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Singtrix: Karaoke for Dads, Grads, and Music Enthusiasts (Review)
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.
Plextor Will Give Away SSDs Every Week to Fans as Part of Their “Life Is Better With Plextor” Campaign
Fremont, Calif., (May 20, 2014)–Plextor (www.plextoramericas.com) kicked off the year with its new lineup of M6 series solid-state drives led by the M6e PCl-e SSD. The full M6 lineup features the M6S, the M6M, and –later this year –the M6Pro.To emphasize their working premise that better computers make for a better life, they have announced the “Life is Better With Plextor” campaign. As part of this campaign, Plextor will be giving away one solid-state drive every week for the remainder of 2014. Plextor’s tech partners, YouTubers, Publishers, and prominent members of the IT Community will be joining them in this unprecedented giveaway campaign for SSD fans.
Contest Details: On May 19, 2014 the weekly sweepstakes begins. Winners will be announced Monday of every week and the contest will end every Sunday.
How to sign up: Each week fans can enter to win at Plextor America’s Facebook contest page http://win.plextoramericas.com/. Throughout the year there will be many other opportunities to win additional product from Plextor and their tech partners.
Plextor will also launch an exclusive promotion with NewEgg USA of up to $30 off certain capacities of the M6e PCI-e SSD for a limited time only. Use promo code: prm6e.
The new lineup includes:
M6S 2.5″ SATA- The M6S is the perfect hard-drive upgrade for any desktop or laptop PC, improving the computing experience for the everyday user and power-users alike providing faster boot times, faster application loading, and faster response time than a traditional hard drive (HDD).
M6M mSATA – The M6M mSATA is the ultimate ultra-book upgrade and ideal solution for users looking to upgrade any device that requires a SSD with a small footprint. At nearly one-eighth the size of a standard 2.5-inch SSD, the M6M still manages to pack in all of the performance and reliability that is expected of a Plextor drive.
M6e PCI-e – The M6e PCI-e is the first SSD specifically designed to meet the demanding requirements of the gaming community. The M6e PCI-e SSD uses a new generation of high-bandwidth components to deliver smooth, uninterrupted gameplay, allowing players to excel to the next level.
M6Pro 2.5″ SATA (available later this year) – This highly anticipated product is expected to deliver dramatically enhanced speed, massive throughput, and fault tolerant performance that is ideal for prosumers, serious gamers, and system integrators.
All Plextor M6 Series SSDs feature a server-grade Marvell controller, Toshiba 19nm NAND Flash (M6S/M6M feature Toshiba A19), and Plextor’s proprietary firmware with TrueSpeed Technology that prevents SSD speed drops by automatically returning performance to like-new speeds. Plextor knows that speed doesn’t count for much unless products are reliable–ultimately reliable. Plextor SSDs typically have an MTBF (mean time between failures) of 2.4 million hours. This level of reliability gives Plextor the highest ranking in the industry. All M6 drives are backed with a 3-5 year limited warranty and are available in 64, 128, 256, and 512 GB capacities, depending on model.
For additional product information, please visit:
Website: www.plextoramericas.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/PlextorAmericas
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/plextor-americas
Twitter: www.twitter.com/plextorusa
YouTube: www.youtube.com/plextorofficial
About Plextor
Plextor is a leading developer of high-performance digital storage equipment for professionals, consumers, and enterprises. Plextor launched its first CD-ROM drive in 1989. Since then, Plextor’s prestigious multi–award winning products have set the standard for quality and performance. Plextor will continue to deliver generations of innovative industry-leading products, including Blu-ray optical disc drives, solid state drives, digital video converters, and multimedia devices. The Plextor brand of storage and multimedia products is owned by Shinano Kenshi of Japan.
Micron and Crucial Introduce Next-Generation SSD for Personal Storage, Media and Entertainment Markets
New M550 SSD Offers Faster Performance, Longer Battery Life and High-Capacity Storage with Advanced Feature Set
Key Messages:
- Reaches 20 times higher performance[i] than conventional hard drives for lightning fast boot, file and application load times
- Stretches battery life through dramatically better power efficiency, consuming as little as 6 percent as much power versus a traditional hard drive on comparable workloads[ii]
- Offers an advanced feature set that includes hardware-based encryption, data protection against unexpected power loss and an advanced adaptive thermal monitoring system
- Available in 2.5-inch, mSATA and M.2 form factors with capacities up to 1TB
Multimedia Elements:
1. Media Kit
2. How We Make Our SSDs (video)
3. The Benefits of Upgrading to an SSD (video)
4. Installing an SSD Is Easier Than You Think (video)
Boise, ID, March 18, 2014 – Micron Technology, Inc. today announced a new personal storage class, solid state drive (SSD), continuing a legacy of developing foundational memory technology into reliable, high-performance storage solutions. The M550 SSD is designed to meet the increasingly demanding needs of high-performance computing, ultrathin, and media/video applications. It is available today to consumers, businesses and system builders under the Crucial® brand and to OEM customers under the Micron® brand.
Faster Storage Performance
The M550 SSD offers 20 times higher performance1 than a traditional hard drive, while consuming significantly less power. It enables quick boot-up, speedy file and program access, near instant wake from sleep, as well as ultra-efficient power management for increased battery life. In fact, the M550 draws as little as 0.15 watts during normal operation1.
