Boom box?

[Bouncingogre]

A question for all you knowledgeable guys please.
My wife sings in a local WI choir. It's an amateur choir, and their conductor, who is an organist, brings along what he calls his 'boombox" to provide the accompaniment.
He travels on the bus, with this contraption as he doesn't drive.
But now has come the time to pension off this old sound system.
Basically he needs a box with speakers and an amp to be big enough for Hall performances where there's no instrument.
It MUST have a USB input to enable him to load the choir's music onto it and critically it MUST have either a screen to show the progress of the track or some other means of pausing any track and going back a few bars for choir practice.
At the moment, if the choir make a mistake, he presses back on this ancient contraption which I'm convinced is CD driven, but it means the whole track starts from the beginning again, which is no good at all. I hope that makes sense.
Any ideas? I am at a bit of a loss, but I said I'd try and help by asking you very musically capable people
Thanks if you can come up with a suggestion of what he needs.
Budget is around £200.

 

[happyrat1]

One of these should do your wife's choir nicely.

https://www.amazon.com/Pyle-Bluetooth-Boombox-Blaster-Speaker/dp/B075RMZ5ZS/

Gary

 

[Bouncingogre]

Thanks for this Gary. We are in the UK, but It's similar to some we've been looking at.
Only snag is that it seems to only have back and forward which will take it to the previous or next track.
What we need to do is Pause the track, and go back say 3 or 4 bars to replay that part of the track, so that the choir can polish up the parts of the number they're having issues with.. They may need to do this several times.

 

[happyrat1]

Incidentally, it doesn't have a fast forward or reverse button but only a next and previous button but it does have bluetooth which means you can hook up a bluetooth enabled MP3 player that supports those features.

Gary

 

[happyrat1]

The problem is that in the digital age hardware with dedicated FF and RW buttons are almost impossible to find.

BUT, if you use an android tablet and the right application software this is doable using bluetooth.

Gary

 

[Bouncingogre]

Unfortunately Bluetooth isn't an option.
Many of the choirs venues are in quite remote areas in old chapels and halls where getting any kind of signal is iffy to say the least.
No..... it MUST be a self contained entirely portable unit unfortunately.
You will see the problems..
The other thing is, it must be powered by rechargeable batteries as mains electricity is not always available.

 

[happyrat1]

You don't seem to understand bluetooth.

Bluetooth wireless is effective at distances up to about 20 feet tops.

You pair your tablet with the bluetooth transmitter to the receiver in the boombox and then keep the tablet within 1 to 10 feet away from the boombox and hit play.

Magically, bluetooth audio comes from the speakers.

This is your ideal situation given the predicament you described.

Gary

 

[happyrat1]

This solution is entirely battery powered btw.

Gary

 

[Bouncingogre]

Thanks Gary.
The problem is.... I'M not even involved with it and whilst I have Bluetooth enabled satnav in the car and such like, and understand it, the guy who's going to be using it does not, and just won't be able to even know where to start if (as he will) if he has issues with pairing.
I'm gonna have to go right back to the drawing board on this.
Thanks for your ideas though.

 

[happyrat1]

My advice is fire the bandleader and hire someone who understands the technology.

Gary

 

[Bouncingogre]

That's very harsh. He might not understand modern technology, but I wonder if you can play a 6 manual cathedral organ?
I'll look elsewhere, but Thanks.

 

[happyrat1]

Think of it as Darwinism in action. Adapt or perish

You're welcome.

Gary

 

[Bouncingogre]

I'm ending this thread. I had hoped for other ideas, but I think we'll just build him something from scratch.

 

[Rayblewit]

I'm ending this thread. I had hoped for other ideas, but I think we'll just build him something from scratch.

This thread is only a few hours old. Not everyone is on line. Give it at least 24 - 48 hours before you pull the pin.
Ray

 

[Bouncingogre]

Thanks Ray. Yes, I'll try that.

 

[Biggles]

Hi

https://cpc.farnell.com/ibiza-sound/port12uhf-bt/portable-pa-12-350w-rms-uhf-mic/dp/LS04893

I suggest something like this, a portable PA system on wheels for ease of transportation.

This one is within your £200 budget.

It has an inbuilt media player and built in rechargeable battery which has 4-6 hours use.

It also has mike and line inputs for use if required. Line input would enable the music on a mobile phone to be fed into the PA system if the user is capable of operating a mobile phones inbuilt music player all they have to do is connect a lead between phone and PA.

CPC are based in Preston and I have been instore dozens of times.

Our local U3A organisation has something similar that I set up at the Groups I attend and it works well.

 

[happyrat1]

He won't be happy with that one either Col. It lacks ffw and rew buttons.

Gary

 

[Biggles]

He won't be happy with that one either Col. It lacks ffw and rew buttons.

Gary

That is why I used the term ... like

Maybe the remote has more control options it is unclear on the image.

No problem if the user can use a mobile phone’s media player.

Never know, there maybe a tape cassette version.

 

[Biggles]

I admit defeat, just been looking for a unit:-

Easily portable
Over 100W
Inbuilt rechargeable battery
In built media player

Its the inbuilt media player that is the issue, I cannot find one with a forward/reverse function, they just have Next and Previous control.

Solution as I now see it is a portable PA and a wired connection to a mobile phone or tablet or laptop where the music is stored and software media player is used to control playback.

 

[Bouncingogre]

Many thanks for this. I worked in the electronics industry for quite a few years, mostly in the repair of organs and and know that Farnell deal in decent quality equipment.
It looks the part, and I've just copied the details to my wife who in turn will pass it to their choirmaster.
As long as it will allow the interruption and partial replay of MP3 tracks, as previously mentioned, it looks ideal.
I'll let you know the outcome. Thank You.