Memorex SingStand

Cool Yule Rating: 3.5 stars

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Cool Yule Rating: 3.5 stars

Price: $69.99

Product Web site

Description: The SingStand is a full-size microphone stand and speaker system (the speaker is in the base of the SingStand) that lets you sing along with music from an iPod or any MP3 device that has a headphone jack.

The SingStand is able to use its Auto Voice Control technology to reduce the sound of the MP3 file's vocal track while the other music plays on the track. Other karaoke systems require you to buy separate tracks or "cover songs" that are not completely the same as singing along wit the original audio. Other features include echo and balance control, and the ability to connect other instruments (such as a keyboard) to play along with the song. In addition, a second microphone jack is included if you'd like to sing duets.

I was pretty impressed with the SingStand's ability to lower the volume on the audio track – it's not completely gone, so you can sort of still hear it, but when you're singing along with it the original vocal pretty much goes away. The tougher part is the fact that there are no on-screen lyrics for you to follow, unlike other karaoke machines / systems. So if you're going to really impress your friends with your singing prowess, you either need to have lyrics printed out, or you should have that song memorized.

Still, I'm impressed with the SingStand for its ability to let you sing along with any song file stored on an iPod or other music player – saving you lots of money and time from having to buy karaoke CDs.

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