Difference between JVC HR-S7000's and 9000's VCRs?
 

Hi, I am currently looking to digitize some old VHS tapes I have (around 25 years old). I haven't put them into a regular VCR yet as I was afraid of damaging the tapes by playing them. I am looking into buying a VCR from the JVC HR-S7000 or JVC HR-S9000 series. I noticed that the difference was 2 MB for the 7000 and 4 MB for the 9000 of frame memory. Additionally, the 9000 series has a dynamic drum system. I was curious if any of these differences would result in better quality since the 7000s are priced around $100-200 less. I plan on sending the audio and video through my Sony DCR-TRV330 camcorder as a passthrough before it comes out as a firewire output. Thanks a lot!

The biggest difference is the dynamic drum, when it's working correctly. The HR-S9600, 9800 and 9900 are better VCRs.

But is there a substantial difference? Well, it's not like going from plain VHS to S-VHS with TBC. You may see some mild improvement in tracking and stability. It really depends on the tapes.

The RAM differences are essentially meaningless. For one, the RAM types are not all the same. For the same generation equipment, like the 7600 vs the 9600, there is indeed more RAM, and that slightly helps with image quality on the DNR. Is it substantial? Not really.

There are also times where the dynamic drum is harmful.

And remember that all VCRs track slightly different, unit to unit (regardless of model). Some work poorly with some tapes. It's why many pros and serious hobbyists must own several S-VHS VCRs.

Just get whichever suggested S-VHS VCR you can afford. :)

the 7500, 7600, 9500,9600,9800 & 9900 all have the dynamic drum.
the DD really only helps with EP mode tapes (and an AG-1980 is better with those anyway)
the biggest issue with the DD is over time the gears on it crack and it is not repairable(no parts available)
you will notice when they start to go because it gets very noisy when the DD activates
if you want a deck that will have less issues long term look for a non-DD deck:
7800,7900,9911,SR-V10u or a Mitsubishi HS-HD2000u