Soundcore Rave 3S Review: An Instant Karaoke Machine

Instead of two turntables and a microphone, the Soundcore Rave 3S speaker gives partiers two microphones and a way to use AI to remove all the vocals from their favorite songs. The party speaker is an instant karaoke machine, but it has some quirks that make it better for casual play rather than for hobbyist DJs or semi-pro weekend party planners.

Soundcore Rave 3S

Elevate your party with AI karaoke tracks, LED lights, and dual wireless mics for endless fun.

Pros & Cons

• Solid sound quality
• AI vocal remover works surprisingly well
• Instrument input available

• Microphone limiter can be annoying
• Vocal remover introduces some volume leveling inconsistencies

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Price and Availability

The Soundcore Rave 3S is available to buy now. It retails for $349.99 and comes in one black color option.

This Speaker Really Wants to Party

Unlike a lot of other party speakers, this one comes with two wireless microphones, including two spots for them to attach to the speaker. This product is made to be the center of attention, more than other speakers that can get loud. Even if you’re not singing with the microphones, they can still be used for announcing that dinner’s ready or random things like that.

Before I address the notable AI vocal removal feature, I want to be clear that the individual aspects of the Rave 3S worked well. I think the volume range is great for the speaker’s size. Its 200W of power is significant. The bass response is deep and does justice to most songs. Plus, the full 12 hours of battery life is meaningful to keep the lights and fun going.

There’s a quarter-inch input in the back for a wired microphone or instrument cable to amplify a guitar or keyboard. You could take this speaker to a street corner and busk for a couple of hours if that’s your gig. I like all of its features, except one.

My sole complaint about the Rave 3S hardware is around the audio gating of the included wireless microphones. It seems like there’s a strong limiter on the microphones that doesn’t allow them to pick up sound more than an inch away.

What that means in practice is that you have to press your mouth right up next to the metal grate for your full presence. As soon as you back away, it’s almost like the mics are turned off. My guess is that the microphones are tuned like this, with audio pickup aggressively tightened, to help avoid people creating feedback if the mics get too close to the speaker. The result, however, is less than ideal singing conditions for likely new singers.

While Soundcore’s app, available for iPhone and Android, offers different EQs and reverb options you can apply to vocals, I didn’t find any settings or ways to address the proximity annoyance.

AI Vocal Remover Is Fascinating (and Works Decently)

Activating the AI can be done on the speaker, either microphone, or in the app, and it instantly removes all spoken content. At least it worked on all the dozens of tracks I tried with it across varied genres.

There are two modes for the feature. The primary one is to remove vocals completely, and then each time the AI button is pressed, it eases them back in at a 25% increment and then cycles around again.

The other one available in the app is the Auto Guide Vocal. This one fades out the song’s singer as long as you’re singing, but if you stop, then the original singer fades back in. It’s also like training wheels. It will let you sing on your own until you start to wobble, and then it will steady you again.

I found the second auto-guiding feature to be much more fun and useful. Instead of letting an unfamiliar verse or way-too-high bridge go by unsung, having the original singer cover that part while you catch your breath or find your spot is helpful.

The AI guide feature makes singing karaoke much less intimidating for first-timers.

While AI vocal removal is fun for the house, I’m unsure if it’s ready for use in high-leverage settings. When you turn it on, there’s some volume suppression that happens, which makes the background music dip. The volume levels can be a bit unbalanced and hard to control precisely. For anyone planning parties or doing this work semi-professionally, it might be easier to have a more dedicated karaoke setup.

Should You Buy the Soundcore Rave 3S?

The idea of building an AI vocal remover directly into the Soundcore Rave 3S speaker is brilliant. It works well enough for small, casual gatherings that it can make getting up to sing less intimidating.

In my testing, however, I was disappointed by the wireless microphones’ performance. They were less professional and more amateur. You don’t have to be a professional singer to have fun, but part-time party planners should probably still look at something at least one step up.

As a loud Bluetooth speaker that can light up and has a long battery life, however, it’s a great choice.

Soundcore Rave 3S

Elevate your party with AI karaoke tracks, LED lights, and dual wireless mics for endless fun.