The VC500 (unless you mean the mac version) uses a chip made by conexant, not Empia, unless they've changed something recently. The really old ones used a trident chip.

That's been my experience.

The current VC500 for Mac I have on hand appears completely EMPIA based and uses the Glide capture program, with the EMPIA logo. I'm guessing since EchoFX is discontinuing their capture product after Apple kills Quicktime this year.. EMPIA had to take it on or be without a known capture product that uses their current chips.

I have to hand it to them though.. they like to hide change behind the scenes and keep everything customer facing "appearing" the same. Its only when something doesn't work that troubleshooting gets insane.

Per previous years, if the pattern continues, the next version on the PC side will have same box, same plastic container.. and still say VC500.. but inside it will be updated to a pure EMPIA decoder.. that might be the escape hatch for exiting the apple market space.. adapt to the Win10 ecosystem.. even as a UVC device for capture. It would be hard to do that if they didn't evolve the bridge chip to encompass the decoder part too.. since they would then have to rely on driver bits from other chip makers. By finally owning it all.. maybe it will be more stable on W10 ?

(note: I did not say.. more color correct..)

Magewell gave up on their driver space and updated the firmware to become a virtual webcam device (UVC).. users and experts lost a little control.. but we're such a niche space.. I guess we don't matter. Web video is good enough for most people these days.

Yeah the two VC500 mac we got here are also EMPIA (as I've written earlier), one full empia, the other one (presumably older) has a empia bridge and a Trident(NXP/Philips) SAA7113H chip. The Conexant chip doesn't seem to have driver support on macOS, so i guess that's why the empia ones are being used instead (as they seem well-supported on macos). It's one of the chips that do support win10 though, seems most new simple USB dongles (with only composite and S-Video) of slightly higher quality are based around either the Conexant 2310x or some empia chipset (either the all-in-one chipset, or with a TVP5150,). The really cheapo ones (ezcrap clones) use usbtv or something else.

I have two EVO-9720 dual Hi8 decks. Both were used in my business in the late 90's and early 2000's and were rock solid machines. One I bought almost new in around 2000 for use "sometime in the future". I also purchased the last "on the shelf" GV D200 decks in around 2008. Good thing I did, because the 9720's all have bad electrolytic capacitors, which Sony decks and cameras were notorious for from that era. So the video has smeary trails to the right and other instabilities.

I'll be using the GV D200 for analogue captures of video, but the D200 doesn't support PCM audio. So I use the 9720 decks to capture the PCM sound that I recorded back in the day. PCM is finicky and sounds pretty bad if not aligned correctly. It was necessary to adjust the tape guides on the decks to support the two cameras that I used for clean sound output. I'll sync the tracks in Vegas Video. Since the tapes have historically significant content, it's what I have to do.

Sent you a PM. Really want to get one

I saw you have 1 AIW and 600 left as of Oct 2019 update. I'd love to buy one from you (AIW preferred). My capture card just bit the dust, and I've got a huge pile of VHS to digitize.

Hi lord smurf! Sent a PM a while back (enquiring about the USB 600 stick), just checking if you received it? :)

Hey all, I have a JVC HR-S7900U + AVT-8120 by AV Toolbox for sale. I purchased this equipment from Lord Smurf earlier this year to digitize my parents VHS collection plus earn side income. Decided this gig wasn't for me and i'd focus on growing my video production business as this kept me home too much lol... All in all i only digitized like 20 tapes so this unit is still in pretty much the same condition it was when LS refurbished and sold it to me. Anyone interested? Can also bundle a black magic Intensity Shuttle (USB) that i purchased for this process.

General listing update: Very few units are now remaining. :2cents:

Remember: anybody interested in my hardware should PM me, I may not see thread replies as quickly.

And on to some questions/discussions...

The ATI 600 USB contains multiple chipsets, and the quasi-clones chipsets differ. The quasi-clone either contains the same main video chipset, or a slight variation.

It's actually more like 7 variations. Tevion is like Elgato, where nothing has model numbers. Everything is a "Tevion DVD Maker", which is ironic seeming as how the card cannot capture MPEG (ie, fhe format required for DVD), nor include any DVD authoring software. So you have at least a half-dozen variations of the card. Some look alike, some do not. Some look similar, some look vastly different.

And the ATI 600 USB clone version is rare, had low production. I think it was sold exclusive to one store, but have never been able to learn which that was, never been able to verify it. Maybe CompUSA, maybe another. As with other aspects of video, the info is lost, and not even Hauppauge knows.

Given how we've seen so many varied problems with the VC500, which are not reproducable to others with the "same" card, I'm fairly certain this is the case. Production components were likely just whatever happened to be on the shelf, rather than specific parts. It's why folks like sanlyn have a stellar experience with the VC500, and others want to smash it with a hammer. We see this with other capture cards in years past, so it doesn't at all surprise me.

This is fairly accurate, especially in content. The ATI 600 USB clones that use the generic eMPIA drivers, rather than the proprietary ATI/Hauppauge drivers, tend to be a bit hot/bright. This is adjusted with the device proc amp (about -5 to -8 is all that's needed), accessed from the filter/crossbar Video menus in VirtualDub. The generic eMPIA drivers control lots of eMPIA chips, so none are as precise as the actual ATI 600 USB with few drivers and a sole chipset. This isn't a problem, or an issue, just something you need to set. It's inverse to the audio, where ATI forgot to include an audio level control (oops!), and a registry hack is required to normalize it at 50% (128). The eMPIA drivers included an audio volume control, accessible in Windows, and sometimes in the filter/crossbar settings.

The Panasonic AG-1980P is a great example of this. That deck is all over the map, with the only real consistency being that the caps blow (and re-blow) in all of them.

PM'd.

Sent you a PM

I still have a small stash of capture cards.

The COVID-19 stay-at-home has given rise to capturing videos, seemingly due to finally having extra time, so getting a quality card right now is somewhat hard. Not that is was overly easy before, but definitely harder now.

Hello lordsmurf. Do you still some of the ATI AIW USB cards available? I'm really interested in purchasing one from you. Thank you.

Ok, I need the Pinnacle USB, NTSC. How do I buy from this site? As mentioned I am newbie..:rolleyes:

Yes. PM me. :congrats:

PM me. :wink2:

Updated.
Updated.

Hi LS, I've sent you several PMs about my payment from a few weeks back. Can you please give me an update?

Thanks!

It took some extra time, because I wrote a new install/usage guide for Win7/8/10 for these clones. :D
So I'll be getting back to you in coming days.

I actually like the clones better with Vista/7/8/10 now, and less so for XP!

Oh awesome, thanks! Was just getting a little nervous, haha. But glad to hear about the new guide too - I look forward to using it :woot:

I’m interested in both your ATI 600 USB ($135) and ATI AIW USB ($150).

If they're still available, would it be possible/not too late to package them with my incoming TBC?

Both are available, will PM. :congrats:

Updated the available capture cards. As of today, each card is now complete. :cool:

FYI, it can take months to track down all the little wires needed. (This reminds me of action figure weapons. Many people have the figures, but few still have those tiny plastic weapons! Those can be a real PITA to track down, and not cheap when you do.)