ADS Pyro A/V Link

[dun4cheap]

Well I was going to originally re-open the ADVC 100 discussion, but I decided to start a new thread. I know we went into detailed rounds with the Canopus and I personally was considering purchasing it until ADS Tech released their new pyro A/V Link. It appears to have all the same functionality as the Canopus, plus component out. It has the Audio Lock feature, the analog to DV ability, and out put to analog at high resolution. It also comes with ulead video studio 7. The other pro is I can buy it for $199.99 at my local retailer and return it if I don't like it. So let evaluate the deal.

$100 cheaper
Same or more features
Local retailers carry it so I can return it if I don't like it


Hmm, well I will be trying it out. But I would also like to get some input from you guys.

Dun4cheap

[dun4cheap]

Well I noticed nobody cared to input on this, but this is a MUST read.

I purchased this unit from Fry's for $199.99, took my daughter to the movies and while waiting for the movie to come on I wondered over to Circuit City. Get this, they were clearing out the ADS Pyro A/V Link for $121.96.

Store#: 3327
Circuit City: ADS Pyro A/V Link for $121.96

I intend on trying it now and I will post my results. It comes with Ulead Video Studio DVD edition (No Biggie) but it has all the same features as the Canopus advc100 audio link and all plus it has component input. Well hope some of you can take advantage of this. If your circuit city store does not have the same price have them match the store number I listed above. The shelf said $140 clearance but when they scanned it it came up $121.96


Good Luck

[Tommyknocker]

[dun4cheap]

Well so far it has been plug and play. Simple to use, a few additional settings available, but works as advertised. Not bad for $121. I will definately continue to mess with it. I tried using pinnacle studio 8 to capture but I was having problems. Went to the ulead video studio 6 and problems went away. I don't know if the DV1 or DV2 codec have anything to do with it...

dun4cheap

[Tommyknocker]

The video out portion, does it work okay? I have to buy mine online. I live overseas.

[dun4cheap]

I will try it this evening. Buy it from circuit city dot com and have them match the stores price.

[Tommyknocker]

I went to their site, and it states they cannot ship outside the U.S. Oh well.

[Roundabout]

dun4cheap,

After reading your post today, I decided to go out to the local CC and see if they had any of these. The price you mentioned was great - Tiger Dir. sells these for $189.99 + Tax (in FL, NC & IL only) + Shipping, and I had thought about buying one before now, but held back due to price. I had my eye also on the Datavideo unit, for around the same price.
So just a couple of hours ago, I went to the local CC and asked about it. The salesmen didn't even know what I was talking about, until finally they found someone who knew a little about products. They first pointed me to the USB 2.0 ADS models, and I told them I was looking for the firewire version of the similar unit. "Then I guess we don't carry them". I mentioned that you had purchased one in another of their stores and that they were supposed to carry them, but they gave up looking.
I wandered around a while anyway, and in the back of the store, on the clearance shelf, they had 2 of these units. New, never opened, no price tag on them, or on the shelf. I took it to the cashier, and get this - it was even cheaper than I expected -$110.96! (I wonder why your store was exactly $11.00 more? Which store did you buy it at - location?)
I couldn't resist at that price, $80.00 cheaper than Tiger. No idea why they are clearanced, they are a current product. If they even work anywhere near as well as I hope, this will be a great deal. BTW: We have 14 days to return it if it doesn't meet expectations.
I have to get a F/W card though, I don't have one yet so I can't even try it. Probably go to Fry's and pick up one in the next day or two. Do you have any suggestions for a card that works well with this unit? Since I can't test it yet, I am hoping that you will post your experiences with it until I get mine going and swap notes.
Done any caps with it yet? What about frame drop? Any problems/suggestions?
One more thing, you mentioned that it has the audio lock feature - where did you see that? I don't see it mentioned anywhere in the owner's manual or on the box.
Hope to hear about your experiences on this soon...and anyone else's. Thanks for any input

[dun4cheap]

As I originally posted, I purchased mine at Store#: 3327
Circuit City: ADS Pyro A/V Link for $121.96

