Here’s a quick demonstration of the Sega Mega-CD Karaoke accessory. It’s a rather interesting little machine, but unfortunately the microphone that came with mine isn’t working properly. That’s not terribly useful for something designed around singing, is it?

I suspected that the microphone cartridge itself was faulty, so I soldered in a small temporary microphone to see what would happen. Good news! The substitute works, which suggests the original cartridge is the problem rather than the karaoke unit itself.

Since everything is connected, I might as well demonstrate a few of the controls. We’ve got voice cancellation, chorus, echo level, microphone volume and the usual master volume controls. The voice cancellation actually has several settings, and I reckon the second one sounds the best with the music I’m playing.

The microphone input is working, and I can adjust the sound through the various effects, although some of those chorus settings are rather interesting. Interesting as in absolutely terrible! Still, the controls are doing what they’re supposed to do.

Another nice feature is that the accessory has audio input and output connections, so you’re not necessarily limited to using it with a particular Sega setup. I have noticed some interference coming through, possibly from a radio or television transmission, but that’s a separate problem to investigate.

For now, the important thing is that the temporary microphone works. I’ve ordered a 600-ohm BG-58 dynamic microphone cartridge as a possible replacement for the original. It appears to be close to the size I need, but I won’t know whether it fits properly until it arrives.

Hopefully we can restore this thing to its former glory! There’s also a large box of goodies due to arrive on Monday, so that should keep me occupied in the meantime.