Should I buy the JVC SR-V10U?
 

Hello,

I was wondering if I should buy a JVC SR-V10U machine for digitizing tapes. I currently have a Panasonic AG-1980P from Deter, and it works great. I do not plan to replace the Panasonic AG-1980P with the JVC SR-V10U as the AG-1980P produces great/stable images. My only issue with it is that it picks up audio hiss from the tape, which I can try to remove in post, but I want to avoid as much tweaking of the video in software. Some people do not mind the hiss, but I do want to have this machine if someone does find it annoying. Now, this issue can be resolved with some tapes, those being movies with changing the AUDIO OUT, removing the hiss. I have had no luck with home recordings/weddings, or other special events. From a post of lordsmurf, he mentioned that audio was not Panasonic's strong suit in regards to the AG-1980P. Lordsmurf mentioned that audio is handled better with JVC machines.

As I have mentioned in other threads, I have a JVC HR-S7600U VCR in my possession. However, it began to show problems, the main being tape feathering and producing an unstable image. I suspect it has something to do with the pinch roller itself. I am trying to see if I could be a replacement or find a machine that has the same pinch roller. I did find out my high school has a JVC machine with the same pinch roller assembly. Trying to get me to take the part and replace it is a whole other story. Regardless, I saw a JVC SR-V10U machine, and was wondering if it would handle the audio better than the AG-1980P? Even though the JVC HR-S7600U has its problems, it does not have that audio hiss like the AG-1980P. The only thing is that I do not want to pass cassettes through the HR-S7600U, because it damages the tape. I will include two recordings from both the JVC HR-S7600U and Panasonic AG-1980P. Thank you for reading!

It's unusual for the Panasonic to hiss, but JVC does not.

SR-V101 has intrinsic flaws, but if it's available cheap/free from that school, you can always try.

I believe my wording is a bit confusing. I saw a listing for a JVC SR-V10 (not V101) online. I am wondering if it's worth buying it. The machine my school has is a JVC HR-S4600 or something to that extend. My plan was to replace the pinch roller assembly from the JVC HR-S4600 with the JVC HR-S7600U. However, I highly doubt they will allow me to do that.

Haven't seen an AG1980 do that, but I suppose it could be unique to the tape. If you want to send me a tape that does it, I can try it on one of my several AG1980's that I've refurbed and let you know if the problem is with your AG1980 or not. I also refurb 7600U's too, PM me if interested.

Be careful with V10, most have failed motors, no replacements available.

This audio appears to be a linear audio track. For linear, the sound is not great from either deck!

The loud "hiss" from the Pana is not actually hiss but many regular interruptions to the audio, resembling clicks. Not sure what is causing it. Possibly a head cable shielding problem. But if these 1980 decks had linear sound that bad, customers would have soon returned them to the dealer. It's likely there is either an audio fault in your particular unit or there was some sort of interference which entered the signal chain at time of digitising.

The JVC audio transfer is perhaps better but not by a lot. Much of the audio detail seems to be missing, quite muffled. Possibly this was caused by the same mechanical fault which stretches tapes. With a deck which stretches or otherwise damages tapes in any way I wouldnt put any tape anywhere near it.

For digitising I wouldnt use either deck until the faults in both were repaired or a deck in good condition was substituted.

The spectrum display shows the fault extends up to 18 kHz. I dont understand how it can be on the tape because (at VHS tape speeds) linear audio barely extends to 12 kHz on a good day.

Just to note, this is because the recording on the Panasonic has noise reduction to reduce the hiss as much as possible. So, the hiss on the original recording is much louder. Every home recording or tape that I viewed has the hiss present. Movies are an exception, albeit some do have this hiss, but by changing the "AUDIOOUT" on the machine, it removes the hiss entirely. I am assuming that there is an audio channel that is "clear enough" for the Panasonic not to produce said hiss, I do not know.

Yes ever since the mid 80's there are - or could be - two separate audio systems on VHS. There was the original Normal audio, also called Linear, and then from about 1984, HiFi. Usually the Normal track is always there. HiFi is not always there. On your VCR front panel screens there should be a "HiFi" symbol illuminated when a HiFi track is detected. On some VCR's the word HiFi briefly flashes onto the screen when it is detected. VCR's usually default to the Normal track if there is no HiFi audio recorded. If HiFi was there, many but not all decks could play it. At least many players could. Your Pana and JVC decks can play both systems. We select the system via the Audio Out switch, sometimes called another name such as Audio Monitor. Some VCR's have the switch on the remote control.

When there is no HiFi track we have to use the normal track, as with your sample. When all is working well, the HiFi track is naturally much quieter than Normal. The Normal audio is considerably hissier than HiFi, sometimes with hum and other noises audible in the background, but not nearly as hissy as in your 1980 sample. A 1980 in good working condition will play Normal audio a lot quieter than that.

Sometimes when servicing a machine a technician might only check the HiFi audio, forgetting to check the Normal audio. This is fine until the customer plays home movies - or any other recording - with only the Normal audio track recorded as you have.