Great Karaoke Player, Bad DVD Player

I got this karaoke unit for one reason and one reason only--because it had the ability to change keys. So many of my karaoke discs are just a few notes too high or low for me, and the idea of being able to change the key was very appealing. I have a key changer for audio tapes which basically speeds them up and slows them down to change the key, but I had never seen this feature with CDs. I also liked the idea that this model plays pretty much anything on a disc--CDs, CD+Gs, DVDs, picture discs, MP3, etc. etc. etc. (see the specifications!), but I really only needed it for the karaoke player.

So I got it and tried it out. The key change function works wonderfully. You have the capability to go up 16 keys or down 16 keys, so you can choose pretty much any key you want. The music does not speed up or slow down; it stays the same tempo. There is a little sound distortion once you get past 5 or so key changes on either side, but you're bound to find something within that that you can use.

Sound quality is as good as any other mid-priced karaoke player. The unit has all the regular features you'd find on a karaoke player--echo, mic volume, etc. The two included microphones are not the best quality. They are fine for home use, but if you want to record anything or sing in public, you'll probably want to buy a better mic.

As a DVD player, it's not so great. The picture and sound are ever so slightly out of synch. It comes and goes, so you might start a DVD out looking good, then 30 minutes into it the voices stop matching the pictures. For this reason I do not use it as my main DVD player. The fun thing about it is that the key change function works for DVDs as well as CDs, so you can amuse the kids by playing something with really high voices. Again, the action doesn't speed up; it just gets higher pitched. I have to wonder if this is responsible for the synch problem, as the sound can be manipulated without the vision changing.

There is another small problem in that the manual is poorly translated and doesn't contain instructions for half of the functions on the unit. You have to sort of mess around and figure things out through trial and error. This will be a problem if you want to use a bunch of weird features, but if you just want to play music, you'll be fine.

Bottom line: if you want a really great karaoke player, I would recommend this. If you expect to use it for DVDs, be prepared to be disappointed. It makes a good addition to an entertainment center so long as you have a backup DVD player. Use it for music alone and you'll be fine.