electronic noise on recordings

[timbo-wilderbeest]

Hi there,
I've been making VHS recordings and transfers for the last couple of years and the process has been relatively trouble free. Recently though I've noticed a problem creeping into the transfers which has resisted all of my attempts to overcome it.

It takes the form of a kind of electronic buzzing or zapping that keeps crackling across the audio when I'm playing tapes into my computer via the tuner card. At first it seemed liked there was a problem with the tracking on the VCR I had hooked up to my computer, one that seemed to go away when I manually over rode the auto tracking and adjusted it manually. But then it seemed to linger even despite all that, so I tried cleaning the the heads and even swapped round the VCR's that I use, but the problem still hasn't gone away.

Does anyone have any idea what could be causing the problem? As far as I know I haven't changed anything in the set up I've used for the last 24 months, so I'm a bit bewildered trying to figure out where along the chain the problem may exist.

Any pointers would be much appreciated.

Thanks..........Tim

[redwudz]

I would evaluate your connecting cables first. If no help there, there may have been a change in the tuner card or something internal to the computer. You could try a different signal source to see if the VCR is the problem. Or consider replacing the capture card.

The type of noise you describe doesn't sound like AC hum or the usual grounding problems noise.

[bendixG15]

Do you get the same type of crackling noise when you play a CD ??

Are you using a sound card or on board sound ??