We can track the first karaoke machine back to the time of cassette tapes. It consisted of a microphone, an audio output and a way to adjust the pitch of the recorded music. As the technology grew more sophisticated, the karaoke machine also grew more complex, thus keeping the pace with the advancements throughout the years. CDs replaced quickly the cassettes. Afterwards, the laserdiscs or DVDs followed.



As soon as the X2000 entered the market at the beginning of the 1990s, the design and functions of the karaoke machine suffered a series of modifications once more. This new model had a much smaller size and a dial-up telephone network that allowed it to access and download music from the Internet. Although its graphic and music capabilities had a limit, it inspired a much better version that is currently very popular. Instead of the dial-up telephone network, this version connected via fiber-optic links, thus augmenting considerably the quality of both the music and video files.

The most common karaoke machines are the ones that use an incorporated microphone input with a CD+G, laser disks or DVD players. The CD+G stand for CD + Graphics and are an audio CD that has graphics data on it, not just audio. This is exclusively available for karaoke as they are useful for displaying the lyrics and the images on a TV screen.

Karaoke machines come in different types and sizes. The preferred ones are the All-In-One systems because of having all the features/components in one place. Some of them even take account of accessories such as Audio Video cables, stereo headphones or optical and digital cables. Other types of machines will target solely clubs. These club systems may be more costly, but they are worth it to the club owners as they catch the attention of more people.

The karaoke machines also include versions for computers. On the other hand, they may function as stand-alone karaoke players. More accessories that are often required are the speakers and subwoofers, special microphones and mixers or amplifiers.

Due to its smashing success, karaoke influenced other sections around it. For example, Video CDs benefited a lot and nowadays most VCD players have an integrated karaoke function. Its design is relatively simple: one speaker plays the music with the vocal track while the other plays it without it, so that the user needs to play only the music track through both speakers in order to sing.

Nevertheless, the evolution of karaoke machines does not stop here. Its range of action has extended onto the computers and Internet, mobile telephones and even cars, all these since 2003. The setup for the phones is simple: a Java MIDlet runs with a text file that contains the words of the song and a MIDI file with the music. The automobile one had its proposal as an addition to the in-car DVD player and the computer device as a way to carry less CD+Gs or laserdiscs around, because all the data would come stored up on the owners? hard drive and also the possibility of sharing those files around the world.

For the English speaking community, the CD+G are the most popular type of karaoke machine for home use due to the song selection and the quality of the audio, even if it has limited graphic facilities, particularly when compared to the VCD or DVD players. The high graphics on the last two players make them popular amongst singers because of their music availability and the moving picture background.