Sound interferance when capturing video?

[Simmo180]

I have noticed lately when capturing video, I get this annoying sound interference every now and then, it happens here and there during a tape.

It is a horrible abrupt bristling sound in short bursts, as if there is interferance on the tape, it seems to happen more on original video tapes?

It hardly ever happens on my own recordings?

I have noticed if I switch the video player's audio output from Hi Fi Stero to mono it goes away, but then you are capturing in a lower sound quality, which I dont want to do.

Is there any way to filter this out or stop it?

[edDV]

Is it poor tracking? HiFi sound is the first to go bad when tracking is misadjusted or if the VCR needs alignment.

[Simmo180]

Dont think it is the tracking.

I have some tapes that play fine for a long time then you get just a tiny burst of this interference noise?

[Jester700]

It's tracking, but that doesn't necessarily mean there's a general misalignment. I'd bet there's a defect at certain places of the tape that throw the tracking off, whether a mechanical defect or a problem with the original recording.

Have you tried it in another player?

[Cole]

Does this happen in the same place on the tape or is it just an intermittent random thing?

Just to add and extra aspect:

I had a situation years ago when I was recording an audio tape of a radio broadcast. It got ruined when the neighbour had their doorbell rang several times which caused a loud buzzing to interfere with the radio signal.

Just a thought.

Edit: I didn't read properly about the mono/stereo bit - sorry

[Simmo180]

Thanks for the replies.

I think it could be down to the tapes.

I have not checked to see if it happens in the same place on each tape, I will do that.

I will also try playing the tapes in a different VCR, to see if that makes any difference.

If it is the tracking at certain points in the tape, I dont suppose there is much that I can do?

[jagabo]

If it is the tracking at certain points in the tape, I dont suppose there is much that I can do?

If your VCR has manual tracking controls you can try to find a compromise position which may not be optimal (but still acceptable) for the picture but avoids the audio spillage.