What store number did you get yours from? The firewire card I currently own is the ATI DV Wonder card. I am very fond of the ATI product line. I purchased it new for $39.99 and it came with video studio 5 at the time. I have tried capturing with it using Studio 8 and Video Studio 6. While I experienced problems with it in Studio 8, Video Studio 6 absolutely had no problems. As for the audio lock feature it does indeed have it and is turned on via the dipswitches. It is important that you d/l the updated instruction manual as it had an update to the dipswitch settings. 1 2 for xp/2000 3 is for DV or PC/Mac and 4 is Audio lock on and off... So far so good, definately could not beat the price and I am glad you were able to get one.

dun4cheap

[Roundabout]

Where is the store you bought yours at located? I had asked the salesmen in the store (before I found the unit myself) if they could check the store you mentioned, and they said "there's no way we can do that". I would think they would be able to access information from any store location on their computer, but I guess not.
Thanks for the info about the F/W card, I'm hoping to pick one up at Fry's in the next couple of days.
I'll definitely go to the ADS website and download the updated manual. Thanks for the heads up on that!
As for the dipswitch settings, do you know at what point they changed the production to make the functions different? Is it still possible to use it for PAL and NTSC, if the switch setting has been removed (Switch 4 was for PAL/NTSC before)? And maybe I don't get it, but nothing in the manual indicated if this setting (PAL/NTSC) was to change the Input signal recognition of the Pyro, or the Output of this unit. It just said "put the switch in the position of whatever system is used in your country" - fine, but what if you want to input analog NTSC and output PAL DV? I know you could reencode the video after cap to make it one or the other, but it might make it easier if it were already in the desired color system...
I guess I'll have some other questions after I get this thing hooked up, but that's all I can think of for now. Thanks for your input, and thanks for letting me and everyone else know about this great deal!

[Roundabout]

I contacted ADS and asked them about the difference between the DIP switch settings - the tech I talked to said the Rev. A unit I have is the original model with the original switch settings. The Rev. B is the updated one with the audio lock switch on/off position. He says the A model has audio lock on by default and cannot be turned off. I don't know if you got an A or B revision model, look at the bottom of the unit (not marked on the box it came in). The only other thing he could tell me is that the B model had some improvements in the PAL compatibility, not much other than that.

I still haven't gotten a F/W card (weekend trip to Fry's is in order) so I can't say much else at this point.

The salesman I spoke to first told me that the price I paid for this unit ($110.96) is below wholesale cost and he was shocked that Circuit City was selling them for that price. I'd suggest anyone interested in one of these get to your local CC and pick one up before they're gone.

If it performs as advertised, it's a hell of a deal, even cheaper than the Datavision DAC-100 - nicer looking too. It is supposedly comparable to the Canopus ADVC-100 and the Datavision unit. It comes with a full version of Video Studio 6 and all the cables you could need for any setup (RCA-RCA, S-VHS to S-VHS, 6pin to 6pin 1394, and 4pin to 4pin 1394). Except for the firewire card, it's a complete solution out of the box.

I saw there used to be a guy "ADS Ivan" on this board that worked for them, if he's still around maybe he can give some input about this unit. Can't wait to try it out, and I was hoping for more comments about this units performance and compatibility.

[wgymiski]

I went out and purchased this unit from my local CC and it was $110 plus taxes made it $118. I checked the bottom of the unit and I have rev. B. Started capturing from my vcr and there was no dropped frames or audio sync problems. So far I'm happy with this unit and I will keep my fingers crossed.

[Roundabout]

wgymiski,

What program are you using to capture the DV from this unit? I still haven't been able to try it yet, haven't had time to go to Fry's and get a firewire card. I'm also going to have to get a larger HD due to the filesize of the DV video. Did you have any problems setting it up or capturing? I'd love to hear any input/problems you've had with the unit. Thanks.

