Karaoke can be fun — assuming you like karaoke in the first place — but even the most dedicated fans are unable to justify a good reason for purchasing a full-fledged karaoke machine. That’s why VocoPro has decided to make setting up karaoke night as simple as turning on your soundbar.
As the name hints at, the HD-Oke is an add-on meant to piggyback off of your home theater system. All you need is an HDMI-enabled A/V receiver or soundbar, and the HD-Oke does the rest, adding microphone inputs and vocal effects, mixing your voice with the music, and piping the whole thing through your home audio system’s speakers. The HDMI input accepts signals from cable or satellite boxes or streaming media players, while the HDMI output sends the combined audio and video to your receiver or soundbar.
When it comes to finding music to sing along to, the HD-Oke offers a number of options. If your TV provider offers the Karaoke Channel, that is supported. If not, the HD-Oke can also help you sing along to services like YouTube and Vevo if you’re using a streaming media player like a Roku, Amazon Fire TV, or Apple TV. The box even features a built-in vocal eliminator so you can sign along to songs that don’t have dedicated karaoke versions.
There are two microphone inputs on the front of the HD-Oke, and the package includes two wired microphones right in the box so you can get started right away. Four vocal effect presets are available, though it doesn’t seem like you can use different effects on each mic, so you and your singing partner will have to work out what sounds best.
The VocoPro HD-Oke sells for $160 and is available now. That isn’t exactly pocket change, but it’s much cheaper than the stand-alone units and karaoke mixers the company sells. For more information, see the company’s website.
