Any good USB capture devices

[lollo]

Amazon is not the reference.

There is only one Live-2 model from the hardware point of view. Bundle software may change, together with box color. Use latest drivers from Hauppauge.

[techmot]

Amazon is not the reference.

There is only one Live-2 model from the hardware point of view. Bundle software may change, together with box color. Use latest drivers from Hauppauge.

Ok thanks, so it will work with Windows 11 so long as I download the latest drivers?. Seems odd though why the one on Amazon UK mentions XP, Vista, 7, 8, 8.1 and 10. It must be an old device if it works with XP and Vista.

[TimA-C]

If you're so concerned about the description on Amazon, just ask the question on Amazon, "Does this definitely work in Windows 11?" I'm sure there'll be at least one purchaser who'll answer definitively for you.

Mine works fine on 64-bit Windows 10 Home & Pro (and on 64-bit Windows 7 before), so I would expect that it would work on Win11, but I can't say for certain because I don't have any machines here running 11. Yet. I'm sure eventually I'll have to "upgrade" to it. Or Win12? (So much for Win10 being the last version of Windows eh, Microsoft?) Most of the actually knowledgeable people on here will probably tell you - with some good reasons - that you really Should be capturing in Windows XP anyway.

[techmot]

If you're so concerned about the description on Amazon, just ask the question on Amazon, "Does this definitely work in Windows 11?" I'm sure there'll be at least one purchaser who'll answer definitively for you.

Mine works fine on 64-bit Windows 10 Home & Pro (and on 64-bit Windows 7 before), so I would expect that it would work on Win11, but I can't say for certain because I don't have any machines here running 11. Yet. I'm sure eventually I'll have to "upgrade" to it. Or Win12? (So much for Win10 being the last version of Windows eh, Microsoft?) Most of the actually knowledgeable people on here will probably tell you - with some good reasons - that you really Should be capturing in Windows XP anyway.

Well since posting I ordered the device from Amazon UK a few days ago so should be here soon. I thought it was quite expensive for £46 given that it looks very similar to an Easycrap device, plenty of those types of devices on ebay and Amazon, but at least it's a reputable brand. Only hope it will work with Windows 11, though I have issues with my Ideapad at the moment where the discspace keeps dissapearing when I use my Opera browser (posted about this in another thread on the computer section) and the Bluestacks apk to allow Whatsapp. Can't explain why it keeps doing this where there's almost no space despite clearing cache, temp files in storage. When I restart windows it goes back to around 3gb. Very strange.

So why is capturing better with Windows XP?. I have an old desktop PC running XP but the RAM is about 256 and isn't very fast. Pity I threw away the Pinnacle capture card I had in the back years ago, may've come in handy. Could do with getting old of a cheap monitor as the CRT monitor I had it hooked up to I gave it away.

[TimA-C]

Yes. Opera has been messed around with quite a lot by it's programmers recently. SO many updates since they "upgraded" (downgraded?) to Opera One. (I'm guessing One out of 10!) At least they've FINALLY brought back the Home/SpeedDial button on the Address Bar . . . ! I had no idea that that would be my biggest issue with the so-called "upgrade" but it was. And the frequency of updates has slowed, so maybe they're FINALLY getting to grips with this latest version? Shame they never thought to, oh, I don't know, Beta Test the bloomin' thing BEFORE foisting it out onto their users!?! (Microsoft, I'm lookin' Directly at you Too with regards to, you know, testing updates before pushing them out!)

As for why XP . . . ? I guess the main one is probably that because it was around & supported for SO long, many of the issues with it (and the drivers & software for use with it) were sorted out. These days, I guess it's also a 'quieter' OS with far fewer background tasks going on than in current versions of Windows. Also, again in these days, it almost certainly won't be connected to the internet, so no updates, no software 'phoning home' etc. etc. I'm sure others here will tell me if I'm massively wrong and being an idiot! (Certainly wouldn't be the first time! )

The USB Live2 should come with a copy of Hauppauge's Capture program. When used with the Live2 it's (I'm pretty certain) limited to mpeg2 captures. The more recent versions FINALLY let you set the audio bitrate without having to delve into the registry, AND gives you access to the Procamp settings (apart from 'Sharpness'), but IIRC I think you're limited to a max bitrate of 10MBps.

The USB Live2 works well with Virtualdub (most versions, including Vdub2) but you may battle with audio sync issues. I do. AmarecTV solved the audio sync problems I was having, BUT you need to use version 3.10 or earlier if you don't want to have to buy & use their own video codec. For lossless capture I tend to use the Lagarith video codec, but HuffYUV and UT Video both work well with AmarecTV too. For quick & 'dirty' captures I tend to use X264VFW codec, although this does push the CPU a little harder than Lagarith does. (There is also a Lossless setting for X264VFW, but it pushes the CPU harder when capturing AND is slower when processing with an Avisynth script. I think there might also be some colour conversion issues as well, but not sure on this.)

Anyway, Good Luck! And let us know how you get on!

[techmot]

Yes. Opera has been messed around with quite a lot by it's programmers recently. SO many updates since they "upgraded" (downgraded?) to Opera One. (I'm guessing One out of 10!) At least they've FINALLY brought back the Home/SpeedDial button on the Address Bar . . . ! I had no idea that that would be my biggest issue with the so-called "upgrade" but it was. And the frequency of updates has slowed, so maybe they're FINALLY getting to grips with this latest version? Shame they never thought to, oh, I don't know, Beta Test the bloomin' thing BEFORE foisting it out onto their users!?! (Microsoft, I'm lookin' Directly at you Too with regards to, you know, testing updates before pushing them out!)