[wgymiski]

I'm using Video Studio 6 that came with it. I hooked mine up right out of the box and started capturing without any problems. My firewire card is the ADS Dual link firewire/usb. Later I will try some other programs to capture with it, but I havent had any problems with audio sync or dropped frames. The tape I was capturing was a commercial tape and didnt have any problems with macrovision but will try my other commercial vhs tapes sittin around the house. The store # I purchased mine is 3421.

[Roundabout]

Thanks for the quick response.
Well, that's encouraging that you had no problems and it worked as advertised right out of the box. No dropped frames, no audio sync problems - two of the things that seem to bedevil people when they try to capture analog source material.
Jeez, if it works this good, why would anyone want to spend the $250+ dollars for the Canopus unit? This thing is less than half the price (for now, anyway, and at Circuit City only) and seems to do just as well as the more expensive units (I can't personally vouch for that, only yours and others experiences will answer that). Like I said before, quite a bargain. They will probably sell out at CC and everyone will be looking and asking for one, after they are gone.
Oh well, we got ours
I'm looking forward to using it, when I eventually get everything hooked up and running. I need the bigger HDD but can't spare the cash right now, but later when I get one, I'll be set to go! Got tons of VHS and 8mm tapes to convert, will probably take me years to convert it all! At least I wanted to know I got a unit that will be able to handle converting without problems.
Be sure to post whatever you find while using the unit so we'll know if problems crop up (or not). Thanks again for answering.

[me]

I know we went into detailed rounds with the Canopus and I personally was considering purchasing it until ADS Tech released their new pyro A/V Link. The other pro is I can buy it for $199.99 at my local retailer and return it if I don't like it. So let evaluate the deal.

Dun4cheap

If you live near a Circuit City, see if they have it there. Because I saw the Pyro A/V Link at a Circuit City for $110.65, something like that. Said something like "close-out price". (I don't know if it was just at that store, or all of them.) I'm surprised you mention it as a "new item". I assumed it was a discontinued item they were closing out. Also, because it includes Ulead VideoStudio 6, and the newer Adstech capture devices (such as the Instant DVD USB 2.0, and DVD Express) include version 7 of that program. (By the way, if interested in DVD Express, they have that at Circuit City for $99, less than I've seen that elsewhere, including online. (And that I saw at two different CCs, so it is probably storewide.) (In general, I don't think CC has very good prices, but on those two items it is probably lower than you could get them anywhere else.) (From what I understand the DVD Express is just the same as the Instant DVD USB 2.0, except that it does not have the analog output that the former has, only the input.

[me]

Now, if one has both Firewire and USB 2 on your system (my laptop has both), is there any advantage of a Firewire device like this over the USB 2 devices. (For instance, ADSTech has a USB 2 device called "DVD Express", which CC sells for only $99. Is that not as good as the "A/V Link"? What are the differences, besides the different port to connect to on the computer?

I think I read that the Pyro captures to DV rather than to the MPEG-2 that the USB devices capture to. Is there any advantage to that, capturing to DV?

I only have one Firewire port, and 4 USB 2.0 ports. When I capture, I will usually also be running a large external Firewire hard drive I have, and capture to that. So the Firewire hard drive and the Firewire capture device (if I were to use one) would have to be daisychained. ANy problem with that?

[dun4cheap]

Well the pyro can be used to capture to mpeg2 in real time. I prefer the Firewire myself because the usb2 drivers are a hassle due to MS and their control over SP1. I would personally go the extra $20 and get the pyro as it not only does the input of analog, firewire and component video it does the out of all these. Now the ADS DVD DV which is going to usb is a different beast but it is $249. It offers hardware mpeg encoding with I believe the cirrus chip, so while most of us are going the external route do to many reasons this was another device to look at. I prefer to do my video editing in DV format and then encode to mpeg2, but once again you can do the realtime mpeg encode with the pyro as well.

dun4cheap

p.s. I am so glad many of you have been able to take advantage of this deal..

[Tommyknocker]

p.s. I am so glad many of you have been able to take advantage of this deal..

