vhs mono audio to stereo dvd

[chonan3]

hey all:

I've got some VHS tapes - mono audio output that I would like to "clean and improve" before putting onto a DVD.
You might think this is an unrealistic premise, but I used to have a Panasonic boombox that simulated stereo from a mono source that sounded incredible. So, I figured that somehow I should be able to do this in the age of computers. Also, there is a bit of hum on the tape I'd like to eliminate. And, of course improve the sound - from midrange to boosting the top and bottom. And maybe boost the overall sound.
I've got Pinnacle Studio 8 but I don't have much experience in capturing video onto the pc yet.
Is there some hardware to insert into the mix or can this be done with just software.
I've got a DBX and an 10 band EQ for my audio restoration projects.
I've checked with some "professional" video places but they were kind of stupified.
I read about the "teased stereo" thing but not sure about doing that.
Any feedback would be great.
thanks

[thecoalman]

One issue you may encouter by running it through other equipment is sound sync problems, depending on the card.... sync issues often arise even without running it through other equipment. I'd suggest doing some long captures if your going to go that route and check the sync after it's been converted to DVD. Get a RW disc for testing.

There's many audio editors avaialable, Audacity is free and Goldwave is fairly cheap. As long as Studio 8 can export/import the sound file you can export it, work on it in the editor then import it back into Studio 8. BTW I'd strongly suggest upgrading and even looking into some other software,m Studio 8 is pretty old and most people (me included) have had nothing but problems with it. That may have changed with the latest release but I really have no idea.

[chonan3]

thanks

so, the audio portion of the capture is manipulated with a sound editior and then put back on?
Sounds like this could be a time consuming project.
I already have and know how to use CoolEdit 2000 for my vinyl restoration.
And then, what's the preferred s/w for video if Pinnacle 8 is no good.
Is there a preferred program for the whole video/audio sync problem scenario?
guess I better read ahead.

thanks again.

[Alex_ander]

I don't think there is any synch problem specific for your plan, anyway you'll have to first capture video+audio that are in synch and have the same length when done properly. Check the synchronization just after capturing.
If audio is captured to uncompressed wav, it's usual thing to process it separately from video. And it's better to do it in a sound editor, not with simple means included in video application. I'd recommend CoolEditPro2.0, it has options for noise reduction and templates for mono to stereo conversion. I usually made custom phase shifting (using filter section of the program) for this instead of their template, maybe you'll find something in the version you have. Anyway audio editing will not make new synch problems if you don't intentionally change the length of your audio.
Most authoring applications work with separate audio/video streams, so just encode video to MPEG2 elementary stream, check the length after encoding and use together with your processed audio for authoring (either wav or encoded to AC3 or MPEG1).