Mono sound to Hi-Fi ... is this possible?

[MikeDS]

Is there a good (preferably free) program that I can download to convert mono sound to Hi-Fi sound? My current VCR that I use for video capturing is not Hi-Fi, but some of my VHS tapes were recorded using another VCR which was Hi-Fi. I'm using Ulead VideoStudio 8, which has an option to amplify sound, but it is not very good (sounds overmodulated).

I would hate to have to buy a new VCR just because of this, but the difference in sound fidelity between my current VCR and my old VCR is just too much for me to ignore. Am I expecting too much?

Thanks in advance!

Mike

[guns1inger]

Yes. Garbage in, garbage out is the general rule. You are always better off getting the best quality source into your PC in the first place, because once the quality is gone, you will never get it all back again.

Going from Mono to stereo Hi-Fi is even more difficult, as you have lost all the seperation, as well as lowered the quality of the input. If these tapes are important to you, get a new VCR.

[Cunhambebe]

You will never get back the Hi-Fi quality going from Mono to "Stereo" Hi-Fi. Anyway, Sound Forge and Adobe Audition can try to go from Mono to Stereo Hi-Fi.
You can try this with Sound Forge:
Perform either of the following actions to display the Mono to Stereo dialog: Right-click the Mono box in the status bar and choose Stereo from the shortcut menu. Click the Stereo radio button on the Format tab of the Properties dialog and click the OK button. Specify the channel where you want to put the sound data: Click the Left Channel radio button to place the mono data in the left channel and set the right channel to silence. Click the Right Channel radio button to place the mono data in the right channel and set the left channel to silence. Click the Both Channels radio button to place the mono data in the right and left channels. Click the OK button. The Channel Converter allows independent level settings for each channel and can be used to inter-mix the left and right channels of a stereo file to create interesting pan effects. For simple conversions, use the included presets. Other Process that can be used along with the one described above is PAN/EXPAND and EQ