“The Philippines is separated by 7,000 islands, and [Filipinos] speak about 187 languages, but the one thing we all speak fluently is… karaoke.”—Jo Koy, comedian
FILIPINO singers are everywhere.
Just as Manny Pacquiao brought excitement to the sport of boxing, one of the best gifts the Philippines has given to the world is our abundance of gifted singers who never cease to amaze all kinds of audiences.
We’ve had Jessica Sanchez, Jasmine Trias and many others on American Idol, America’s Got Talent “got” the dual voices of Marcelito Pomoy, we’ve had 4th Impact on X Factor UK, Charlie Green on Britain’s Got Talent and Rose Fontanes on X Factor Israel.
Two of the most iconic rock bands chose Pinoys to be their new lead singer—Mig Ayesa for INXs while Arnel Pineda now leads Journey.
Ellen DeGeneres even had (TAFKA), the artist formerly known as Charice Pempenco, on her show a few times, with Charice also making an appearance on the hit sitcom Glee.
And, of course, on Disney and Broadway, Lea Salonga made us proud.
Did you know that singing is actually the second most favorite thing Pinoys do at parties, next only to Tupperware take-outs?
I actually, made that up—videoke ranks first.
When it comes to singing, we Filipinos are arguably among the most talented, if not the most passionate. Just look at the “biriteras” hogging the videoke mic at shopping malls or the packed videoke bars all over the country before being KJed by ECQ.
Then, there’s Anne Curtis—the patron of the less vocally gifted but who was able to sell out Araneta Coliseum and all her other concert venues.
Unlike Anne, however, I’ve had a long and very secretive singing career. My singing talent is so hidden, I still haven’t found it even after all these years. Throughout the decades, only my partner and 9 other people have heard me sing in public (once in Boracay and just so we could go home).
I might not have the courage to do it in public, but that hasn’t stopped me from enjoying videoke. I already lost count of the videoke players I’ve bought, but because I only got the cheap ones that cost P2,000, they barely lasted a year.
So I promised myself to get a legit videoke for my birthday—I was even looking at those coin-op setups—but because of the ECQ, it had to wait… until a few weeks ago.
And now I can finally unleash my inner Anne Curtis—wait, that sounded wrong—I mean the still-frustrated singer in me.
THE FLAGSHIP OF VIDEOKE PLAYERS
I’VE been fortunate enough to review a lot of cool gadgets and smartphones the past months but honestly this was the one that got me excited the most: The Grand Videoke Symphony 3 Pro Plus.
Think of it as the Samsung S20 Ultra, the iPhone 11 Pro Max or the Huawei P40 Pro+ of videokes—it even sounds like one of those flagship phones.
Let’s start with the design: As far as looks go, I think the GV S3 Pro Plus looks the most premium and would match any type of home entertainment setup you have. It initially reminded me of the WD My Cloud HDD I once had, just with a dock on both side for its wireless mics.
I like that the mics are placed upright instead of sideways, so you could easily take it out but stable enough so it won’t tip over easily. While the design isn’t new, it certainly commands attention, and is very display-worthy. It has that premium high-quality finish as well, and is light enough to make it very portable. The unit comes with 2 high-quality professional microphones. They are both wireless and custom-designed for a videoke machine with a remote control pad on the mic handle. The remote on the mic allows the singer to choose the song, add it to the queue and access all the features of the device. The wireless mics are equipped with Grand Voice Technology for loud and clear voice pickup. You can even add more mics as it has two additional 6.3mm jacks for wired mics or a wireless mic receiver.
The GV S3 Pro Plus delivers HD quality videos and sound. The built-in background videos that play together with the lyrics are shown in full 1080p HD quality, and you can choose from several themes like WOW Philippines travel, KPop, KDrama, 3D Animation, etc. If you want to add your own slideshows or videos in the background, you can load them via USB or the GV Smart App.
The Dream Sound Module is what makes the Grand Videoke stand out from competitors as it offers the most realistic and detailed sound. Unlike others which just use standard MIDI or lower than CD sound quality, this dedicated Dream Sound Module is able to produce high-definition sound. Much care was devoted to song production, with some even featuring full orchestral accompaniment and back-up singers to really make you feel that you are having a major concert right at home.
MY SINGING COACH
THE highlight feature of the GV S3 Pro Plus is called Perfect Pitch, that gives you real-time feedback and uses a 4-Point Scoring System. They describe it as like having your own Voice Coach, without the embarrassment—until you see your final score, that is. At a time when it’s nearly impossible to go out or hire a voice coach, this feature could help or guide those who have the talent and want to be serious singers. This is the one that Anne said helped her improve her singing.
