Bands-Eye View

Nothing beats having a home karaoke system to brush up on your singing skills or to make a party more alive. If you have your own system at home you don’t have to go out weekends and spend money to sing.

Further, having your home karaoke system allows you to have fun without necessarily spending cash for drinks if you were at a bar. It is a great way to bond with the whole family by competing with each other and seeing who has the highest score from the machine’s scoring system.

To be able to set up your home karaoke system, you need to buy the following components:

1. Multi-format Karaoke Disk Player

This is much better than the CDG Player only, which can only play songs in CDG format. You want to make sure your player can play songs that are in VCD, DVD, and mp3 format as well. The only features that you need though are key controls, play, and a quick and easy to operate song selector. Don’t buy models that have feature names you don’t even understand because chances are you’re never going to use those features.

The technologically inclined can use their laptop or PC as a disk player.

2. Microphones

Make sure that you buy a pair of these for those times you want to sing duets. The choice of buying wireless or wired is up to you however you have to keep in mind the positive as well as negative attributes of each of the two. Many are inclined to use the more expensive wireless mic. The problem this type of microphone is

that it has to have noise canceling filters for you to avoid feedback when the mic loses signal. Also you need to have fresh batteries handy because when the power drains, no more singing.

You don’t really need a microphone with out of this world features for simple home use. Any good quality mic whether wired or wireless that has good audio pick up and can handle high and low voice ranges does the job pretty well.

3. Monitor

Any flat screen TV can be used as a monitor and it’s better its a bigger screen so you don’t miss out reading the lyrics.

4. Heavy Duty Stereo Speakers

Not all speakers are designed for a home karaoke system. Karaoke speakers must be able to make you sound like a pro and allows you to eliminate feedback. You have to choose your speakers carefully because not all speakers sound great when you crank up the volume..

5. Mixer / Amplifier

No I’m not referring to the mixing boards that have sliders because they are of more use to a recording studio. What you need is a high quality mixer/amplifier that has controls for channels as well as it has a graphic equalizer.

6. Music

What’s the use of a karaoke system without of course, music? Days before the party, you have to acquire karaoke music stored in discs. If it’s party for the kids, you can stock up on nursery rhymes and songs for kids and the adults can collect songs from their favorite artists then its fun time.

Following the success of the C01U, Samson is proud to introduce the C03U multi-pattern USB studio condenser microphone. Based on the extremely popular C03 studio condenser, the C03U delivers the same pristine audio quality and enhanced capabilities along with a high-quality A/D converter and USB output.

A multi-pattern condenser with high-quality A/D conversion and USB output. Click to enlarge.

View polar pattern/frequency response. Click to enlarge.

Samson’s downloadable SoftPre gives you extra software controls.

The C03U features dual 19mm internal shockmounted diaphragms with switchable omni, supercardioid, and figure-8 pickup patterns. It’s perfect for recording vocals or any acoustic instrument. Plus, the selectable patterns make it ideal for a variety of specialized recording situations, like multiple vocalists, ambient room miking, and even a group of people around a conference table recording a Podcast.

The C03U works seamlessly on any computer running Mac OS X, Windows XP or Windows Vista. It also works with most DAW software programs without having to install any extra software or drivers. And with solid die-cast construction, the C03U is as durable as it is portable, so taking it on the road with your laptop is never an problem.

Samson SoftPre
The Samson C03U is designed to be fully functional without installing additional drivers. But for those who would like a little something extra, Samson offers its downloadable SoftPre software applet, which gives you an Input Level Meter, Volume control, High-pass filter and Phase Switch, for Mac or Windows.

C03U Specs

• Frequency Response: 20 – 18000 HZ
• Polar pattern: Super Cardioid, Omni, Bi-directional
• Element type: Back condenser type
• Diaphragm thickness: 3 microns
• SPL: 136 dB Max.
• Dimensions (H x W x D): 7 x 2.125 x 2.125 inches (180 x 54 x 54 mm)
• Weight: 1.06 lbs. (.48 kg)

What’s in the Box
C03U Microphone, Swivel Stand Mount, 10-Foot USB Cable