What is a good USB Capture Device to use with VirtualDub?

[anachronon]

I am new to digitizing old analog video. I have dozens of Hi8 tapes (home movies) that I wish to digitally archive.

So, what is a good USB capture device that I can use with VirtualDub? I purchased a Dazzle unit, which came highly rated---only to find that it is total crap! It seems that they took their ancient stock, and put it in a new package. For one, it uses USB 1.0. No one has used USB 1.0 in 20 years! This has resulted in many jumps, inserted frames, and possible audio lag.

I have been trying to find a definitive answer to this question for hours. No luck. Sure, I would love to be able to afford a Magewell. But, that said, what are my other options? I have seen the Elgato and Hauppauge devices mentioned. But, there has also been some question as to whether these will work with Windows 10 and VirtualDub using uncompressed/lossless capture. Does anyone here have practical experience that they can share?

Laptop: Intel Core i7, 64 bit, nVidia GTX970m

Analog playback unit: Sony EV-C100 Hi8 VCR

Input source: S-Video

[dellsam34]

Try Pinnacle 500-USB or 700-USB series, The driver may not work well under Wind 10 though.

[anachronon]

Try Pinnacle 500-USB or 700-USB series, The driver may not work well under Wind 10 though.

Unfortunately, both are listed as no longer available (both Amazon and New Egg).

[phelissimo_]

Unfortunately, both are listed as no longer available (both Amazon and New Egg).

Then take a look on eBay or Craigslist.

[DB83]

Well the Hauppauge usb-live2 is supported by Win10 (requires a usb 2 port)


https://www.hauppauge.co.uk/site/products/data_usblive2.html


I can not actually vouch for it since I am on Win7.

[lollo]

I use the Hauppauge USB-Live2 with AmarecTV under Windows 10 on a Asus i7 laptop. Very happy with it!

[dellsam34]

Try Pinnacle 500-USB or 700-USB series, The driver may not work well under Wind 10 though.

Unfortunately, both are listed as no longer available (both Amazon and New Egg).

Yeah, That's why I recommended getting used cards from back in the day, Everything available now is crap.

[anachronon]

OK, so the choice seems to come down to these two:

https://www.amazon.com/Hauppauge-610-USB-Live-Digitizer-Capture/dp/B0036VO2BI/ref=sr_1...tronics&sr=1-1

https://www.ebay.com/p/127963049

This disadvantage of the Pinnacle is finding a Windows 10 driver.

[lollo]

Attched a comparison between a s-vhs recording of a dvb-s program, captured with the Hauppauge USB-Live2 and a dvb-s dump
(the raw stream has been saved to disk as received from the satellite) of the same program 2 years later.

The comparison video has been quickly compressed to mp4.

Judge yourself

[Alwyn]

Removed.

[anachronon]

Thanks everyone, for the advice. Thanks Lollo, for the video comparison. It looks like I will be giving the Hauppauge a try. Surprising, for something so inexpensive.

On a side note, Lollo, I really love that old Gerry Anderson stuff. But then, I am old enough to have watched those shows when they first premiered.

[lollo]

Surprising, for something so inexpensive.

Back in late nineties, the high end set-top box dvb-s receiver with Y/C output cost me 10 times more than the Hauppauge now; the same for the JVC HR-S9500MS.
20 years later (when I finally decided to digitize my tapes ) I am happy to find that the capture device is not the weak link in the chain.

It took so long to start the conversion because in the meantime PC DVB-S card were introduced in the market (and DVDs, and Blue Ray), allowing to
dump the digital stream as it is trasmitted (no loss at all in recording), and I built a pure digital copy of my favourite shows.

On a side note, I also watched Thunderbirs (and UFO and Space:1999) on TV when I was a kid

Good luck with your captures!

[anachronon]

Thanks. I can still recall when "Fireball XL5" first hit the Saturday-morning lineup in the U.S.. "Stingray" came out a couple years later. "Captain Scarlet" didn't arrive until I was in highschool, and "UFO" not long after. "Space 1999" (my favorite) arrived just as I was starting my third year of college (Engineering). Unfortunately, Gerry Anderson's stuff seemed to drop-off, after he lost Barry Gray doing the soundtrack scores.