Akai KS201 CDG Karaoke Player

I bought this on a whim and some compilation songs (I chose  this one  and  this one ..we loved them BOTH!) I set it up in the corner thinking ~maybe~ the kids at the party (we had about 12) would sing a song or two. I was WRONG! They were slow to get started, one kid was the brave first singer, but after that, they couldn't get enough! I also set up a boom box with an ipod full of songs so they choose music...they never even looked at that. For 5 straight HOURS, my husband and I were treated to the teen vocal stylings singing Hank Williams, Pink, the Beatles, etc. etc. ha ha!! It was fun though, even the kids who were watching sang along. We moved out dining room table out of the room, rolled up the rug and set up some disco lights ( this one  was amazing!) The other kids either sat around the perimeter of the room and sang, or danced in the middle. Even my husband and I ended up singing a few songs! ha ha!It has flashing lights and a bunch of knobs (many we didn't even use...so don't be worried that you need to read the instructions and fiddle with it...we didn't because we didn't have time, and it was fine.) I did take a photo of the front and back (posted by customer images for this product) so you can see them all. It does have a radio built in and it plays regular CDs too, so you don't have to limit it to a karaoke machine..it can be a CD/radio (with mic!) the rest of the time.You DO need a screen of some sort if you want to see the graphics/words on CD+G discs (we used an older small flat tv from a bedroom.) It comes with the red/yellow/white RCA cables...so any tv that you have that has those inputs should work. The microphone isn't like some professional model, but works well enough for the price of the unit. We may invest in a second microphone (there are jacks on the back for two...one comes with the unit.)Is it the fanciest machine you can buy? no. Is it as high a quality as some professional model? Of course not. But at this price point, it certainly was FUN!! I think we certainly got our money's worth from it in one night. And the shape of it and lights were cool! We still are thrilled that the kids had so much fun with a product that we didn't even think they would look at! And high school kids can be hard to keep interested!

I bought this karaoke machine for Christmas for my 5yr old daughter that loves to sing. She plays with it everyday, as does her 7 year old sister. I ended up buying another microphone (it only comes with one, but has 2 jacks) so they could both sing. The quality is perfect for a young girl/boy and it is easy to carry around. The lights are a fun touch, but only blink (they don't go with the music beat like I was hoping they would). I also purchased a couple of the karaoke CD's. A bit of warning about the CD's. The "tween" CD's have both the songs with and without the lyrics (just music). Both display the words on the TV screen...but only my 7yr old knows how to read...so the 5yr old really needs the words still. Some of the CD's have no lyrics and can be difficult for the younger kids to sing.

My young daughter has been loving this for a few months now.This only video disk we've used is the one that was included with the machine, but it worked well.I give it four stars because of the audio quality.Its perfectly acceptable for the kids and a family having fun together, but its not going to win you any awards at the local karaoke competition.Update: Its been nearly a year and she's still using it without any problems. She's taken to using the FM radio feature in her bedroom for some easy listening.

Unfortunately, I was under the wrong impression that Akai was this huge electronics company (which they were up until 2000 when they went bankrupt, apparently) and not just a generic brand name. That mistake made me buy this for my daughter and the first I noticed there was something wrong is when the microphone failed after only a couple of uses, followed shortly by the CD player itself just prior to it getting used for the first time at my daughter's sleepover party. Although Amazon were ever solid in their return policy, I can't really recommend this item.Apart from the lousy construction, connection to a tv is through component leads and when hooking up to a HD set, looks like a personal computer from back in the 70's and early 80's.

I purchased this because it was Akai brand, which I have had good experiences with. However, the video output was dead - would not output video to any of the TVs in the house - all of which work fine with DVD and other video inputs. So that is a nail in its coffin. The lights are also a disappointment, they all blink in unison, which is very lame considering the trivial cost of the logic circuit to provide marquee light patterns. The sound was not pathetic, but like most cheaper karaoke units, the amateur singer's voice is not easy to adjust to be loud enough. Look elsewhere….

This isn't bad but I am a bit disappointed that it has a hard time reading the CDG discs that I had purchased. Some of the discs won't show on the screen.

Put away your hairbrushes girls and get out the microphone for the Karaoke Player! This is a great living room toy for youngsters who can read the lyrics while they sing and dance along to the Karaoke CD's that you provide. We purchased a second microphone for the second mic jack so that two friends can sing together! Not expensive, stores easily, but beware...you may be driven crazy by repeated shows of High School Musical or songs from Frozen. Remain Calm and Sing Along!

The kids are enjoying this karaoke player. The only thing is that on some CD's the songs skip out. My kids don't seem to mind. They are 5 and 7....It's everything I expected for the price.