I did that before. Just frustrated by missing Karaoke versions of many songs

As an exercise for the reader: see if you can count the barriers-to-entry for the average person in this suggestion, and then contrast and compare to Apple's offering.

Speaking as someone who doesn't have an Apple Music subscription, I think I'll take my chances with YouTube.

Counting ad-blocking as a barrier to entry on HN is probably unfair.

Absolutely, which is why I specified “average person”. I think most anyone on HN could figure it out. But that’s not what Apple is shooting for, I don’t think.

At the end of the day, I just didn’t want come right out and say “rsync, ftp, something something Dropbox”. :-)

If the average person can pay for Apple Music they could pay for Youtube Premium.

I don't think the cost is the barrier they're discussing here.

The point is that ad block is not among the barriers you need to overcome.

I mean I'm the one suggesting it and it's still a pain for me to set up after a few drinks, used to have the Microphones going into the computer and then that being the whole output but we literally just plug mics direct from receiver to speakers because a MacOS update introduced latency.

any specific recommendations for a setup?

JBL partybox and any wired microphone.

Wireless mics work fine too, just need to make sure its going through as few devices as possible. So I plug the Mic receiver box straight into two speakers, one for each mic.

This is exactly what I did for the wife and kid. Works beautifully, unlimited catalog.

Most "karaoke versions" of songs are by cover bands.

This is what my wife and I do, it’s pretty flawless. YouTube + Mic & mixer to a separate speaker. It’s the only way, and YouTube has the best karaoke.

Routing the mic through your AV setup _will_ result in a delay which’ll make for a horrible experience. So don’t bother. Get a cheap mixer and a decentish Shure mic, a single active studio monitor and you’re away.

On YouTube are you getting the original recordings with the vocals removed? Or it doesn’t matter to you?

Just search for any song and append “ karaoke” and you’ll find a plethora of renditions ready to sing. Some are better than others so YMMV.

You don't need an ad blocker if you just pay for YouTube premium. Often times I see people complaining about ads there, but I think ads are necessary for users who aren't paying for the product.