Loss of audio sync when compressing or converting DV files on Mac

[Sloperman]

Hi all,
Can anyone help this luddite?
I am playing old VHS tapes via a Sony DCR-PC9E PAL in pass-thru mode to an iMac Intel Core Duo 3.06 GHz, 4Gb RAM (OS-X 10.6.6)
The DV files range from 6GB to 13GB, and I would like to get them down to less than 1 GB. I would like to be able to them onto CD with a pretty universal format so they can be played on Macs or PCs e.g. mpeg4

To record, I'm using Vidi software, set to 16 bit, 48KHz and 16 bit on the Sony. In all the movie players I use, the recorded DV file playback has perfect audio synchronization.

When I try to compress the DV files to anything, the sync goes out. I have tried using Quicktime 7, Quicktime 10. I've used iMovie 5.0.2. I've tried various formats including MPEG4, .mov files, H.264, DivX etc.
No matter what form of compression/conversion I use, I always lose sync to a greater or lesser extent.

Is my problem with the age or quality of VHS? If this is the case, how come the DV recordings sync correctly?
Should I be using QT7, QT10, or QT Pro? iMovie 11? Or is there some other means of getting these files down in size without losing sync?

Thanks all.

[Baldrick]

What kind of sync? Progressive worse or same?

You could try mpeg streamclip and handbrake.

[Sloperman]

I'm not sure what you mean by progressive worse or same.
If, by progressive, you mean it gets worse with the length of the DV file, then yes.
The picture lags the sound, and the lag increases more towards the end than at the beginning.

I tried MPEGStreamClip and I still go bad sync. I have also tried in iMovie extracting the audio and fixing to the beginning of each clip. I noticed in the timeline viewer, that when the audio is extraced, it is actually slightly shorter than the video clip. Does anyone know if this means that audio information is being lost somewhere? I go back to my original observation about the audio sync in a DV file as being correct.

I will certainly have a look at handbrake. Can you suggest a form of compression or conversion that I might use to get a 5Gb file down to between .5 and 1 Gb? Any suggested settings would be helpful.