Panasonic AG-1980 audio low?
 

Hello, lately I've been doing digital captures of VHS' using a Panasonic AG-1980 VCR. Recently I was capturing a Star Wars tape and noticed some odd instances where some sound elements are either low in the mix or more or less not there. This hasn't been happening with every tape I've captured but this has caught my attention. I've provided some quick examples. First was captured on a regular consumer Sony VCR. Notice there are 3 blaster sounds.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/xobxozawkwkunuq/SW1.wav?dl=0

Now here it is with the Panasonic AG-1980. Note there are now 2 blaster sounds. And yes it IS the same tape.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/kpqg6hca4k3umhu/SW2.wav?dl=0

Is there a potential work around for this or is this just the VCR's way of reading the audio for this particular tape?? It isn't exactly a dealbreaker but I figured I'd ask. And before anyone asks no its not my capture cards. I hooked up the VCR to a TV and played the tape through my TV and had the same results.

Does anyone have any insight on this????

SW1 is a stereo recording. (Are you listening in stereo?) The second blast is only in the right channel.

SW2 appears to be only the left channel. That is why you dont hear the second blast.

Possibly the 1980 is switched to only output the left channel.

Hmmm that’s weird especially when I have audio in both channels but I guess that wouldn’t matter. Is there a way to reconfigure the settings?? I’m still kinda new to how this VCR is set up. Sure I got the basics. TBC on, SVHS off, linear off, NOR on, etc.

Correct. Audio in both channels doesnt equal stereo, just audio in both channels, in your case, the left channel in both.

In a deck like that there could be. Probably a switch called Audio monitor on the flip down panel.


It's not just you, generally people pay much more attention to picture than sound and advice tends to follow that pattern.

Thanks for the tips. I’ll check the deck when I get the VCR returned. Presently I’m having the loading mechanism repaired. Any further questions I will report back. ;)

I would just get the Blu ray edition

Here is what I found the Panasonic Broadcast decks with the audio meter and the mic output connection ports produces just amazing analog audio it is the best I've ever heard.

Something like these old Star War tapes recorded with that THK audio would actually sound really good.

On the flip
For example I still have Return of the Jedi that I recorded from HBO as a kid. That tape cause of the broadcast standards is going to be 2 channel quasi stereo recorded basically as a mono track were the left and right channels will be identical.

That one is going to sound like garbage vs the THK tapes or the 5.1 or 7.0 mixes.

I think George Lucas is going back and trying to remix these again as well.

With out a good amp and sound system and an ear for detail it is all meaningless.

When I was doing this stuff years ago I was like a mad scientist with my ideas, testing, mixing as so forth.

The AG-1980 units recorded in real Hi-Fi produces better than normal audio and it is superior to most VHS models. However in my opinion, which is rare to find, the Betamax Hi-Fi units produces better base and holds the sound tighter.

To create some width, depth and space in the audio using the AG-1980 as a pass through device has helped me in the past.

Again the out of this world analog HI-FI outputs has to be played back on one of those studio broadcast decks with the mic output connection ports. The AG-1980 does not have those ports nor that capability.

I appreciate the suggestion but I don’t like the changes made for the Blu-ray version. Plus I’m using this VCR for other things besides Star Wars.

Aren't there already some fan restorations of the original cuts of Star Wars from 35 millimetre prints? Why don't you just get those? They'll look heaps better and still be the original cut.

Like I said I’m using the VCR for other things other than just Star Wars. It just happened to be that it was Star Wars I was capturing where I first noticed this.

Ah right sorry then. Didn't notice that! Need to actually read stuff properly before I post!

No worries. ;)

We have many of the AG-7*** series Panasonic machines (the ones with XLR outputs) and we have them because we came into this through audio.

They're very good sounding machines, VHS HiFi can sound very good, generally, we found it too inconsistent for our uses after much experimentation but that doesn't take away from how good that it can sound.

We didn't discover that with Betamax HiFi (PAL - appreciating NTSC is a different system entirely) but that's a subjective view and we didn't investigate it especially deeply, more for novelty.

After looking into this a bit further and after discovering something from testing a different VCR I think I may know what the problem is and what button to correct it with. Of course I won’t know for sure until I get the VCR back so for now this is a to be continued.

Good news is I’ll be picking it up today so I’ll now sometime today if my theory works. ;)

Sorry for the late reply. Long story short the dude who was repairing my VCR at the time of my last post really f***ed it up so I ended it up taking it back to the guy who fixed it for me a few months. In hindsight I should've just done that in the first place but whatever.

Anyways Ive done some tests and after messing with the audio output button (AUDIO OUT) on the unit I was able to properly capture it with both channels. Here's a sample. ;)

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1g7k...ew?usp=sharing

Figured I’d post my new question here since it is technically related and I didn’t feel like starting a new thread. So one thing I’ve noticed with certain tapes is when looking at the audio levels of the AG1980 the L + R will flicker in and out. This hasn’t been the case with every tape I’ve tried. In fact I just captured a tape today and from all the instances I looked at the audio levels the L + R were intact. Is this a HiFi issue?? Below is a link to a video of machine playing a tape I had tried previously to show the channels flicking in and out. As I said it doesn’t happen with every tape so I’m not sure the VCR is to blame but figured I’d ask.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1A4XiY8q1eVtIuhcz2bxwELLEjDPfOZPK/view?usp=drivesdk