9600XP + TurtleBeach + ES10, correct connection and setup?

[Chanuka22]

Hi guys,

I was fortunate enough to acquire a ATI AIW 9600xt graphics card (with original cables!), along with a TB400-2541-02 Turtle Beach sound card and an ASRock 775i65G R2 motherboard. It has all now been installed into a chassis.

My aim is to digitalize VHS tapes and for that I am using a generic VHS player in combination with a DMR-ES10 as a pass-through.

I have lurked around this forum for a while and understand that the recommended cable connection is the internal 4-pin aux on TB sound card going into the purple connector box's RCA audio inputs. If that is correct and recommended, then my first question is what kind of adapter I need for that, as the only 4 pin aux/cdrom cables I have found have the 4-pin connector on both ends.

Second question is then, where/how do I connect the ES10 into the flow?

I have attached a couple photos so you can see what I am working with.

Thanks alot

[lordsmurf]

There's a thread somewhere on the forum, has photos.

3 methods to connect:
- internal AUX cable, AIW to TBSC inside case, 3-pin (4?) cable; VCR to purple box
- loopback external cable from AIW to TBSC
- bypass VCR out to RCA>mini crossover cable, direct to TBSC in (aka bypass AIW)

Internal usually best. Sometimes noise.
When noise, bypass.
Loopback has same noise of internal if present, only reason to use is if AUX cable cannot be located

With ES10,
VCR > ES10 > and then same as above (sub VCR for ES10 in instructions)

The ES15 delays audio. So VCR > bypass ES15 > audio in results in desync, bad
My NTSC ES10 doesn't do delay. But my PAL does.

As always, must be mentioned: ES10/15 is not a TBC, not a TBC replacement. It contains a strong+crippled line TBC, and a non-TBC frame sync (ie, no frame TBC in your workflow). For some tapes, this will suffice, usually perfect SP master recordings from a home camcorder. But there will be a fail rate, some tapes will refuse to capture, or at least capture badly, usually all VHS-C, imperfect camcorder tapes (or SLP/EP), VCR tapes, retail tapes, etc. It's better than nothing in a workflow, but there's a reason for the low costs compared to an actual TBC.

[Chanuka22]

Thanks for taking the time to answer Lordsmurf. I would love a real TBC, right now it is just out of my budget. I'm stuck at what kind of cable I need to do the internal AUX connect. I found the 4-pin AUX/CDRom connector, but I guess I need an adapter to be able to connect to RCA right?

[lordsmurf]

I don't know what you mean by adapter. What are you trying to connect here?
The AUX cabling is internal between AIW and TBSC.
The purple breakout box/dongle is what you plug RCA into. (And s-video, or composite.)

About TBC, as mentioned, it just needed stating for readers/lurkers, perhaps clarification for your own understanding. Your method is viable to a point, a sorta-kinda hack'ish workaround. If funds prevent (and not even buy/use/resell if a viable option), then it is what it is, the best you can do. Do the best you can, set aside bad tapes for later. Also, FYI, AIW "sees more" of signals (ie, another reason why best quality card), so it can be more touchy than some USB cards without TBC. Some video-uneducated see that as a negative, but it's not.

[Chanuka22]

I found it. What I didn't quite catch was the "internal" connection part, because I couldn't spot the AUX connector on the AIW card - but I found it now. For future reference it's marked as "J8" on the card.

Okay, so I think I got what I need now. The ES-10 connects to the purple connector box with S-Video and RCA audio. The video card then takes care of the video portion and the audio is "off loaded" onto the sound card. Of course correct me if I'm wrong .

Thanks for the heads up on the sensitivity portion of the card versus a USB card, because I have used a USB card in the past, but wanted to step it up with a more professional setup. Ideally I am able to find a dedicated TBC somewhere, but those are very rare I know.

[BW37]

I'm not going to comment on whether to bypass the ES-10 or not, I have no experience there.

Regarding how to get the audio to the TB sound card there are a few options. Personally I like the idea of minimizing the cables and connections as much as possible which means connecting as directly from the VCR to the sound card as possible, bypassing the purple cable thus also bypassing the internal connection (or loop-back black cable).
The biggest disadvantage of bypassing the purple AIW input dongle/cable (for audio only) is that you don't have the convenience of a single block for all the A/V connections.

Here are some links to similar discussions:

"Total bypass" recommended

Pictures of internal and external (loop-back) methods These both use the audio portion of the purple cable to connect the audio to the AIW. It is routed then to the sound card (Aux-in or Line-in) by one of these methods.

Discussion of the internal cable and how to find one

Another post with a picture of a working intern cable connection Note that it is a 3 wire cable with 4 pin connection. The ground/common can be shared by the left and right channels.

BW

[Chanuka22]

Thank you that was all very helpful. I might as well try both - internal connection and AIW bypass - and compare them . Now it's just about locating the proper cables .

Thanks again.