Best HD capture hardware?

[Markfx]

I was in a similar situation as the OP, maintaining a legacy OS on life support to continue using a older Pinnacle capture device. I bit the bullet and upgraded the computer and am now using a Blackmagic Intensity Pro.
Making the newer capture cards work with old equipment/OS will be a lesson in frustration...

[dhnj]

Please check-out the links below:
http://www.hauppauge.com/site/products/prods_hd-recorders.html
http://www.hauppauge.com/capture/

[Joshua_Gomeh]

Thank you all replying.

[jagabo]

The question is whether the Hauppauge Colossus will be a worthy improvement, especially to audio recording with its' AAC at 256kbps vs. the AAC at 130kbps that I have now?

Can you tell the difference between the broadcast audio and the recordings made with your HD PVR? No? Then recording with higher audio quality won't make any difference to you.

The one condition where there might be a difference is if the source is 5.1 (and you have a 5.1 or better audio system). If you can get a device that records 5.1 you'll be able to retain all the channels rather than a 2.0 downmix.

[jman98]

I have Hauppauge HD PVR (v. 1).

It can record audio either as AC3 at 384kbps or AAC at 130kbps.

My questions are:

1. Which one of the two is less lossy?

2. Is it good enough to not degrade the broadcast transmission audio quality?

3. Will AAC at 256kbps of the Hauppauge Colossus be a worthy improvement for the above conditions?

I don't think 130 kbps can possibly be right for AAC, but I would expect 384 kbps AC3 to be better than AAC at bit rates anywhere near 130 kbps. A lot of people, even here, act like AC3 is pure unadulterated crap and that is not true at all.

I've got a Colossus and the only thing I've got that I can reliably record in AC3 with it is TV recordings from my DVR. Unfortunately my old laserdisc player has problems with its optical output or I could theoretically use that. I've been satisfied with the AAC recordings I make at 256 kbps. I've converted some to AC3 and a few rare ones to LPCM when basically I just had extra space to burn on a disc and there was no compelling reason at all for AC3 and they've all sounded fine to me. It's been known for some time that the encoding chip the Colossus uses is capable of far greater things than the drivers support, like it could record directly in LPCM audio, but nobody has ever cared to write drivers that fully utilize the chip's capabilities, so we're stuck with AC3 copying in some circumstances and AAC audio in others.