You read that right. We’re reviewing a Karaoke system! This is a first timer here on Onlygizmos! Now, if you are wondering why, the reason is strictly personal. The story goes thus:
Sometime last month, our friends from LG called up to ask me if I was interested in testing out their new Karaoke Machine – the LG Songstar NK230. Now being a phone and handheld computing devices nerd that I am, the usual answer would have been a polite “No”. But then, for those of who do not know me personally, I also happen to harbour a deep interest for music. No, not just a normal interest. I am a classically trained singer (Oh well! 😛 ). Whenever time permits I do participate in local singing events near my town. While still on call with the LG rep, I instinctively said yes and behold, the NK230 system was delivered to the OG Office on a bright Saturday evening when I was not present! It was only two days later on a Monday that I got to see her and immediately decided to take her along to my home where I could peacefully test her out. A few days later here I am typing out this review here.
In case you are considering purchasing a Karaoke machine – and an LG one at that, this review should help you. That said, I should also warn you that I have never for some reason used a Karaoke machine in the past – so I would not be in a position to compare the LG system with any other competing products.
So, let’s begin, shall we?
The Box
The LG Songstar system comes in a fairly large box. Inside it, you would find the following neatly packed items
- The NK 230 wired Karaoke Microphone PLUS Remote control
- A Songbook with the entire list of 4000 odd songs and their numbers
- A USB cable for data transfer
- The power adapter
- A CVBS video OUT cable
- A cylindrical stand for the Microphone.
- A Songpack chip with 4000 songs
Build Quality
Like I mentioned, all the accessories inside the box are neatly packed. The Microphone itself comes in what LG calls “Candy Red” and has a glossy finish. This unfortunately seems to be the only color option right now. While yours truly didn’t really bother about the colour, some members of the fairer sex might want to see the product in a few more color variants. The build quality of the microphone itself was excellent – even though it was made of plastic. At the “back” of the microphone is an openable cover which houses the connectors for the Song Pack chip. There is also a mini USB connector just above the aforementioned connectors.
The cables included in the package are of good quality as well. One mini grouse was that the cable for the microphone was slightly short. It’s long enough (4 meters!)for most purposes – but I would have loved it if we at least had an option to extend it further.
Set -up
Setting up the Songstar is a fairly simple affair. All you need to do is to plug the audio out jacks to the device you wish to have your sound coming out of and connect the video out to your TV. If you have an AV receiver you can connect the Songstar to it and the latter to your sound system and TV. It took me longer to set it up on my TV though which is a very old model from 2008 and the AV-in jacks are situated at the most inaccessible place the manufacturer could place it.
Singing Along!
Once set-up, I immediately started searching for some of my favourite songs that I could sing along with. To select a song, you would need to go through the provided songbook and “dial” the number of that song after which it will start playing. If you choose to browse random songs, you can navigate through the songs using the arrow keys on the microphone. Once you play a song, the TV screen will display the lyrics of the song as well as the live “score” which basically assesses your singing real time. I however did not find this assessment to be very accurate – and for those of you who prefer adding their own touches to songs, any variance from the original song could bring your scores down.
Thankfully, this feature can be turned off. You are rated on a scale from 0 to 100, btw.
As for the included songs, you can find almost every popular songs from various languages. This includes 1800 English, 1500 Hindi, 100 each of Gujarati, Telugu, Bengali, Marathi, Malayalam, Punjabi and Tamil songs! That I should say is a pretty comprehensive list. The quality of the Karaoke tracks were decent and I presume they were MIDI files – and for the same reason had the usual “lack of depth” issues that you are so used to with MIDI files. But, I surely can live with it.
While singing along, the microphone adds echo to your sound and makes it “feel” better. You can also control the amount of echo you would like the microphone to add to your vocals. For people who have trouble singing on a particular scale, you can change the key to select your a pitch that suits you. You can also increase/ decrease the volume from the microphone itself. Overall, during the time I had the Songstar at home with me, it was fun stuff. I had also called in some of my music class buddies and had a fun filled musical session where we all sang along.
Verdict
For those on the lookout for a decently priced Karaoke machine, the Songstar with the NK 230 wired microphone is a great buy. The songs list is quite comprehensive and includes quite a few new songs as well. The product would make a great addition for closed room family get-togethers or when a bunch of music loving friends come in. The product however is not designed for more “serious” singers like me. This is because, it always requires a connection to the TV screen for it to be used. It would have been OK if I could just turn the TV off since I know the lyrics. But in this case, you control the entire machine using the GUI that is displayed on the TV screen which sort of ties up the device to indoor use. But hey, this is a general issue with Karaoke machines in general and is not specific to the LG alone. Anyway, if you want to have some fun time with your family members and friends and love to sing as well, the LG Songstar is definitely worth considering.
The product currently retails for Rs.14,990 with the wired microphone while it would be slightly more expensive at 20,999 if you choose to go wireless with the NK 330 microphone system. We do however hope the price goes down in the months to come!
