Optimal tracking for video != optimal tracking for audio

[miamicanes]

Over the past few days, I've discovered that most of my tapes with hi-fi audio have different tracking settings that produce optimal video OR optimal hi-fi audio... but not at the same time, and that most of them have no common ground at all -- the hi-fi audio is overwhelmed by noise when the picture is ideal, and still buzzes when the tracking is adjusted as far towards its audio ideal as I can get away with without losing the picture completely.

Is it possible that my VCR might just need to have its heads re-aligned (and maybe cleaned) professionally? Or is this just the norm when dealing with old tapes, and tapes recorded on crap VCRs? If it IS the norm, are there actually any VCRs designed to allow independent tracking adjustments for the two sets of heads? And if it's NOT the norm, and something that a visit to a repair shop might fix... any suggestions how to go about finding someone who's actually qualified to do it properly?

[JohnnyMalaria]

The Hi-Fi heads are in the same drum as the video heads. The audio is recorded first and then the video is recorded in the same place on the tape but not as deep into the magnetic layer. Hence the audio and video are recording in the same area rather than a separate track like the basic VHS audio.

So it seems like your heads need cleaning/replacing.

[R. Allen Gilliam]

I have this same problem with HiFi tapes recorded on different machines. If you adjust the tracking manually, you can tell that the overlap of good video and good HiFi audio tracking is very small. This leads to occasional static on audio or video or both.

My tapes seem to divide into two groups. Ones recorded on my dead Sharp VCR and my Sony play well on my Sony. Tapes recorded on my dead JVC play well on my working JVC HR-S9800U. This high end S-VHS VCR doesn't help at all with this problem, BTW.

There's no way to adjust the relative tracking of video and HiFi audio. You'd have to move the heads on the spinning drum relative to each other.

There are two solutions: Record audio and video separately with different manual tracking adjustments and join them in software, which is a time-consuming pain in the ass. Or buy a different brand VCR to play the tapes. If you've got a nice VCR with TBC, you can get a lower-end VCR and pass its signal through your good VCR for TBC. Be sure not to get one with crappy TBC because it'll prevent your good TBC from working.

If anybody has more information on which brands have which alignment, post it here.

[2Bdecided]

If you've got a nice VCR with TBC, you can get a lower-end VCR and pass its signal through your good VCR for TBC.

Is anyone else doing this? I don't think the TBCs in my "good" VCRs work in pass through mode like this. The ones in DVD-Rs do.

FWIW I find synchronising two audio tracks easy enough in an audio editor.

Cheers,
David.

[LMotlow]

If you've got a nice VCR with TBC, you can get a lower-end VCR and pass its signal through your good VCR for TBC.

No you can't.

And 2BDecided beat me to it.