Audio popping/clipping problem capturing VHS

[tcox85]

Hello all,

I have scoured the internet and went through most of the threads in this forum about other users experiencing audio popping and crackling and I've done everything I have found to do so I need to post my frustrations:

I am capturing tons of VHS to digitize everything in my collection and I am experiencing popping and cracking on everything. Below is a sample of what I am experiencing. Jump to 2:33 to hear the sound:

Wonderland 1998

This is "Wonderland 1998" by Trevor on Vimeo, the home for high quality videos and the people who love them.

vimeo.com

Let me clarify that this sound is not on the original VHS during playback via TV.

I am using the IO Data GV-USB2 capture device, and I am running Windows 11.

I've tried adjusting the sample rate, bit rate, changing all audio properties to a setup that will work however nothing has solved my issue.

I have attached the log file if anyone can help.

Thanks in advance!

 

[koala]

It isn't possible to watch this video without vimeo login, so it isn't possible to listen.

A comment about video:
Your video setup in OBS isn't optimal. Your capture card generates an output of 720x480, but you set your canvas and output resolution of OBS to 1440x1080. It's correct in the way that you deliberately "distort" the original aspect ratio of 720/480 = 1.5 to 1440/1080 = 1.3, which is the correct aspect ratio of a VHS recording. However, you're scaling up the video unnecessarily to a much higher resolution, which adds no detail but instead blurriness and file size.
Set your canvas and output resolution to 720x540 and make the capture device source fit that resolution. This way just the vertical resolution is changed to create quadratic pixels and the horizontal resolution stays the same as what came from the capture card.
By using a lower canvas and output resolution, you're putting less stress on the encoder.
Another comment about quality. You use the low CPU usage option for the x264 encoder in the recording encoder configuration of OBS. This preset will produce not best quality, because it sacrifices quality for lower CPU usage. You have an Intel CPU with a iGPU, so you have the Quicksync hardware encoder available. Switch the video encoder to "hardware (QSV) h.264" and as recording quality use "indistinguishable quality, large file size". This will get you exactly what the capture device created. If this produces too large video files for you, cut and recode your video in a postprocessing step with a video editor of your choice.
I guess this will not make your sound issue go away, since it's just about your video setup.

 

[tcox85]

It isn't possible to watch this video without vimeo login, so it isn't possible to listen.

A comment about video:
Your video setup in OBS isn't optimal. Your capture card generates an output of 720x480, but you set your canvas and output resolution of OBS to 1440x1080. It's correct in the way that you deliberately "distort" the original aspect ratio of 720/480 = 1.5 to 1440/1080 = 1.3, which is the correct aspect ratio of a VHS recording. However, you're scaling up the video unnecessarily to a much higher resolution, which adds no detail but instead blurriness and file size.
Set your canvas and output resolution to 720x540 and make the capture device source fit that resolution. This way just the vertical resolution is changed to create quadratic pixels and the horizontal resolution stays the same as what came from the capture card.
By using a lower canvas and output resolution, you're putting less stress on the encoder.
Another comment about quality. You use the low CPU usage option for the x264 encoder in the recording encoder configuration of OBS. This preset will produce not best quality, because it sacrifices quality for lower CPU usage. You have an Intel CPU with a iGPU, so you have the Quicksync hardware encoder available. Switch the video encoder to "hardware (QSV) h.264" and as recording quality use "indistinguishable quality, large file size". This will get you exactly what the capture device created. If this produces too large video files for you, cut and recode your video in a postprocessing step with a video editor of your choice.
I guess this will not make your sound issue go away, since it's just about your video setup.

Hi Koala,

Thanks for your response. What you are saying does make sense. These settings are from one tutorial I watched on YouTube so I did make that change. This will save some HD Space so thanks again.

Hopefully this video will work, I've isolated a short clip where the audio is very bad:

Dropbox

www.dropbox.com

Again, I appreciate the help!

 

[koala]

Difficult to tell what this audio issue is. It reminds me of some analog audio noise, that would be something between your vhs recorder and the capture device. Perhaps cabling.
If it is a digital artifact, dunno. What happens if you change the audio encoder from coreaudio to something different (OBS settings > Output > Recording > Audio encoder)? Or if you change the audio sample rate to 44.1 kHz (OBS settings > Audio > General > Sample Rate)? Just to see íf that makes any difference. There might also be some crosstalk between the cables. Make sure the analog signal cables stay at a distance from the USB cable. Or try a different USB port The might be some crosstalk between the digital signals from the mainboard to USB to the analog cable that could manifest as noise.

 

[tcox85]

Difficult to tell what this audio issue is. It reminds me of some analog audio noise, that would be something between your vhs recorder and the capture device. Perhaps cabling.
If it is a digital artifact, dunno. What happens if you change the audio encoder from coreaudio to something different (OBS settings > Output > Recording > Audio encoder)? Or if you change the audio sample rate to 44.1 kHz (OBS settings > Audio > General > Sample Rate)? Just to see íf that makes any difference. There might also be some crosstalk between the cables. Make sure the analog signal cables stay at a distance from the USB cable. Or try a different USB port The might be some crosstalk between the digital signals from the mainboard to USB to the analog cable that could manifest as noise.

Yes it's digital clipping/interference of some sort. I actually operate a recording studio haha, and have external audio interfaces. I tried changing the sample rate and the encoder to no avail through OBS and the sound settings there.

The only way I can get around it for now is to simultaneously record the audio coming from the VCR while recording video with no audio in OBS directly into my audio interface and record in a DAW (I'm using Cubase) then link the video/audio back up in video editing software. Rather time consuming but it works for now, until I resolve the issue.

If you have any other ideas I'm open to trying it out, would love to solve this just incase other users have similar issues.

Thanks for your responses!