Thread: Musical bod type help needed - speakers, amps

Whagwan bruthas


I need a bit of basic help in terms of a sound setup for a karaoke night. Long story short, went to a mates pub, did a few tunes, had a great time. The clown who runs the night has got something more pressing on in a few weeks time so whilst pissed I said I'd fill in, how difficult can it be?


So, I've got a laptop and an online karaoke subscription which lets you choose from thousands of songs. I've got a tv to display the words and will also use one in house screen. I've borrowed some speakers and a set of wireless mics with sender unit. I possibly have an amp too but that's not confirmed.


Now considering I've cobbled this lot together and haven't seen any of it yet other than what belongs to me (laptop and screen) whats the odds on me running into difficulty with connecting them all up? Am I going to be looking at bog standard connections between the laptop sound output, amp, speakers, mic sender?


Also....... Having never seen a standalone amp before, what on it determines how many speakers can be used?


I know Google could possibly help me with this but I'd rather ask you lot. I know you lot actually want to help, I often feel Google just does it out of obligation and the experience is unsatisfying. I know the information is a bit vague but give me a general idea of what issues I might run into.


Cheers Chaps

I am assuming you have borrowed passive PA speakers ? Then you are correct that you will require an amplifier but it is also important that you match impedance and power ratings. It will tell you on the back of each speaker cabinet and PA amp what is compatible. On some passive PA speakers you need separate crossovers to split the audio signal into different frequency ranges. Lower frequencies for the subwoofer and higher ones to the tweeter. If it is a powered mixer amp then you will be fine plugging the laptops soundcard into one channel and then each mic into its own.Just remember that the mics and the soundcard throw out wildly different types of signal and power so you need a line level input for the laptop (like a hifi cd into a hifi amp) and a mic level input for your mics, some mics also require phantom power so make sure yours do before powering this switch and blowing them up.(they are unlikely to need phantom power) Then you just have to adjust the volume pots on each input so that you have a nice balanced mix. The amount of speakers that can be used will be dependent on the number of physical outputs on the amp and the overall power and impedance rating of both amp and speakers. If you are going to hire an amp ask the technician in the hire shop. You can also get active PA speakers which have inputs and sometimes a little mixer built in.

Cheers Beanz. The night went well. Cranked through 40 odd songs and everyone had a good time. The sound was largely good but there was a bit too much mic feedback. It was a favour for a friend but i still wanted it to sound good, wasnt helped by not being able to get into the place until 10 mins before kick off so no time to move anything about, it was get it in, get it plugged in and rock on. I was forced to set up with the speakers at the back of the room with a tv display between them for lyrics so the singer was facing the front of the speakers which wasnt ideal. Certain singers produced feedback, others didnt. The kit was old and the mics were cheap as chips and the set up wasnt as i'd have liked it but all that said lots of people sang songs and got drunk.

That's nice to hear mate. You are right if you can avoid the mic facing the speakers feedback shouldn't be a problem. Some people with natural projection or louder voices will not need much boosting and so produce less feedback, but putting hands over the mic diaphragm moving it into a direct line with the cabinets etc can all exasperate the problem. Congratulations anyways. Are you going to do anymore and make it a regular thing? What are you favourite Karaoke songs to sing? Oooh...thread idea

Yes mate definitely. I cant really do it regularly but every now and then i'll do it for a laugh. People watching is brilliant in general but even better when they momentarily think they're Kate Bush. My boys loved having the kit around and blasting a few tunes so I think I'll invest in some kit of my own..............to be continued!