I have a number of Karaoke vcd I can get them to play in my computer but not on my pioneer 525. All i get is the start up screen with the list of songs. the pioneer displays PBC or some such thing. I have noticed on the karaoke machine at the pub a PBC button when pressed the disc then plays. I have tried all of the buttons on the remote to no avail. Is this some kind of special format. Is ther any way round this. I have access to an old CDI player havent tried it yet will this work. Yes it has FMV cart. Any Suggestions. This is now personal.

-- gwallsworth (gwallsworth@x-stream.co.uk), June 11, 2000

Answers

PBC STANDS FOR PLAYBACK CONTROL. IF YOUR PIONEER DOES NOT HAVE THIS THEN I'M AFFRAID YOU WILL NOT BE ABLE TO PLAY THE DISC'S. IF YOU ARE DESPERATE THEN YOU CAN BUY A PORTABLE VCD PLAYER WITH KAREYOKIKOKI FEATURES FOR #70.

-- R (R@C.COM), June 11, 2000.

The Pioneer 525 is not a karaoke machine. As such you will still hear the voice channel when you play karaoke VCDs. But yes, you can play karaoke VCDs on the 525. If PBC is enabled the menu shows and stops there waiting for you to choose a selection no., which is played then goes back to the menu to wait for your next selection. If PBC is not enabled the menu is ignored and the tracks play sequentially from 1 to n. If you are into karaoke you better get a DVD set-top designed for that. For Pioneer it can be the DV-301k or DV-302k; avoid the 101k because it cannot read CD-Rs. For Philips there is the new, excellent 995.

-- EMartinez (epmartinez@yahoo.com), June 12, 2000.

I own Pioneer DVD-525 and it plays just about every VCD disc. But there is one thing you need to do to force this machine to play VCD mode instead of PBC mode. Place the disc on the tray and instead of pressing CLOSE OR PLAY button, press one of the TRACK SELECTION button.

-- Keyman (kytin@worldnet.att.net), June 12, 2000.

OR put in the vcd close the tray and before you hit play, push either the previous or next button on the remote and it puts it in full vcd mode

-- Doug (mazinz@aol.com), June 12, 2000.