Strange DVD audio problem

[Dalek]

After a long nightmare, I have managed to burn a couple of DVDS with Nero. Now, I'm having a problem with a third DVD recording. Here's the deal:

When I play the disc, there's a rhythmic clicking or "blip" on the audio track that is akin to the scratch you'd hear on an old LP. After burning this twice (a 4x and a 2x disc each), and they each have the same distortion, I have a suspicion.

My original source is a 16 year old videotape. The image still looks great (the tape has never been played, since it was for archive purposes until I had a digital media to transfer the show to). But I'm wondering if I have a TBC problem or something, inregards to the captrue. There's no evidence that the sound is off from what's going on in the video. So what could my problem be, and is it fixable?

I'd be sick if after all this time I have a problem preventing me from making this transfer after all this time. I have an entire collection of tapes of about the same vintage. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

[Dalek]

Okay, talking to some friends, my worst fears are apparently correct: the videotape(s) is old enough that the audio track is breaking down.

What are my options to preserve my collection? Is there a program that can strip out the audio from a capture and clean it up and re-integrate it with the video and synch it back up or is this going to be a multi-step process where I have to clean it up with one program, then use something like tmpgenc(?) to get back in synch?

[rcb]

cuppla simple things to try first:

1) "excersize" the tape by FF full thru and then a full rewind. This sometimes helps for an archived tape
2) play the tape bak to your TV and get an idea of how it looks/sounds there. While you can't improve it within your computer, you can certainly maintain the observed quality.
3) If possible, use the same vcr that originally recorded the tape.
4) When capturing, make sur you have shut down all un-needed computer background tasks.
Beyond that, can only suggest trying audio filters to minimize the click. Perhaps another poster can give you help there or you may find some ideas over in the audio forum on this site.

[Dalek]

Unfortunately, the original VCR is long dead.

Where might I find the audio filters?

Also, it was suggested that I try exporting the original capture to another mpg file to see if the computer would clean it up. I'm going to try this. It's interesting that this audio problem is not evident in the MPEG file -- just the encoded DVD. I suppose worse come to worse, I could save the edited DVD project as an MPEG, since most new DVD players now play MPEG files.....