Encoding Hardware ??

[Meloware]

Everybody is "great", Everybody is "pro".
It is impossible to trust the ads and big box stores!

I need an affordable piece of hardware to digitize old media, such as VHS, UMATIC and other SD sources in the old analog formats.
I want the best practical quality and don't want the hardware to force me into any specific transcoding! I wish to dump uncompressed video into my system, perform my own post processing, and then do my own transcoding in the 32 core PC. My investment is in the PC, so I prefer to spend the least amount of money needed for a good but bare-bones capture device. What do you use, and do you like it?

[Blue_MiSfit]

The analog side of the house will be your biggest challenge here. I spent a lot of time and money on a good S-VHS deck, but got much better results outsourcing this to a transfer house for $20 per tape. I suggest you do the same.

If you want to do it yourself anyway, a good starting point for a video interface would be the Blackmagic design Intensity Shuttle.

[Meloware]

Thanks -
I understand that anyone digitizing video tape must have a pro quality player. I have had several consumer VHS players, at the same time. A typical tape might play properly in only one of the three players and tracking is still poor. Video tape will also quickly degrade over time. Thirty years is a long time for a VHS tape to remain in good condition.
I now maintain a couple tape machines surplussed from local cable TV community 'stations'. The pro VHS machines from these sources usually produce the best and most stable play, as compared to consumer junk. I appreciate the suggestion of looking at the Blackmagic product line. It looks like a good match to combine with the old pro tape machines.

[Boulder]

If you deal with VHS, what you need is a deck with a good TBC and your tracking problems should be minimized. That's what the pros offering their services also use, or at least should use.

I think that there's also a nice Avisynth filter for averaging multiple captures, creating very good quality results. It can get rid of the random dropouts and lots of noise that you cannot avoid with VHS.

[Asmodian]

I like the Blackmagic Intensity Shuttle, it captures SVHS quite well without doing anything bad to it. Also make sure you have a good TBC.

[Blue_MiSfit]

Costco does VHS transfers now, btw :) - I'm not sure if they're any good or not. I found a small company in the greater Los Angeles area that has never let me down, even when my prosumer S-VHS deck totally failed. I can heartily recommend Rubicon Electronics out in Tarzana, CA for this :)

https://www.yelp.com/biz/rubicon-electronics-tarzana?osq=rubicon+electronics