Elgato Video Capture vs. Hauppauge 610 USB-Live 2 - Raw Comparison

[Alyosha2001]

My hardware is a Magnum DVD VCR 3500 connected via composite to USB Live 2 (I don't know if it has TBC but I know it has auto tracking). For softwae I tried all the virtualdubs, including the `1.9.11+filters` one, and the AmaRecTV 3.10. The card drivers were both 2014 from the WinTV and the 2018 ones from Iollo.

The thing is I noticed an~80 msec delay on Iollo's TBC captured file, too (2 frames on a 25fps sample) and that the elgato files, in the above examples, have no delay; only the hauppauge ones.

[lordsmurf]

No, that generic Funai-type combo unit does not have a line TBC.

I'm not a fan of that card, and in fact suggest folks find something else. Better cards include ATI 600 USB and certain Pinnacle cards. Not cheap Easycaps, "grabbers", and whatnot. A few cards actually resist dropped frames more than normal, mostly the Pinnacles I refer to. But only TBC can avoid audio skew/drift, dropped frames. There's no magic capture card, no magic software. That's why TBC owners have TBCs, not because we like buying stuff for no reason.

[Alyosha2001]

You mean you are not a fan of the elgato or the hauppauge one? You recommend the ati 600 usb over the elgato one?

[Sharc]

My hardware is a Magnum DVD VCR 3500 connected via composite to USB Live 2.

A weakness of the Hauppauge USB-Live2 is its inferior Y/C separating filter in my experience. One should only use it for S-video rather than composite to avoid dot-crawl and rainbows.
The IO Data GV-USB2 performs much better in this respect. I can't comment on the Elgato or other ones as I don't have these.
If your VHS player has no S-video output you may want to insert a Pana DVD recorder like ES10, ES15 or EH50 in passthrough between the player and the USB-Live 2, and feed the the USB-Live 2 from the DVD recorder's S-video output. A compromise to try as it may be difficult to get the perfect gear within reasonable time.

[Alyosha2001]

Thanks a lot, I'm thinking of replacing the USB Live 2 and I will study more the hardware, maybe a JVC S-VHS, too.
First I think I wanna give Elgato a try, maybe just to get it out of my head. The ATI USB is just too old for my workflow.

[lollo]

No, that generic Funai-type combo unit does not have a line TBC.

I'm not a fan of that card, and in fact suggest folks find something else. Better cards include ATI 600 USB and certain Pinnacle cards.

You mean you are not a fan of the elgato or the hauppauge one? You recommend the ati 600 usb over the elgato one?

My friend lordsmurf is just promoting his sales, and you are a potential customer .
He just added few ATI 600 USB and Pinnacle cards in his marketplace https://www.digitalfaq.com/forum/marketplace/8253-sale-ati-600-a.html#post51144

When fed with a Y/C signal and a lineTBC in the VCR (or with a specific DCD-R recorder in passthrough mode, first is better), IOData GV-USB and Hauppauge USB Live 2 are in pair with the other cards

Some fact:

https://www.digitalfaq.com/forum/video-capture/12138-dazzle-vs-pinnacle.html (Pinnacle 710 versus Dazzle)

https://www.digitalfaq.com/forum/video-capture/12090-ntsc-capture-card.html (Dazzle versus Hauppauge USB -Live 2)

[lordsmurf]

My friend lordsmurf is just promoting his sales, and you are a potential customer

Good grief, you're starting to see ulterior motives where none exist. Stop.

Hauppauge USB Live 2 are in pair with the other cards

Other people are trying this card and ARE NOT HAVING A GOOD EXPERIENCE WITH IT..

I'm now getting contacted at least once a week by people that are aggravated that they've read advice to get this cheap $50 card, and getting frustrated with it. Positive Amazon reviews are not helping, as it shows comments from 5-10 years ago, when the card internals were different (and yes yes, I know, you disagree, but Hauppauge is well known for production changes), Sort the comments by date, and it's not pretty. You'd also see people are using it for the tuners, WinTV software, OBS, etc, not the same capture tasks we're discussing here.

I'm glad to hear that your experience with it has gone well, but more and more, you're in a vast minority here. In fact, literally, I sometimes think you're the only one. We went through this with the VC500 (bad card), due to sanlyn recommending it everywhere. He had a good experience, but nobody else could replicate it, AGC issues were most damning

FYI, 710 is another long lived model, internals can differ, and it can matter.

Yep, Dazzle is "minimally acceptable" (not great), but still better than Easycaps, Elgato, "grabbers", other cheap junk USB cards. If anybody insists on being a cheapskate, at least let that be the semi-POS that you get.

[lollo]

Good grief, you're starting to see ulterior motives where none exist. Stop.

Becasuse what I say is polite and true, I say what I want, where I want, when I want.

For all the rest post facts, not opinion.

End of the discussion.

[Alyosha2001]

I am very satisfied with the quality of the usb live-2, except for the async. I know LS sells his workflows, but those are way beyound my needs and what I think a regular/enthusiast user needs. If I were him I would start a video channel where I would show and compare results, otherwise those tools don't justifty themselves; few people capture VHS and even fewer want to invest in that. This year I only had 3 people ask me to convert their analog memories.

[Xhumeka]

Yep, Dazzle is "minimally acceptable" (not great), but still better than Easycaps, Elgato, "grabbers", other cheap junk USB cards. If anybody insists on being a cheapskate, at least let that be the semi-POS that you get.

Based on my testing of the Dazzle available for sale these days, it is very much inferior to the Elgato and VC500. I'd love for others who have purchased the recent iteration of the Dazzle to post their feedback also, is it possible I got a "dud" or are all these versions the same?

This is the one I got: https://www.pinnaclesys.com/en/products/dazzle/dvd-recorder-hd

[Skiller]

No, the Dazzle has always been below average. I'm not surprised at all you find it inferior compared to the VC500.