[mrmom]

I've been doing nothing but reading about differ capture devices for the last 5 days. I was trying to decide between the canopus or a new digital camcorder with passthrough tec. After reading these posts this morning I said the hell with it and went to cc and I got their last av link for $110 plus I couldn't resist the camcorder so I picked up a trv-33, The only thing I'm not sure about is the adaptec fireconnect 4300 I couldn't find the ati card you mentioned. cc also has a special going if you spend over $200 you get 10% off so I saved another 100. Well I guess it's time to get started. I'd like to thank everyone posting on this forum I've learned alot in the past few days.

Dave from Pa.

[me]

[quote="dun4cheap"]Well the pyro can be used to capture to mpeg2 in real time. I prefer the Firewire myself because the usb2 drivers are a hassle due to MS and their control over SP1. I would personally go the extra $20 and get the pyro as it not only does the input of analog, firewire and component video it does the out of all these. Now the ADS DVD DV which is going to usb is a different beast but it is $249. It offers hardware mpeg encoding with I believe the cirrus chip, so while most of us are going the external route do to many reasons this was another device to look at. I prefer to do my video editing in DV format and then encode to mpeg2, but once again you can do the realtime mpeg encode with the pyro as well.

dun4cheap [quote]

Well, not only the DVD-DV has the Cirrus chip for MPEG encoding, but so do all the new USB-2 ADS devices--the Instant DVD USB2, and the DVD Express. You write that the the Pyro can also capture directly to MPEG. Is that not with the same chip? Or do you mean via software? (BTW, is the Cirrus considered one of the better MPEG-encoding chips?)

Why do you prefer to have the video in DV format first? I could understand how someone might want to capture completely uncompressed (if they have a LOT of storage space), do the editing in uncompressed form, and then only compress one time, for the final product. (I understand that re-compressing is not good for the video quality. But-----isn't DV also compressed??

If yes, doesn't that involve more re-compression, capturing with DV compression, editing it, and compressing again in MPEG. Whereas, if one captures to the same MPEG format one wants in the final video, theoretically at least (depending on software) one should be able to burn the captured MPEG video to disk without recompression.

[dun4cheap]

While this thread was not intended to be a codec debate, here is a link for you to read regarding format quality.

http://www.adamwilt.com/DV-FAQ-tech.html

Note that DVD/mpeg2 is not even listed as a viable transport. The compression rate is very little compared to say an mpeg2 script. Plus typically the quality of encoding mpeg2 in real time is very low compared to say capturing in a raw avi format such as MS DV1 or 2 and then using an encoder to encode it to a final format or export back to a DV device. I prefer editing my home videos in DV format and then encoding them to mpeg2 8000kb streams. As far as HD space goes, this is irrelevant these days when you can purchase a 160gig drive for $100-$120... I have over 400 gig of space to do my editing and finalizing my video.

Well I hope I have answered your questions...

dun4cheap

[broadway]

Well the pyro can be used to capture to mpeg2 in real time.

how are you able to capture to mpeg2 in realtime?

are you using videostudio to do it?

how fast is your computer? My PC is 1GHz P3, so I'm thinking it won't be fast enough to do this.

[dun4cheap]

I used the pinnacle studio 8, but arscsoft, video studio, they will all work, just change the codec. Select mpeg2. I would think a p3 1ghz should be fast enough, but it does require a fast harddrive also.

dun4cheap

[mrmom]

Man I don't know what I did to deserve all this but it seems nothing goes right. I bought the pyro at cc after reading this thread. Out of three thousand frames I tryed to import from my vcr I dropped 300 I tryed ulead 6, my dvd and the same. So I called a salesperson familar with pyro he claims they had alot of problems and if you don't have a little blue sticker on the bottom of the device it hasn't been rechecked and may be a problem unit. So I figure oh well I got a new sony camcorder trv-33 with passthrew ha ha.. Well it picked up the vcr and played it on the 2.5 lcd fine but windows xp won't reconize the camcorder when I tryed to install the driver windows says not approved by windows logo do not install. Man after spending all that money you'd think I'd be able to capture a little video...I

[broadway]

Please post more if you solve the camcorder issue. I've decided to either go that route or a standalone DVD recorder.