Perfect Pitch is a mode that is similar to those rhythm games where you have to hit the bars right to get a high score, only instead of steps/or button presses, you have to match the timing and tone with our voice. The four-point scoring system is based on 4 key elements: Key Rhythm, which makes sure you hit the right note at the right time; Vibrato, to develop that seamless change of pitch; Upband, to make sure your shift to high notes are smooth; and Downband, to check how you shift to low notes.
Real-time feedback adds more excitement and gives you an in-depth look on what you need to improve to take your talent to the next level. Unlike the previous videokes I owned, where I could easily get a score of 80 to 95 percent just by singing loudly, this Perfect Pitch was really tough, detailed and I’d say accurate about assessing our singing.
Which brings us to my next favorite feature: the Perfect Pitch Battle mode.
For the past several days, my partner and I have turned Netflix nights into videoke showdowns. With the Grand Videoke S3 Pro Plus, you can create two separate teams with your own avatars (you can even upload your own photos) and it will tally your scores for each round. It’s been both the most enjoyable and frustrating nights for me and my partner, as we have yet to get past the 65 score-mark—even though we’ve already unleashed our go-to songs: “Dancing Queen” for her and “Buttercup” for me (and we even made sure the setting was on Amateur mode!).
The GV S3 Pro Plus has more than 8,500 songs. It may not seem quite impressive, but GV’s song list isn’t padded by multiple duplicate songs from other languages which are basically unusable. Finding and choosing songs are also easy as you can simply say the song title or artist via GV Voice Command (another first), by using the GV Smart App. There’s still a physical song book included, but using the GV App makes searching much quicker.
If Perfect Pitch makes it standout in terms of quality, the app gives GV the edge in usability. To pair the GV Smart App, use the mic or remote to go to the Wi-Fi settings of your videoke unit and connect it to your WiFi network. It will then display a QR code which you just need to scan using your phone. Make sure your app and GV are on the same WiFi network. Open the GV Smart app and tap on the pair/connect icon you can find on the top of your phone’s screen beside the search icon. Once paired, you can use the GV App to view the entire songbook, search and add/reserve your favorite songs, or choose a song based on a format; Real Sound, Chorus, Multiplex, MTV, Medley, OPM, or Duet. You can also record your performance (up to 500 songs) and later download them to your device for sharing or review.
You can use it to access GV Air Transfer that allows you to transfer MP3s and photos from your phone which you can use for backgrounds and create fun messages to display onscreen, or take screenshots of your score and share on social media.
The GV Smart App is intuitive and very easy to use, but the look and icons could be improved as it just looks way too bright and colorful, and you can’t see the word you are typing on the search bar.
Last but certainly the most important of all is the song list. Think of song choices like the apps on your phone. Quantity is good, but quality is always better. As I mentioned you get 8,500 songs including the first 6 volume updates when you buy the GV S3 Pro Plus.
The default song book probably contains all the songs you want to sing, but the latest songs there are from 2017, so you need to buy the new volumes to get songs from more recent artists like Ben&Ben, Moira dela Torre, December Avenue, Billie Eillish, and the latest songs of Ariana Grande, Lady Gaga, Ed Sheeran, etc.
Now, I don’t have a problem buying updates. At P500 for 50 songs that’s just about P10 per song, but it can be quite pricey if you only want a couple of songs from one volume. I’m such a Ben&Ben fan, but when I searched for their songs, I think I needed to buy at least 4 volumes, and that’s already an additional P2,000.
Hopefully, in the future and with the GV Smart App, you could buy songs ala carte or even by genre or artist. I don’t mind paying per song even if it would be a bit more expensive, instead of having to pay for an entire volume of 50 songs even if I only want a few. According to Grand Videoke, that would all depend on the demand. I’m not sure how they select the songs but maybe since owners can register, maybe they could send us a list of songs to choose from, or let us make requests via the GV Smart App as well.
FINAL WORD: The Grand Videoke Symphony 3 Pro Plus lives up to its flagship price of P32,999. The Perfect Pitch feature may seem gimmicky at first, but it actually compels you to keep practicing if you are really serious about improving. I also think that the scoring system is much more accurate as I’ve tried singing loudly and it just made my score worse, unlike in other videoke systems. The GV Smart App works well and is useful if two of you are already using the mic and someone wants to reserve the next songs.
It’s definitely not cheap, and you’ll need to buy updates to have the latest song list, but if you think of it as an investment for making memories with your family and friends—now, that’s priceless. Grand Videoke products are available at more than 500 stores nationwide and through online stores like Lazada, and Shopee.
More information is available at www.grandvideoke.com.