How can you get rid of or mute VHS Audio humm?

[Gribnitz]

I seem to get a lot of background audio hum when I try and transfer from home taped VHS to CDR. I sometimes take shows I like on TV and delete all the commercials and xfer it to a CD, but the audio hum can be horrible.

Is there a way to eliminate it or reduce it using TMPGE ? What settings should I use?

[winman42]

Well, there are programs you can use to reduce hum...but maybe
the problem is something else.

Is the 'hum' you speak of on the source tape? If the VCR is connected
to other equipment, that may be the problem. In my setup, i must
take care to disconnect the equipment from anything else, or I
get a hum.

In the case of my vcr, i make sure to disconnect any cables going
into it, from my receiver, or my sat dish. This seems to eliminate
any hum problems.

Isolation sometimes does the trick.

Winston

[Mirror_Image]

Isolation is just what I was thinking too. A ground loop isolator (Radio Shack ~$15):

Ground Loop Isolator

I use one of these between one of our PCs and a Sony sub+speakers that runs on AC power. It hummed like mad through the speakers until I ran out in madness and got one of these. This may or may not solve your problem, but if everything that comes out of your VCR 'hums', it might be worth a try. If only some (but not all) tapes have hum in the audio, then this won't fix your hum woes.

[revjake]

If all else fails, you can try exporting the audio to a .wav file. Take said .wav file and run it through the noise reduction algorithms in a sound-editing program (Cool Edit Pro is my personal fave).

Gets rid of 60hz electrical hum, air conditioning noise, or even the annoying D# resonance from a boneheaded guitar player's acoustic when you're trying to do a proper fadeout on a project that's already three weeks overdue and the manager guy is trying to do YOUR job instead of booking gigs like a good little manager guy.

Sorry, had to vent there. If you've got a decently fast system, it won't take long to filter out the hum---MUCH less time than it takes to encode MPEGs, I promise!

[mrtristan]

It could also be your cables. I noticed that my old crappy cables from 19whoknowswhen were "hummy." I bought some new rca cables from RadioShack for $3 and the hum went away.

[Mpegman1986]

Could your A/V wires be running right next to other kinds of cable.

You might be getting a hum from a power wire or a computer wire.

I get a clicking noise on my computer speaker when I move around my mouse.

[Gribnitz]

Well, it sounds like it could be any one of the problems you all spoke of. The only thing hooked up to the VCR is my Dazzle capture cables and a TV.

The odd thing is that if I rent a tape at a store and run it through Dazzle, I get no hum. The only ones I ever get hum off of are the tapes I make myself off of TV programs.

[Mirror_Image]

In that case, it sounds like the problem is between your TV audio out and your VCR audio in. RCA cables, or just coax?

You could try either running the TV audio outs to a different device (a receiver or something) record 10 or 15 seconds and see if the the audio hums when you play that short recording back, or substitute another audio source (like a cd player) in place of your TV, record 10 or 15 seconds and see if the the audio hums when you play that short recording back.

If those tests don't produce hum, then try that ground loop isolator between the TV audio-out and the VCR audio-in and see if that gets rid of your hum-a-thon.

[MikeV]

It sounds like you are getting AC hum from the source(TV to VCR). Is the TV and VCR plugged into the same outlet or power strip? If not, plug them into the same outlet and try recording again. When you play it back to capture make sure the VCR and Computer are plugged into the same outlet or power strip.

If the above fixes your problem you might want to get an electrician to check out your wiring. I have seen homes where there is 20 Volts AC running on the ground lead( gotten shocked and have seen sparks). If two pieces of equipment are plugged into two different outlets an one has a bad return or ground, the AC will try to flow through any wires connecting the two pieces together, i.e. HUM. Also make sure you use good quality shielded cables for connections.