There’s been a lot of talk about CAVS karaoke players, so we thought we’d take the time to try out one of the most popular models. The DVD-203G USB has all the usual features like 2 mic inputs with echo, programmable song order, numeric keypad to access any song number, parental control, digital key control and voice cancel on multiplex discs, but here we will cover the pros and cons. about important points of interest.

CONS

Professionals will not use the supplied microphone. To my ear, as a professional I like to use high quality microphones so that singers always sound their best. That said, the average “consumer’s ear” may find the supplied CAVS mic sounds good.

No fancy video graphics like you see with 12″ laserdiscs. What you get are CD-quality music backing tracks with lyrics on your monitor or TV.

There are several a la carte extras to consider before purchasing a CAVS DVD-203G USB as follows:

1. The unit has two microphone inputs but it only comes with one microphone as mentioned above. You might want a second for all those duos.
2. Most packages include 1 disc (up to 1,250 songs), so if you want more discs, they can range from $70 to $200.
3. The USB port is for an external hard drive which is NOT included, so it will cost upwards of $100 depending on the size, but you could fit up to 100,000 songs or more on the larger ones.
4. An audio/video cable is included, but any additional cables, eg; SVideo, Coaxial or Optical cables will need to be purchased separately.
5. To make your own SCDGs, you need additional software for around $49 or a deluxe version for $69 from the manufacturer.

PROS

1. The CAVS DVD-203G USB is a mid-sized component that fits nicely in a home entertainment system or professional rack. It can replace an AC3 Dolby Digital DVD player and/or a 500 CD carousel. It easily connected to my TIVO via the front AV inputs (white, red, and yellow RCA plugs), but those without a TIVO should look for the same jacks on their VCR or directly on the TV. You can also use an S Video connection or the RCA A/V jacks on your home TV and stereo combo. Professionals use the mixer and video directly to a video monitor or video patch bay to sync multiple TVs.
2. Plays all formats: DVD/VCD/SCDG/CD+G/CD/CD-R/CD-RW/MP3/JPEG/Kodak Photo CD
3. Excellent sound quality and arrangements – We tested Sweet Georgia Brown Magic Tracks with 1208 songs and the sound quality and musical arrangements were excellent.
4. SuperCDGs can be played on your computer. Each retail disc comes with a separate PC program that loads and plays the hundreds and thousands of songs, allowing you to put on a karaoke show with just your PC or laptop (DVD equipped).
5. It’s possible to create your own SuperCDGs from your old CD+G library or MP3 collection of non-karaoke songs with the optional software.
6. With the CAVS DVD-203G USB Player, you can also connect to an optional 60, 160 or 250 Gigabyte CAVS hard drive for a whopping 100,000 song storage capacity.

For the professional:

• Save money by buying as many discs
• Save time switching records between singers
• Stop Pain from carrying hundreds of records in cases
• Save yourself the headache of dealing with scratched discs when you change them, as the need to change discs is virtually eliminated.
• Mix-Down lets you studio-style output your performance to an external recorder or computer

In conclusion

Offsets do not exceed values. There was some extra cost for a hard drive and some extra SCDG discs, but now we have an expandable system that plays SCDG. With this unit, the only thing that separates professionals from amateurs is the 7 rules for hosting a CAVS karaoke party.