Choosing Processing Mode

Before you can record a performance with Karaoke Sing-n-Burn, you will need to choose whether you want to operate in Hardware Mode or Software Mode. The first time you run Karaoke Sing-n-Burn, a dialog box will automatically appear to ask that you choose a processing mode, if you want to change modes in the future, simply click on the "Voice Processing Mode" Tag in the Preferences window to open this dialog box again.

The Processing Mode dialog box:

What is Processing Mode?
The processing mode controls how Karaoke Sing-n-Burn processes the vocals you sing into your microphone before sending them back out to the speaker for you to hear. The mode you choose will depend on your personal preferences and the capabilities of your computer:

Software Mode
In Software Mode, Karaoke Sing-n-Burn will take your vocals as you sing them, and add an Echo effect (if you have the Echo slider on) in real-time. This means that as you sing, you will be able to hear your vocals through your computer speakers with an echo effect already added. The time between when you sing and when the sound comes back out your speakers depends very heavily on the abilities of your computer. Some computers will not be able to process the audio fast enough, and you will get a large delay that makes singing very difficult. In such cases, Hardware Mode is a much better choice.

How can you tell if your computer supports Software Mode? We've included a simple test utility that will allow you to test and configure Software Mode on your PC. See the Testing and Configuring Software Mode topic for more information.

Hardware Mode
If Software Mode does not work properly on your PC, you will need to choose Hardware Mode. In Hardware Mode, Karaoke Sing-n-Burn will not attempt to add any echo effect to your vocals as you sing. This will eliminate the delay between when you sing into the microphone and when you hear sound coming back out the speakers, but it means that you won't get to hear yourself with an echo as you sing. However, you can always add an echo during playback of a performance, even when using Hardware Mode! To do so, simply move the Echo slider during playback of your performance.