VHS to digital on a $150 budget?

[SoCalBoy]

Last year I purchased a Diamond VC500 but had to return it because the audio was out of sync.

I recorded using OBS and tried installing all the codecs like Luffy and a bunch of others but I could never get the audio right. Each time it would either be delayed or a higher pitch.

I believe my problem was my cheap Sony VHS player that had no TBC.

I went to the library and used their VHS player and Canopus device and it worked pretty well but the recording software was iMovie and ended up being cropped pretty bad.

I'm not picky about getting the highest visual quality, I just want to audio to be in sync.

Should I just buy a better VHS player and get the Diamond VC500 again? My budget is $150 to transfer my old home videos to digital.

[lordsmurf]

A $150 budget is almost unrealistic.

A complete non-ruined ES15 will run about $125, and those aren't always easy to find at any given moment. It'll take patience to find one. Many are missing the required remotes, have problems, or apparently doubled as ash trays by the chain-smoking owner (and is a fact you only learn after it arrives from eBay).

The VC500 was a moderately decent card, or a step below it is Rev 1.1 Dazzle DVC-100, both should be sub-$50 range.

Dropped frames are the cause for audio sync issues, and that comes from lack of TBC. The ES15 is a TBC(ish), but it may still balk at some tapes, especially anything retail.

Quality of the VCR does still matter. This was addressed. A low-end JVC S-VHS 3x00/4x00 would run maybe another $125 or so. It just depends on exact model, condition, and supply available. Still not ideal, but better than low-end junk made by Funai (essentially all consumer VHS VCRs made in 2000s).

That Canopus was a really lossy device, tossing out 50%+ of the color data. iMovie just made it worse, as Mac is a terrible OS for capturing video. Almost no hardware or software support whatsoever, video capture is a Windows world. The Canopus also has no TBC, and can equally get audio sync errors.

Rather than screw yourself with a $150 budget, the more ideal method is to buy the gear needed, use it, then resell it, hoping to acquire now less than a $150 loss. Long-term, same difference. Just a temporary purchase.

[SoCalBoy]

So this device should fix the audio issues then?
http://rover.ebay.com/rover/1/711-53...m/123765249163

[lordsmurf]

Quote:

Originally Posted by SoCalBoy

So this device should fix the audio issues then?
http://rover.ebay.com/rover/1/711-53...m/123765249163

That model, yes.
That unit, no.

Did you read the description? "The unit up and decided to stop reading discs. Being sold for repair." It's broken. It likely has a "000000" error, or just bad caps. The odds are very high that the person is a smoker, as cigarettes screw up electronics (especially optical electronics, of which a DVD recorder is).

Again, a complete and non-junk unit will run about $125. If you try to cheap out on it, you're going to get screwed over. You need ask lots of questions, verify it works perfectly, and was not owned by H.R. Pufnstuf.

In fact, did you read and fully understand my last reply? The ES10/15 may correct errors, or may not. It really depends on the tape.

The ES10/15 alone are weak TBC(ish), it takes the DVK or TBC-5000 to shore up weaknesses, and only then is it a 99% TBC(ish). The ES10/15 has drawbacks, posterization, but if you don't care about quality, you probably won't notice.

You're essentially walking into a Subway with $1.50 and asking for food. You don't have many choices, maybe a bag of chips and cup of water. You can't even buy a good sandwich. You'll leave less hungry, not parched, but that's about it. (An EZcap would be like digging a leftover half-eaten sandwich out of the trashcan.)