I am going to return the Pyro A/V because I was looking for a hardware MPEG2 encoder.

[mrmom]

I called ADS and I'm sending the unit back for them to check out. He said they would make sure it worked under my conditions ie xp-vcr. As far as the camcorder sony clams that microsoft wants to charge them for the windows logo compatibility check and sony don't want to pay. But they claim I should ignore the windows warning and go ahead with the install. I tryed it via the firewire and captured a couple clips they came out kinda dark tho. I gotta figure out if it's my monitor or if somehow the camera changing my brightness. I'm using video studio 6 and can't find any where to brighten things up a bit.

[Roundabout]

Hey all,

I went back to CC today and picked up another unit, returned the one I had because it was REV. A, the older model with no switch for Audio Lock (still not 100% convinced that the "A" model had it by default). This unit is REV. B and has the Audio Lock On/Off switch on the back. It also came with Video Studio 7 instead of 6, so I not only got a newer version of the unit, I also got a newer version of the software!!

The only way I can see to tell the difference between the two models (A or B) is the front of the box. If the box says "component input" in red on the front instead of in black, then it's the newer version of unit and software. It drove me crazy because I couldn't see anything on the outside of the box that would indicate whether the unit was the older or newer one. If you look closer, also it's noted that UVS7 comes with it, and on the older one, it says UVS6, so that's another way you can tell.

If you have an older A model, you might want to take it back and exchange it for the B model. Apparently there were several improvements made to both the hardware and software. That is, assuming that CC has some more in stock. Interesting how different people have different experiences with the unit, some have no trouble at all while others have problems. Could it be the unit or the PC? or both?

And I still don't have the bigger HDD to test it with so I can't help!
That is why I think that if you're having problems with it, you should return it and get a newer version of this unit. That could be the source of the problems. CC will take it back without hassles.

P.S. mrmom, if you're having a problem with dropped frames, it could also be your source. VHS tapes are apparently one of the harder things to cap from. After reading a number of posts in different areas of this forum, it seems a lot of people have problems with almost any capture device when trying to encode VHS or 8mm tapes. Some people buy a TBC (time base corrector) to reinsert sync signals so that the cap is stable. That could be your problem, and it's been noted that even if the tape looks good on your TV, it still can have problems when you try to encode it. Try some other tapes and also try capping from a direct feed in (such as a TV tuner) and see if you get different results. Experiment and maybe you'll be able to determine where your problem lies. Could be the PC. Do you get the same results when you capture from the same tape, or does it vary?
Or ask ADS to replace this one with a REV. B model (if they will), you may as well have the newest version unit and maybe that will solve your problems (if yours was an REV A model, that is).

[mrmom]

I captured about 15 minutes of tape with my camcorder without any dropped frames only problem is its dark. I havn't figured that out yet.
As far as the rev. b there should be a blue sticker on the bottom of the unit showing that its been rechecked and is ok for sale (got that from ads). I'm sending mine back now that I read your post I'll make sure to ask for the newer version ulead.

[Roundabout]

Mine has a yellow sticker on the bottom, see photo. Don't know what that means, but the original unit I bought had no sticker at all.


Bottom of ADS Pyro A/V Link


Make sure when you send the unit back to ADS that you return the original software disk and maybe they will give you the new version of VS7 if you request it.
I talked to a tech there quite a while when I bought the first one, but his answers weren't too convincing, especially on the audio lock issue. Since audio lock wasn't mentioned at all in the original owner's manual, I'm still not sure if it has it or not. All the REV. B units have it though, since there is a switch to enable or disable it (wonder why anyone wouldn't want the audio locked?).
On another issue, I noticed that the plastic top (shiny area) gets scratched really easily, apparently the plastic is very soft and just wiping with a cloth will leave scratches. They should have just made the entire cabinet with the pebbly plastic finish, would have been better IMO.
I wonder if the other issue with this unit has been resolved, regarding having to cycle the power on and off after finishing a capture (people said the unit defaults back to digital input after capping with the analog input)? Have you noticed any problem with that?
At least you were able to get a cap without dropping frames. That's progress.