Sound quality when capturing from a VHS tape

[petefol]

I have an ati all in wonder card but dont have the I/O converter for it. I set it up so the coax cable goes from the vcr into my vid card and then have the audio going from the rca plug on the vcr to the mic line on my sound card (using an rca to microphone jack cable). Im using ati's multimedia center and when i record the sound is kind of fuzzy and harsh. The only thing i can think of is that im using a crappy vcr that only has one audio out, so the red plug on the cable isnt plugged into anything and is perhaps causing the bad sound?

[jggimi]

Must youuse your card's RF tuner? You would be better off making a composite or S-Video connection to your VIVO card, and run the audio directly to your soundcard. You're having the VCR do an A/V -> RF conversion, then doing an RF -> A/V conversion back.

The quality of analog video connections (in descending order) are: Component Video
S-Video
Composite Video
RF (this is what you are apparently using)Your audio troubles may be impedence matching issues. There ought to be a "line-in" not just a "mic-in" on your soundcard.

[petefol]

well the vcr has a coax out and a single audio out(rca, the white one). my vid card only has coax in and an input called "video in", theres an adapter that plugs into the video in that has rca and s-video connections but i left it at my house (im at school). i also dont have the cable that connects the vid card to my sound card which is why i need to use the audio out on the vcr. one end of the cable im using looks like this (it only has the audio connectors)
http://www.bluejeanscable.com/store/av/compositecmbo.jpg
and the other end which is plugged into my computer looks like a regular headphone jack
http://www.replay-radio.com/docimages/dual_microphone_jack.jpg
i have a line in but its the same type of connector as the mic in, would it be higher quality?

[jggimi]

Typical analog video connections:

Component video: 3 RCA phono connections
S-video: multi-pin DIN connection (looks a lot like a PS/2 mouse connection on a PC)
Composite video: 1 RCA phono connection
RF:75-ohm coaxial cable with F-connector (screw on)

If your VCR is mono audio, that's plausible, and that it has a single RCA phono socket for mono audio out is also possible. There were mono VHS decks before there were stereo ones.

But I am surprised to learn from you that it only has an RF out for video. RF-out (Channel 3/4, etc) includes audio, and if it has an RCA phono socket for audio-out, there ought to be an RCA phono socket next to it for composite video out.With RCA phono plugs, red/white are used for right and left audio, and yellow is used for composite video (per your image of 3 phono plugs).Your red/white RCA phono plugs -- 3.5mm stereo plug "Y-cable" is perfect for the job of carrying audio to the soundcard.

...i have a line in but its the same type of connector as the mic in, would it be higher quality?

You want to use "line-in" because you have line voltage and impedance from the VCR's line-out. "mic-in" is for microphones. Use the proper connection. As I described above, "mic" signals are not the same as "line" signals, and that is the root of your sound quality problems. Google for "impedance mic line" for more info.

Don't forget to set your soundcard driver "recording" controls to line-in (or the equivalent name) rather than mic-in, else you will get silence.

[petefol]

thanks, i used the line in and got a better vcr and that seems to have solved the problem, although now my computer keeps freezing cause apparently ati doesnt like that i have an lcd.