Karaoke 5 vs Nightingale

Karaoke 5 is a karaoke player, lyrics synchronizer, and tool for singers, DJs, and karaoke hosts. It supports K5, MIDI, KAR, KFN, MP3, WMA, CD+G, and video formats such as MP4 and FLV. Dual-screen mode sends lyrics to a second monitor or TV while the operator runs the program on a computer. Guests can use smartphones to request songs, message, vote, and chat. Its voice assistant searches a user's database, a P2P network, and YouTube, with support for eight languages. YouTube tools include search, previews, and downloading tracks into a database or playlist. A real-time vocal remover can make a karaoke backing track from an original song, and a music quiz generates questions from the user's library with multiplayer and multiple game modes. The free player and manager costs nothing but excludes synchronization, YouTube downloads, mobile management, and the quiz. Annual subscriptions start at €35 a year for HOME on one PC; PRO annual subscriptions cost €75 a year for three PCs. One-time licenses are also listed.

Nightingale turns songs from local folders or Plex Media Server, Jellyfin, and Navidrome libraries into karaoke tracks with separated vocals, synchronized lyrics, and real-time pitch scoring. Vocal separation uses the UVR Karaoke model or Demucs. WhisperX transcribes and aligns lyrics word by word, and LRCLIB lyrics are used when available. Japanese, Chinese, Cantonese, and Korean songs can use character-level alignment and romanized readings.

After analysis, users can adjust key and tempo and follow pitch scoring. Lyrics can be provided as timed LRC or Enhanced LRC, pasted as plain text for alignment, or edited. Playback backgrounds include 10 GPU shader options, five Pixabay video styles, and video files. The app supports MP4 and MKV videos and experimental UltraStar song folders. Multiple profiles keep separate score histories; navigation can use a gamepad or touch controls. Native Linux, macOS, and Windows builds use CUDA or Metal acceleration when available, with CPU fallback. A web build can run on a Linux computer on a home network and open in a browser. The app is free and open source under GPL-3.0-or-later, describes itself as having no cloud, and encrypts Navidrome login details on disk.