The Frugal Networker

Singtrix
Singtrix.com
$349.00 Amazon, Sams, Target

The Singtrix karaoke machine is a microphone, a microphone stand, a “studio”, cables, and a 40-Watt speaker that uses your mobile phone or tablet’s music playlist for background music and helping vocals. It’s billed as “the next-generation karaoke machine that makes bad singers sound good and good singers sound amazing!”

It takes a few minutes to setup the Singtrix unit, because you have to assemble the microphone stand, plug in the cables, connect your phone or tablet, and tune the device. Tuning the device can take a while, as in perhaps an hour to tweak it so that it’s just right for the room you’re in. Tuning involves adjusting your phone or tablet’s volume control, the effects, and the volume, bass, and treble on the speaker. It’s not a trivial task to get it just right, but once you do, the fun begins.

You can adjust the singing voice in your song to very low so that it’s just barely audible as a helping voice. It’s fun to use one of the more than 300 voice effects that are interestingly named for songs that you’ll recognize, but careful not to infringe on copyrights.

The components are well made, clearly marked, and are of decent quality for creating some cool sounds. It’s easy enough to use for just about anyone. The controls are very intuitive and you can choose from no voice enhancement to extreme voice modulation, so there’s almost no limits to the range of possibilities.

The video below is on the Singtrix website, although I wouldn’t have included it there, it does show how versatile the Singtrix is and how impressively you can sound on it. The video shows the Singtrix inventors being a bit stubborn about getting an investment for the product launch, although I’m not completely convinced that the appearance on Shark Tank was for an investment. I think it was probably more along the lines of free advertisement for the product. I would have done the same thing.

This demo video shown in the link below is very good. And it’s 100 percent realistic. You really can get all of these sounds and effects out of the Singtrix.

For myself, I think the Singtrix is a cool, portable PA system. I’m not a singer and not even the Singtrix can make me sound good, but I do like it for its PA capabilities. I think it’s interesting in that respect and would use it for that extensively. My primary problem with the unit, besides how long it takes to get the sound right, is that it doesn’t provide the words to songs. Using an external device for lyrics is difficult because you can’t easily synchronize the song on your Singtrix-connected device to the lyrics.

My daughter and her friends who came over and played with it for an entire weekend, much to the chagrin of my wife and myself, loved it for how it made them sound when singing. My daughter explained to me that not having the words display for you is a sacrifice to be able to choose your own songs instead of ones that the company chooses for you.
She went on to say that you can look up karaoke version of your songs on your iPad, while your phone plays the song. She didn’t think there was a problem getting the two synchronized, so she loved it.

• From the same guys who created Guitar Hero.
• Features the Singtrix “Studio” vocal effects unit with more than 300 unique, studio-quality vocal effects, including pitch correction and harmonies.
• Plug in your phone, tablet, or mp3 player to play any song of your choosing while Singtrix lowers the vocals to create your own karaoke track from any song in your library.
• Bad singers become good singers, good singers become great singers and great singers turn into rockstars!

It must be an age-related complex. I’m used to “old school” karaoke machines and she’s willing to make something work. Your mileage may vary.

My best advice is that if you want to use the Singtrix as a karaoke machine, have some teenagers or preteens around to make that work for you, otherwise you’d better know all the lyrics to the songs.

Why it’s Frugal: The Singtrix isn’t frugal. It’s a luxury item that might not be for everyone at the $349 price. That’s not to say it isn’t worth the price; it is, but you should be someone who likes to sing to justify it or have a lot of parties.

I suggest that once you get the settings like you want them, leave them there. Tweaking even a little bit can cost you a lot of time and kids have short attention spans.

I don’t want you to think that this is a negative review because it isn’t. It’s a realistic one. I don’t want you to buy a Singtrix and not be satisfied because it’s a little less than falling-off-a-log simple to setup and use. I really like the Singtrix. It’s fun and you can have hours and hours of fun messing with the different voice effects, speaking like a robot, singing like a girl (if you’re a guy), singing or talking like Barry White, and more.

One final thing to note is that with the speaker pointed out toward your audience, you won’t be able to clearly hear the voice modulation. To you, you’ll sound pretty much the same as you always do, but to people in front of the speaker, your voice has changed. My daughter and friends had a lot of fun with the Singtrix. I had a lot more fun with it pretending that I was announcing plays at a baseball game or singing the National Anthem (poorly) with a lot of enhancement and Broadway stylings like many performers use. Why can’t they just sing it like Francis Scott Key wrote it? Some things shouldn’t be messed with and the National Anthem is one of them.

The Singtrix comes with everything that you need in the box to start singing and having fun. If you’re a good singer, you’ll sound like you’re in a studio. If you’re a bad singer, like me, you’ll need some help and the Singtrix has it with more than 300 voice modulations and controls. If you need to pump up the jam at your next family gathering, party, or kid sleepover; get a Singtrix and get ready to laugh and sing until you lose your voice.

Rating: 8/10

Recommendation: Try it, buy it, but be ready to tweak.