VHS to Digital Conversion Issue

[LOLMAN9538]

Hello all,

I decided to convert an old kids' program VHS I had in my collection to digital so I could upload it to the Internet Archive. I have a composite output to USB converter that I recently picked up for $12 on Amazon, and I plugged it in and started up OBS to begin the conversion. The conversion went relatively smoothly, but when I played it back after conversion, the video was excellent, but the audio was horrible. It was loud and distorted in some places and the entire audio track sounded like it had been split in two, with one track being significantly more delayed than the other. Any help with this issue would be appreciated.

Here are my specs for my conversion rig, for anyone wondering:
- CPU: Intel Celeron G4930T @ 3.0 GHz
- RAM: 4 GB DDR4-2400
- OS: Windows 11 Home
- Storage: 1TB HDD
- Graphics: Intel UHD Graphics 610

 

[AaronD]

Post a short recording? Different problems sound different.
Keep it short enough to stay within "Fair Use" as a demonstration of the problem. Replacement of the original is probably NOT "Fair Use."

Throwing something out there anyway:

If we assume a well-produced TV program on tape, then significant variation in the recording probably indicates a defective capture device. Possibly a bad solder joint inside, that changes the gain/sensitivity of the analog input. It's also possible that the player has a similar problem, that overdrives the capture device.

That doesn't explain the varying latency though. Neither the tape nor the player would do that, nor would a malfunctioning analog circuit. Assuming that the signals are correctly aligned on the tape, they'll stay in alignment all the way through the analog circuitry on both sides. The speed of light across that short distance is practically no time at all. (actually more like 2/3 the speed of light in a vacuum, but still negligible)

Mechanical misalignment *might* be possible, since the audio track is practically a cassette head that reads the edge of the tape, some distance away from the video head, and that distance is part of the standard. But if the mount broke, I still can't see how a single stereo head could separate its two channels noticeably in time. It's far more likely to lose audio entirely than to do that.

Assuming that the player is okay, and since the video part *is* okay (you might have gotten lucky on that, with such a cheap capture device), you might see what one of these does for audio:

Amazon.com

That's the cheapest *decent* USB line input that I know of, that actually *is* a line input!
There are cheaper "inputs", but they're designed for a microphone instead, which is not the same thing.

 

[LOLMAN9538]

Here you go:

 

[LOLMAN9538]

Disregard that, I fixed the audio issue by adjusting the resolution to 576i and then changing the Audio settings to Monitor and Output.

 

[AaronD]

Disregard that, I fixed the audio issue by adjusting the resolution to 576i and then changing the Audio settings to Monitor and Output.

I have no idea how that would have helped, but if it works it works I guess. Watch it for a while, in case the problem comes back.