I am helping a friend to convert old VHS to digital. And I this audio sounds really bad. The first section has “wobbly” sound and the other part has very low volume (due to distance?).
Can it be improved? Both are from the same video section, so it should be the same camera recording it. To amplify is one bit, but that will also amplify the hiss…
A reasonable improvement, it is from a 40 year old VHS after all, would be great.
OK, I could only add one clip here, as I am a newcomer. I’ll try and add the second in the next post.
The wobbliness could be caused by damage to the tape or maybe it is binding in the casing. That has happened to me. If you are in a position to do it again, try winding the tape to the end and then rewinding to the beginning first. There is always a risk with old tapes because they degrade over time.
If you have different issues in different parts of the tape, you might need to do a LOT of editing to make it better.
Mark B
Thanks. Yes, could be.
The sound is better after that first segment.
Maybe better to leave it with the original audio. That is probably OK, as they know what the source was.
I’m curious about a few things. I’d be interested to know:
What hardware device did you use to capture the video?
What software did you use in conjunction with the above?
Are you only interested in the audio part or all of it?
What software are you using to edit the captured video?
How big is the file you captured from the VHS tape?
Yes, that is a lot of questions, I know. I did a similar thing a few years ago using a KWorld USB adaptor and discovered you are very much at the mercy of the tape quality you’re starting with.
Mark B
I used a very simple Scart-to-Usb device and captured with OBS studio.
If I can get improved video as well, that would be interesting. But the ones I have been looking at are too expensive for this sort of hobby project. But I can invest my time and learn things - and I am open for using commandline tools and the like.
I used MKVtoolnix to split the created mp4 (2.5Gb).
If you can find a different VHS player it might sound better. Or if you have another tape that might tell you if its the tape or the machine.
FYI - VHS Hi-Fi (introduced in 1984) was very good (better than records or cassettes and perhaps better than reel-to-reel). It was pretty standard on commercial tapes and VCRs by the time DVDs were introduced.
Thank you for that. I’ve not tried capturing video with OBS yet. I think Shotcut is quite a good video editor for basic things. Have you tried that?
To add to DVDdoug’s useful suggestions, a thorough cleaning of the heads in the VHS recorder made a significant difference when I tried.
Mark B
Thanks. I have cleaned the heads (I should have remembered that…)
and I’ll test with Shotcut as well.
I have also looked for a better VHS player, but I am stuck with what I’ve got for now.