Converting VHS tapes to MPEG using ATi MMC, has audio "buzz"

Hi:

I'm using an All-In-Wonder VE to convert some old VHS tapes to MPEG. I have an older Sony VCR and I have the AV cables plugged from the VCR output into AIW's purple breakout box. I'm recording into MPEG1 format and everything seems to be working fine, except I'm getting some buzzing in the audio, as if the volume is too loud.

I have the input volume in MMC set to the lowest setting it will go, without being muted. The other volume levels in the Windows mixer are at the middle.

I'm using a PCI SB Live for the audio portion. The motherboard's onboard audio is disabled in BIOS.

Thanks in advance for the help.

Do you have a spare SCART (you called it a breakout box) to see if it's a short? Also check your lines, try wiggling the plugs to see if the sound disappears.

If no luck, check your volume controls on the windows mixer. Try recording with everything at 'stock' default. I had several problems with audio when I got 'fancy' with my sound mixing.

Finally, try using a different codec. Mpeg2 looks really nice on those AIW cards.

BenBaked... your avatar makes me smile everytime I see it.

oakstave said:

Do you have a spare SCART (you called it a breakout box) to see if it's a short? Also check your lines, try wiggling the plugs to see if the sound disappears.

If no luck, check your volume controls on the windows mixer. Try recording with everything at 'stock' default. I had several problems with audio when I got 'fancy' with my sound mixing.

Finally, try using a different codec. Mpeg2 looks really nice on those AIW cards.

BenBaked... your avatar makes me smile everytime I see it.

Click to expand...

Hmm..I'll see if I can come across a spare box and try that out, I might be able to come up with one. It's one of these boxes:

I had the Windows volume controls at mid-level, and the line input was as low as it would go. I'll try messing around with the other dials to see if it cleans up.

I would've liked to do mpeg2 but I am not able to install the DVD decoder with MMC, I bought this card open box from newegg many years ago and it came with everything in box, however the driver CD was cracked and unusable. Apparently because of that the DVD decoder installer can't verify that I have an install CD, and it won't install. I think that component is needed to make mpeg2 files because I tried converting the .vcr files to mpeg2 format and they were unplayable on every machine I tried, including several Macs.

Thanks for the help.

This buzz always occurred when I messed with the audio settings. I believe you will find that if you drop the treble and one of the volume controls, it goes away.

What is the exact model of the card? I happen to have the AIW 9600 (I think) for my secondary rig. YHPM.

oakstave said:

This buzz always occurred when I messed with the audio settings. I believe you will find that if you drop the treble and one of the volume controls, it goes away.

What is the exact model of the card? I happen to have the AIW 9600 (I think) for my secondary rig. YHPM.

Click to expand...

It's an AIW VE (PCI slot). Good little card, I almost tried to sell it in the classies before I realized how useful it still is.

The ATI website shows two different set of drivers for our cards, so my PM suggestion may not work. I'll get back to you with more info. It looks like the VE is quite a bit older than the 9600 series AIW.

The latest drivers for your card:

http://ati.amd.com/support/drivers/xp/aiwradeon-prer300-xp.html

I got through all of the tapes with the All-in-Wonder except for one that was protected by macrovision. I tried several versions of ATi drivers and some third party Plutonium drivers but none of them allowed me to bypass the protection. However, passing the VCR through a DV camcorder and then into a Powerbook G4 running iMovie allowed me to import the tapes into clean looking and sounding QT files. Even the macrovision-protected tape.