Geek Review: Moment Wireless Karaoke Soundbar

Singing is one of the few pleasures in life. It can be done at home, in the car, while walking, or even in the office.

One would assume then that a karaoke bar is a frequent destination, but you could not be more wrong. Asian karaokes are very focused on the Asian singing experience, but when it comes to English pop songs, chances are that singer-wannabes will be stuck with hits from a few years back, or find the original music videos replaced with knock-off videos featuring bland destinations and drab actors trying to emote.

That explains the rise of singing apps such as Smule or Musical.ly, but the drawback of those subscription-based singing apps, aside from the monthly fees, is that they are limited to crooning to your phone or tablet, and are hardly a social activity like a karaoke lounge with friends.

In comes Moment, the brainchild of a Singapore start-up. The premise is simple – it is a speaker and sub-woofer combo, capable of delivering Dolby Surround audio. It offers 2.1 channel audio, Virtual DTS, and two types of physical audio connections – optical and auxiliary.

But the real gem are both wireless microphones that come paired with the speakers. Anything you speak into it will be projected via the speaker. Pair a phone, which is running a karaoke app, with the speaker, and as the app plays the tune which then gets channeled via the speaker, the microphone will also channel your voice through the speaker.

And a TV to this mix, and you get a nice karaoke set-up in your home.

It’s not perfect of course, as some karaoke apps don’t play the original music video, and all you get are SingStar like bars on the screen, as indicators of whether you’re too pitchy, singing too low key, or way off. But the ability to have almost the real music playing through your home, and having your voice fill the room, at a fraction of the price of expensive karaoke set-ups, is second to none.

Unless you cannot sing, then start taking pity on your neighbours.

If you do not want to subscribe to paid karaoke apps, and prefer to watch the original videos, one hack would be to pair the speaker with a smart TV. With the latest Samsung 4K smart TV, connecting the optical cable to the TV was a breeze and after that, I simply fire up the YouTube app.

You see where I am going? YouTube is filled with original music videos, or fan made karaoke videos that toss the actual lyrics on screen, played against the actual song. Do you want to sing to Taylor Swift’s latest classic, or prefer Pink? How about a Guns N’ Roses or U2 classic, or follow in the vocals of a live concert performance by Jay Chou, the Foo Fighters or Tori Amos? The possibilities are endless.

Of course, there are limitations again. Original music videos do not have lyrics, so singers must have the full lyrics floating in their heads. Official videos with lyrics are an alternative, but these lyrics are not displayed karaoke style – that is, the lyrics don’t come on screen 2 seconds before they are sung. Instead, the lyrics appear at the same time they are sung, which means that unless you know the song by heart, you won’t be able to deliver a perfect rendition of the song.

Naturally, you can find just about anything on YouTube and if you have kids, Disney’s Frozen Singalong has a bunch of videos available, where the lyrics appear in sync with the singing. One hack would be to search for lyrics on your phone, and sing off them, while your friends in the room can hear you sing in tandem with the original artists, with the original video playing.

Wait… in tandem? Yes, because this is not a full karaoke system with licensed tracks, there is no mode to remove the singer’s track, so the original performer is always there, complementing your vocals. And forget about changing the key of the song to match yours, as there is none of that either.

But where else can you fire up the live performance of Sarah McLachlan and Pink singing live to McLachlan’s hit, Angel, at the 2008 American Music Awards, or join in with Queen, Elton John and Axl Rose raising the bar with Bohemian Rhapsody, live at the Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert in 1992?

If you’re brave enough, your neighbours can definitely hear you singalong proudly. Their reaction to it though, is all dependent on you.

The Moment, priced at S$399, now comes with two pairs of microphones.