As for why XP . . . ? I guess the main one is probably that because it was around & supported for SO long, many of the issues with it (and the drivers & software for use with it) were sorted out. These days, I guess it's also a 'quieter' OS with far fewer background tasks going on than in current versions of Windows. Also, again in these days, it almost certainly won't be connected to the internet, so no updates, no software 'phoning home' etc. etc. I'm sure others here will tell me if I'm massively wrong and being an idiot! (Certainly wouldn't be the first time! )

The USB Live2 should come with a copy of Hauppauge's Capture program. When used with the Live2 it's (I'm pretty certain) limited to mpeg2 captures. The more recent versions FINALLY let you set the audio bitrate without having to delve into the registry, AND gives you access to the Procamp settings (apart from 'Sharpness'), but IIRC I think you're limited to a max bitrate of 10MBps.

The USB Live2 works well with Virtualdub (most versions, including Vdub2) but you may battle with audio sync issues. I do. AmarecTV solved the audio sync problems I was having, BUT you need to use version 3.10 or earlier if you don't want to have to buy & use their own video codec. For lossless capture I tend to use the Lagarith video codec, but HuffYUV and UT Video both work well with AmarecTV too. For quick & 'dirty' captures I tend to use X264VFW codec, although this does push the CPU a little harder than Lagarith does. (There is also a Lossless setting for X264VFW, but it pushes the CPU harder when capturing AND is slower when processing with an Avisynth script. I think there might also be some colour conversion issues as well, but not sure on this.)

Anyway, Good Luck! And let us know how you get on!

Hi thanks for the advice.

Got around to using the Happauge device and it seems pretty good, seemed to capture at 720 without the stuttering/jittering I was getting with the cheap Climax Digital device I was using before. Had to download an earlier version of Virtualdub as the current version didn't seem to work (it detected the device but no video window would appear, plus the Hauppauge audio didn't work but it does say on the box that the Live2 audio may not work on all capture programs). The only issue with Vdub is that I was getting the audio out of sync even just by few seconds, and I tried both options in the "timings" setting but nothing fixed the issue. On the other capture device the audio was in sync when I selected one of the options in timing (I forget which one it was) for around 40 mins of capture, but with the Hauppauge (or maybe it's down to the version of Vdub) I'm getting the audio of out sync from the start.


I decided to try OBS as I knew the audio would be fine, and I know many on here don't recommend using OBS for capture but at least the audio will be ok and doesn't produce very large file sizes. Tried AmarecTV but it kept displaying an error message when I clicked on audio codecs (I'm guessing it's asking for the paid codec). Will download the earlier version as suggested and see if that works.

[techmot]

I still seem to be having problems even with the Hauppauge. I can't get audio using AmarecTV no matter which audio option I choose I just get an error message appear. I've downloaded an older version and gone into the audio codecs setting and selected Lagarith, but when I try and select the audio I just get the error message, without selecting the audio the capture has no sound.

I thought the Hauppauge is supposed to work with AmarecTV?. With Virtualdub I get the audio out of sync, AmarecTV no audio at all.

[Attachment 73952 - Click to enlarge]

[TimA-C]

OK. So this is my setup in AmarecTV v3.10:


[Attachment 73954 - Click to enlarge]

Also, I'm not sure if I'm misreading this but Lagarith is a video codec. I'd recommend that you leave the audio uncompressed and convert/process afterwards.


[Attachment 73955 - Click to enlarge]

OBS does work with the Live2 as a video source, but you can't trust that the output is what you're expecting. You NEED to check the output and adapt any subsequent processing accordingly. (It has been a while since I did any playing around with OBS, so newer versions may be better.)

[techmot]

OK. So this is my setup in AmarecTV v3.10:


[Attachment 73954 - Click to enlarge]

Also, I'm not sure if I'm misreading this but Lagarith is a video codec. I'd recommend that you leave the audio uncompressed and convert/process afterwards.


[Attachment 73955 - Click to enlarge]

OBS does work with the Live2 as a video source, but you can't trust that the output is what you're expecting. You NEED to check the output and adapt any subsequent processing accordingly. (It has been a while since I did any playing around with OBS, so newer versions may be better.)

Hi thanks for that. I selected the Hauppauge video in the the audio settings in Amarec and I was able to get audio on both capture and playback. Captued about 50 mins and the audio was perfectly in sync. Why does Virtualdub have so many issues with the audio when AmarecTV doesn't?.

The only issue was in encoding the 30gb file size in Handbrake which seems to be taking about 3 hours to convert setting the quality at 23, constant framerate and setting the audio bitrate at 256. Is there a faster way of encoding?. Previously when I would capture in VDub I would just record in parts, mainly to keep the audio in sync but also so that it wouldn't take hours to encode later in Handbrake.

Yeah OBS seems a strange capture program (primarily used for live streaming) as the video resolution options vary but don't seem to offer 720x576, 640x40 etc, but at least it captured in MKV or MP4 at a decent file size.

[Alwyn]

Is there a faster way of encoding?

This will depend entirely on the power of CPU and GPU(s). Handbrake allows you to choose different encoder types (on the Video tab > Video Encoder dropdown). I can choose, for example, H264 NVec, which will use my NVidia graphics card, which is a much faster encoder than the CPU ("H264").

the video resolution options vary but don't seem to offer 720x576, 640x40 etc, but at least it captured in MKV or MP4 at a decent file size.

You can set whatever resolution you like in OBS. Check the tutes on YT.

The "decent file size" was probably because OBS records directly to MP4; you don't have to go through the 30GB lossless intermediate file.