Karaoke Disc Information

There are several types of karaoke discs available. Companies like CAVS and RSQ have created their own disc format that can be played only in their machines. CD+G is by far the most popular karaoke disc type and offers the most song titles. Below you will find brief descriptions of the various disc types.

CD+G

The karaoke CDG, also known as CD+G (Compact Disc plus Graphics), is very similar to a standard audio CD. The difference lies in the graphic data (lyrics and images) that is embedded in the unused sub-channel of the disc. The audio portion of a CDG can be played with a standard CD player. A karaoke player is required to display the graphics on a monitor.

None of the commercial karaoke discs contain background music performed by the original artist. This is one reason why the quality of the music varies so greatly between name brands. Price does not always indicate the quality of a CDG.

Just like standard CD's have given way to digital sound files like FLAC, MP3, and WAV, CDG disc have given way to MP3+G and BIN files. There are very few companies that still produce CDG discs.

If you do possess CDG discs it is very important to keep them in good condition. They are more sensitive than the standard audio CD. Fine scratches, or even a fingerprint, can cause them to skip or cause the graphics to become scrambled. You will not be able to avoid the damage that occurs from normal use but fortunately there are polishing compounds that will let you rejuvenate them. Damage to the liable side of a disc is not repairable.

DVD

DVD karaoke discs typically contain synchronized lyrics superimposed over a video background.

MP3+G Discs

MP3+G is a compressed version of a CD+G disc song track and is the standard format used by virtually all karaoke hosting software. Some karaoke music manufacturers provide their songs in this format on compact discs. Very few karaoke disc players will play MP3+G discs although a few newer players will play this format from a USB device or SD card. Learn more about this format on the MP3+G Information page.

NEO-G

From RSQ this format allows for hundreds of compressed CD+G song tracks (MP3+G files) to be placed on a DVD disc. You must have an RSQ NEO-G player to play these discs. The company offers a free program that lets you create NEO-G discs from MP3+G files.

Super CDG or SCDG

This DVD media disc utilizes a compressed CD+G like format that allows for hundreds (possibly thousands) of karaoke songs to be placed on a single disc. You have to have a SCDG player to play these discs and these players are currently produced only by CAVS.

The up side to this format is that you will have less discs to store, fewer disc changes during a show, and the price per song. The down side is that you need a special player, the inability to update just a few songs, and the fact that if an SCDG disc becomes unusable you will lose hundreds of songs at one time.

VCD

Most non-English karaoke discs are in this format. These are CD's that typically contain video karaoke song tracks.

Article by Richard Wise.