The M550 design tightly integrates Micron NAND and firmware to deliver up to 95,000 input/output operations per second (IOPS). The drive’s sequential speeds reach up to 550 MB/s for reads and 500 MB/s writes, which maxes out the capabilities of the SATA 6 Gb/s interface.[iii] To understand the benefits of upgrading to an SSD and see the dramatic performance gains compared to traditional hard drives, watch our video.
Advanced Feature Set
The M550 SSD incorporates a host of advanced features to provide users with a powerful computing experience:
- Best-in-Class Hardware Encryption: Keeps personal files and sensitive information secure in the event of device theft or loss.
- Device Sleep Low-Power Mode: Enables the drive to draw practically no power while in sleep mode and respond instantly when the laptop is opened.
- Data Protection: Employs onboard power-loss protection and advanced error recovery techniques to protect the integrity of stored data.
- Adaptive Thermal Management: Dynamically adjusts power consumption based on system temperature for ultra-small, thermally constrained systems.
- Reliability: Our proprietary RAIN technology provides built-in fail-over protection at the NAND level.
Micron Quality You Can Trust
The M550 SSD is built start-to-finish by Micron, providing the comprehensive quality control that only a NAND Flash memory manufacturer can supply. With more than 35 years of technology leadership, Micron is one of the world’s largest and most trusted Flash storage manufacturers. The new drive utilizes Micron’s proven 20-nanometer (nm) multilevel cell (MLC) NAND Flash to achieve terabyte capacity on the 2.5-inch form factor. Watch this behind-the-scenes video to see how Micron designs and builds SSDs.
“Built on our years of storage expertise, the M550 SSD combines leading-edge performance with an advanced feature set to create a powerful computing experience,” said Darren Thomas, vice president of Micron’s storage business unit. “For consumers, the Crucial M550 SSD offers a reliable storage solution from a trustworthy brand. For OEM customers, the Micron M550 SSD offers a slim, lightweight form factor for ultrathin designs, and advanced features for media and video applications.”
Micron’s advanced NAND Flash technology provides more storage in a smaller footprint, making it possible to pack half a terabyte of storage onto an SSD module the size of a stick of gum (80mm x 22mm). This M.2 form factor, along with the mSATA form factor, are key designs for current and next-generation ultrathin computers, including Ultrabook™ devices, tablets and convertible PCs. Visit micron.com/ultrathin to see how Micron SSDs transform the ultrathin experience to meet the needs of the mobile computing market.
High-Performance Storage for Video Applications
The M550 has also been chosen as the preferred storage solution for AJA, a leading manufacturer of high-quality digital video interface, conversion and desktop solutions for professional broadcast and post-production. “Our customers demand high reliability for capturing the very high data rates of HD and 4k video. Whether it’s a motion picture or a Major League Baseball broadcast, data degradation is unacceptable,” said John Abt, CEO of AJA. “The Micron M550 easily meets AJA’s performance requirements.”
The M550 also leverages controller technology from the industry leaders at Marvell. “Marvell is excited to collaborate with Micron to bring a new generation of cutting-edge SSDs to the video market,” said Rajan Pai, General Manager and Vice President of the Data Storage Business Unit at Marvell. “The combination of Micron’s leadership in NAND flash memory coupled with Marvell’s industry-leading 88SS9189 SSD controller creates a powerful solution that fuels exceptional delivery of digital entertainment and video content to meet the next wave of consumer demand.”
Compatibility and Availability
The Crucial M550 2.5-inch SSD is offered in 128GB, 256GB, 512GB and 1TB capacities, and it is available for immediate purchase through select global channel partners or direct through www.crucial.com. The smaller M.2 and mSATA form factors will be available through Crucial later this year, in capacities up to 512GB. The drive is backed by a three-year limited warranty[iv] and is compatible with both PC and Mac® systems.
The Micron M550 SSD is also available in a 64GB capacity; all configurations are available for immediate sampling and are sold direct to OEMs and via the company’s distribution network.
[i] Performance level based on averaged PCMark Vantage HDD test scores of five leading hard drives compared to the M550 SSD. Actual performance level may vary based on benchmark used and individual system configuration. Test setup: 256GB M550 SSD (firmware MU03), 2TB Western Digital® WD20EURS 7200RPM hard drive, 2TB Seagate® ST2000DM001 7200 RPM hard drive, 1TB Western Digital WD10EZEX 7200RPM hard drive, 750GB Seagate ST3750640AS 7200RPM hard drive, and 500GB Western Digital WD5000AVDS 7200RPM hard drive, all tested on an Intel® DZ87KLT-75K motherboard, Intel i7-4770K 3.50GHz processor, BIOS Rev. 0446, and Windows® 8 Pro 64-bit operating system using PCMark Vantage HDD test suite.
[ii] Power calculations are based on published specs for the 500GB Seagate® Momentus® 7200 rpm internal laptop hard drive, one of the most popular hard drives according to NPD data published in September 2013. The Momentus uses 2.5 watts of power on an average workload, compared to 0.15 watts on the M550 SSD. In everyday terms, this means significantly more battery life and substantial savings on power costs.
[iii] Quoted performance figures are based on 256GB, 512GB and 1TB capacities.
[iv] Micron-branded and Crucial-branded M550 SSD warranty terms may vary. Contact your Micron or Crucial sales representative for complete warranty terms.
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