DIYuan Clubhouse

Bonus points for being extremely cheap.  Room charge was $127 (plus $11 tax) for 2 hours 6 minutes of sing time ($60/hr) in a room that comfortably fit about a dozen people.  There was a private bathroom conveniently located within the room.  

Tea, bottled water, and beer ($6) are available.  Servers will constantly intrude into the room with snack offerings, none of which have ever come off as particularly appealing.  Song selection is somewhat of a hassle, with the touchscreen machine in a corner just beyond reach from the edge of the booth seating and no way of remotely controlling the device.  The software is almost exclusively in Chinese and the configuration is also somewhat not intuitive, though one can certainly figure everything out through trial and error.  Limited English song selection--enough to get through a short night, but shamefully lacking--the omission of Don't Stop Believin is particularly conspicuous.

Diyuan (DIY) Clubhouse is a modern, Hong Kong style karaoke place. Its beautiful and a bit clubby when you walk in. The rooms are spacious and the soundproofing is pretty good. Our room even had its own bathroom. Its definitely one of the nicest in terms of decor and comfort.

That said, I disliked the song input system as it is entirely in Chinese and I felt like an idiot guessing how to use it. That said, if you can navigate it, the English song selection was great and had plenty of songs that we wanted. The video backgrounds were 80% the real music video which was super fun. The speakers and mics were also good - no feedback. Both our mics were out of batteries by the time our two hours were up however.

Service was great as they come promptly when you call using the room system. The drinks were pricey though and they make you pay for water. My mint green tea had more food coloring than an Easter egg party. They don't let you bring food in, but since you can eat/drink up to the room rate, I guess I shouldn't complain? The prices are high though.

Prices are good, as long as you don't order more food/drinks over the room rate.

My background: Lived in Taipei and Boston as well as NY.

Compared to Taipei: Obviously, there is never any comparison with the KTV's in Asia. They always have the newest song selections and extremely cheap prices, and good food.

Compared to Boston (and other places in US): I think this is as good as it gets. The song selection (Cpop songs) is pretty recent and updated, and the rooms are huge and decor is very nice. I also like that there is a free private parking lot for customers. Prices are very worth it if you split amongst yourselves, and especially because you can redeem foods or drinks for the room fee that you are paying. This is something that KTV's in Boston do not have. In Boston, I pay about $50-100 per person even when there is a large group of 10. Here, I never paid more than $20-30. This is all including foods and drinks, etc.

However, this place is not very catering towards non-Chinese speaking. The English song selection is limited, and the staff does not really communicate in English. I do speak Mandarin chinese, and so do many of my friends, so I am not sure attitude wise if they are unfriendly towards non-speakers, but I have never had a problem with the staff service.

I recommend this place if you are planning to have a fun, group gathering. But it may be a little pricey if you are only singing with a couple of people.