FAQ

Will Karaoke CDG's play on my XBox?
CD+G music files or CD+G CD's.

CD+G files (these are the most standard and most widely available format for Karaoke files) which consist of a music file (either wav or mp3) and a lyrics file with timecodes to make the cursor follow along the lyrics.

Once you have some CD+G files, make them available for Xbox Media Center either by putting the disc in the Xbox, putting the files on the xbox hard drive or by putting them in a shared folder that your xbox has access to over your network. Explaining how to get the files onto the xbox hard drive or how to use them over the network is beyond the scope of this article and you should read the XBMC documentation on their website (xboxmediacenter.com) because it is way more thorough than I could make this guide.

The important thing to remember is to make sure that the .mp3 (or .wav) files are in the same directory (folder) as the corresponding .cdg file. Also the music and cdg files must have the same file name except for the extension. (Example: Sample.mp3 and Sample.cdg) I believe that the file names are not case sensitive but I could be wrong.

Next, on XBMC you need to go to "Settings --> My Music --> Karaoke" and make sure to check off "Enable CD+G" and if you are using one of the XBox mics or the Xbox Live headset, then you also need to check off "Enable Voice".

If you are using the Xbox Music Mixer or Xbox Live microphones then just plug them in and choose the mp3 (or wav) of the Karaoke file you want to play and once it starts, just hit X on your controller to bring up the visualization which shows you the lyrics.

If you are using a regular microphone, then it becomes way more complex. There are far to many possiblities to cover them all but here are the basics.

Most microphones have a connector that has 3 pins on it which I believe is called an XLR connector. (If you have a mixing board or whatever, then you can hook it up and you won't need me to tell you how because you will already know how to use it).

Most surround sound systems don't have microphone jacks on them at all and most mini stereos only have an 1/8" plug spot on them. What you need to do is connect the sound outputs on your xbox to a mini stereo and plug the mic into the mini stereo using adapters to change from xlr to 1/4" and/or if needed to 1/8" and you should be good to go. You can buy the needed adapters from Dick Smiths for no more than a couple of dollars each.

If you want more volume, ie. to use your surround sound system, then you will need to hook up the mini stereo to the surround system using RCA (red and white) plugs. If your mini stereo doesn't have RCA output, then you can buy an adapter that plugs into a headphone jack on your mini stereo and on the other end of the wires, it has RCA plugs. These will work fine as well. Set both your stereos to the proper inputs and away you go with the Karaoke.

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