are the singer. But that begs the question – are you performing for anyone but yourself? Really? :-)
The Singing Machine topped all of our survey results for sound quality, but it should. It has a full speaker system, with fully adjustable sound tuners for the speakers and the mics. Our wireless mic didn’t work at all, but we plugged in a separate mic and had a lot of fun (see video).
Winner: Singing Machine.
Usability:
Both were simple to set up, simple to get started and simple to get caught up in playing all night. Controls were easy to find on both models, and tweaking pitch was a simple experiment of finding the levels that sounded best.
Each did have drawbacks, though: The SingStand was a bit clunky, and the holder for your MP3 player wasn’t a great fit for either the iPod or the Zune that we tested; The Singing Machine’s video feed was weak and blurry, as was the monitor.
Winner: SingStand
Cool Factor:
This, for me, was not a tough call – the SingStand made me feel like a rock star as I bent the mic stand and belted out Rascall Flatt’s ‘Life is a Highway.’ Not even Rock Band 2 comes with a stand standard. Anything that can make you feel this cool, boost your singing confidence and crank up the fun is worth it in my book.
However, Dee Murray begs to differ with me on which is cooler – for her, she loves the on-board video camera where she can be a ‘Dancing Queen’ as well as the best singer Captivate has seen, like, ever. And, she has a point: The Singing Machine is thick, heavy and sleek – a definite pro-level karaoke machine, or at least as close as you’re going to get with a home set-up.
Final Word:
Well, kiddies – we have a tie whose tie breaker was also a tie! So, here’s the breakdown:
If you want something to play with yourself or in a small space, like a living room, where awesome sound quality takes a backseat to feeling like a rock star and playing all your favorite songs (not just ones on the karaoke CDs), go for the SingStand.
If you’d rather play in a larger space, like a dance hall or at a party, go for the singing Machine. Sound quality is top notch, the monitor displays all of the lyrics to karaoke CDs, and the video monitor is a fun extra worth checking out.
All of these machines were loaned to Byte-Sized and are available for purchase from the folks at Amazon.com. When ordering, please let them know you heard it from us!
* There was a third combatant in this Karaoke Sing-Off, but it didn’t work out of the box, so, rather than call it out for being a worthless piece of junk, we allowed it to bow out of the competition gracefully.
Labels: Amazon.com, iPod touch, karaoke machines, SingStand, The Singing Machine, Zune
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Amber Plante is your guide through the geektastic worlds of science, technology and pop culture -- the Q to your James Bond, the Cortana to your Master Chief and the McGonagall to your Harry Potter, so to speak. She makes the technobabble make sense and shows you the fantastic wired world of the Internet in a whole new light. Are you a geek, too? Don't worry, you're in good company.
