Welcome.
Capturing video is more than just
VCR/camera > capture card. There must be sopme form of TBC between those. Line TBC cleans the image (removes wiggles, chroma noise), frame TBC cleans the signal (prevents dropped frames, maintains audio sync). Separate functions, two items. Video8/Hi8 are a "drop happy" format, and the line TBC in the camera does not prevents dropped frames of audio de-sync. So some form of frame TBC is required, not optional.
AIW 9600 is fine, but Creative / Sound Blaster cards are noisy and tinny. The best pairing with the AIW is the Turtle Beach Santa Cruz (TBSC). Rest of system seems fine.
Monster cables are crap. Fat headers damage gear, never buy/use Monster. Pearstone is probably fine, I forget, search the forum. When it comes to cables, "brand name" really means nothing, and in fact the "brand name" cables can actually be the worst due to over-engineering and ridiculous shielding (such as fat headers). It's a cable for video gear, not something the need shielding in space.
At that late date, the 2020s, Sony 8mm-tape "VCRs" are almost always worse than low-mileage Hi8 camcorders for Video8 and Hi8 tapes. You never really see people that are wow'd by those decks, unlike S-VHS VCRs (with line TBCs). Sometimes (often, actually) "a VCR" isn't the VCR you want.
So take the money away from the unnecessary Hi8 VCR, and put it into a necessary frame TBC.
