Which of my USB capture cards should I be using?

[PacificaBren]

Hello,

I am in the process of learning how best to perform very high-quality captures of out-of-print Laserdiscs.

I'm currently using my beloved Elgato Video Capture USB device.

In reading some of the posts here, I get the impression people don't have much respect for Elgato products, because they're seen as being very consumer-grade.

However, ever since I realized OBS Studio for Windows is able to talk to my Elgato device, I've been using it to capture Laserdiscs, and I seem to be getting good results.

BUT before I figured out how to get my computer and OBS Studio to recognize and use my Elgato card, I placed an order for a used Diamond Multimedia ATI TV Wonder HD 600 USB Digital & Analog TV Tuner, as that had been recommended to me as a good device a lot of people in this community use.

Previous to this, I had attempted to use a Diamond Multimedia VC500SE, but I eventually determined that's not a stereo device, so any captures made using it would only ever have mono sound.

Therefore I ordered the used, discontinued Diamond Multimedia ATI TV Wonder HD 600 USB Digital & Analog TV Tuner, because it's known to work and known to be a stereo device.

Right now, since finding a setup that works for me has been a big hassle, I'm kind of in "If it ain't broke, don't fix it mode," in terms of wanting to just continue using my Elgato device to capture my analog video sources.

My question is this:

Since I now have the Diamond ATI 600 device, am I cheating myself out of any additional sound or picture quality by not ditching the Elgato in favor of the Diamond ATI?

That is to say, is there anything in the Diamond ATI's chips/circuitry that is going to provide a better or cleaner picture and sound than the Elgato?

I fully understand Elgato gets no respect around here, but I suspect that might be mainly because the Elgato Video Capture application that comes with the hardware is such a consumer-grade, dumbed down, "it just works" piece of software.

Since I've taken that application out of the equation by substituting OBS Studio, my hunch is that it's perfectly fine to use the Elgato hardware.

I would welcome opinions from anybody who might know better than me.

Thank you!

[Subtitles]

I have few laserdiscs and the quality is mpeg1. I don't expect any high quality captures from these discs. Any capture cards would do the job.
Please check if these laserdiscs are available in DVD format with better quality.

[lollo]

I have few laserdiscs and the quality is mpeg1.

You must be joking. Laserdisc recorded video signal is composite analog, and the best LDs pressing are good quality.

[Alwyn]

Since I now have the Diamond ATI 600 device, am I cheating myself out of any additional sound or picture quality by not ditching the Elgato in favor of the Diamond ATI?

Try them both. Capture the same (short) piece of video and compare them side by side. Any differences will be obvious. I use Virtual Dub to compare: open two instances, the same size, and open your files, one in each instance.

[lollo]

I would welcome opinions from anybody who might know better than me.

The Diamond VC500 you had is generally better then Elgato for picture quality, and captures Stereo.

https://forum.videohelp.com/threads/407779-Elgato-vs-Diamond-VC500-vs-Dazzle

The USB 600 is in line with the VC500 in term of quality, the second may suffer of AGC problems for some revision.

OBS is not recommended for Analog capture, use AmarecTV or VirtualDub.

If you capture from Laserdisc, either your player has a good comb filter (rare) or you should use a capture card with an excellent comb filter (VC500 has not, ATI 600 USB is slightly better)

As Alwin said, nothing is better than a comparison on the field!

[Brad]

I am in the process of learning how best to perform very high-quality captures of out-of-print Laserdiscs.

Domesday Duplicator + ld-decode.

https://www.pcbway.com/project/shareproject/DoomsDayDuplicator_Rev_3.html
https://www.tindie.com/products/tokugawaheavyindustries/domesday-duplicator/

https://github.com/happycube/ld-decode/wiki

https://www.retrorgb.com/domesday-laserdisc-and-vhs-archival-project-interview.html

Join us on the Discord for any questions: https://discord.gg/pVVrrxd

[lollo]

I am in the process of learning how best to perform very high-quality captures of out-of-print Laserdiscs.

Domesday Duplicator + ld-decode.

Yes, that's the top quality!