Weird echo on DVD-Rs with Dolby Stereo Surround VHS sources

[ministry88]

Well, I just transferred a VHS tape recorded in Dolby Stereo Surround onto DVD-R via my Pioneer 340h DVD recorder and upon playback of my DVD-R, I noticed it had what sounds like a slight "transfer" of dialogue and some sound effects from the center channel to the L/R speakers. It's like a split-second delay/doubling of the audio from the center channel to the L/R speakers. It is annoying!

I just tried playing back the source tape in my VCR and this delay/doubling isn't present, so it's not my receiver or speakers. I WILL say that the surround is VERY aggressive on this tape though!

Does anyone know what's causing this? Is it just the way the DVD recorder encodes the surround sound? If this helps, I read in the DVD Recorder manual that "sound is recorded in the 2-channel Dolby Digital format. When set to LPCM, sound is recorded in high quality, uncompressed Linear PCM format."

Should I record such stereo surround sources in the Linear PCM format? Would this defeat the echo? But are most DVD players compatible with PCM playback?

Thanks!

[lordsmurf]

Some VCRs allow for "mix" audio output, meaning it plays BOTH the linear and HiFi. This often results in echoes.

I don't know enough about your workflow to say anything else.

[ministry88]

Workflow: Toshiba M684 VCR to Pioneer 340H DVD Recorder.

The Toshiba VCR is nothing special: just a solidly built 4 Head Consumer VCR. I don't think it has a "mix" output...