NEED to understand set up criteria

[Diane]

relief...my dell latitude D800 is all gone thru and up and running by Best Buy techs...and will pick up today!

What I need is the overall concept of the hardware end of set up.
What plugs into what!
having a smalll TV monitor and a larger tv for karaoke singers and will also see if the LARGE TV is working in the bar.(<<< latter is a side issue but would like if that HUGE TV works to be able to have crowd see singers on that monitor and possibly graphic displays if possible...dont know how to do that but would be neat!)

So I have tons of sound equipment from my band on stage and mics. And I have TVs...and there is a mixer...and then the laptop. SO what do I plug in where?
I have notes here and there I have copied about needing laptop TV ready and all...but if I know basics I can figure this out better.

The software part I will deal with tomorrow

So appreciate i someone would outline the plug in part and needs for that..
a BIG thanks ahead for your knowledge

I notice someoe here is from Charlotte..My bar is in Chadbourn NC..which is between wilmington NC and myrtle beach NC

OH OH and would LOVE to be able to record singers and do CDs. I have a new recorder/cd unit that I got for the bnd some time ago...for about $1000.00 but have never used. My husband the bass player in our band says I cant use it for my karaoke..somethng to do with our amps or something????

Thanks for any help
Diane

[letitrip]

Well you've asked a monster of a question, but I'll try to give you the best reply I can. First for sound. I'm assuming you're using wired mics, so each of those will need to plug into a Mono channel on your Mixer. Next you need the music from the computer so you're going to need to connect your computer's sound card to the mixer. If you have a stereo channel on the mixer, connect the sound card to that stereo channel (you'll almost assuredly need an adapter to split the 1/8" stereo output from your soundcard to a pair of 1/4" mono plugs). If your mixer doesn't have a stereo channel use two mono channels, one for Left and one for Right. Now to get the sound out you need to connect the main outputs on your mixer to your amp and then connect the amp to the speakers. Of course some of this changes if you're using a powered (amp built in) mixer or speakers.

With the sound hooked up, now you need video. Your laptop hopefully has either an RCA or an S-Video out. You can connect the TV to this connection and setup the dual display within windows to allow you to display the lyrics there.

This is a very basic description obviously there is much more involved and it varies based on your equipment. I'd say you need to find someone local that can help you with this. There's no substitute for being right there with the equipment.

[Diane]

any advice on how to find someone to get to set up all? Perhaps contact a KJ locally if I can find? Karaoke is sooooo popular yet such services up close and personal I have yet to find. I hae gone into m any of the local music shops since we have our and and have purchased about 30K in gear etc yet none of the shops for instance have anything Karoake related.
THANKS for all the kind info.
Diane

[letitrip]

Karaoke isn't much different than any other live sound situation. If you're affiliated with a band, someone must be engineering sound? Start with them.

[Bigdog]

You need to go back to my original post and answer the display question first. If you do not have an extened desktop capability on that computer, it's a "no go." I am totally sure that nobody at the computer store or 99% of the music stores have any clue about doing karaoke on a computer or on a disc player.

You need to step back and take some advice. Go throught the computer display and check for the extended desktop feature. If you have it we'll talk again. First things first.