Best 1394B PCIE Card That Still Works with DV Camcorders

[braxus]

I have a Syba 1394B card and it has known issues working with old dv camcorders, as you need the drivers for such devices and it does not connect to the camera itself. I was told to get a Texas Instruments card for the chipset. What cards are recommended today for PCI-E and 1394B, that dont have issues being able to work and connect with old DV camcorders, and dont need drivers either? Also I heard of switching the cards driver to the Legacy driver, but I dont know why? Which card will also work under Windows 10 and 11 64 bit? I just want to make sure whatever card I'd use works under the current Windows and also doesnt have a problem connecting with DV camcorders. Any suggestions?

I'll be using OBS Studio to capture the tapes. Tapes will be both SD and HD. My other option is to use a motherboard with the 1394B port on the back and run Windows 8 on an older computer setup.

[dellsam34]

If you are transferring DV, D8 and HDV cassettes the right software will be Sclive for DV/D8 and HDVSplit for HDV, OBS for modern HDMI devices and screen capture.

[Alwyn]

For Firewire IEEE1394A (you don't need 1394B for DV transfer), no camcorders have or need drivers. The only driver necessary is the Windows IEEE1394 driver (either Legacy or modern).

Any suggestions?

Yes. Get a cheap VIA-based 1394 card. I would steer clear of Firewire 800 cards; just a hunch I have that they don't work as well as the original, basic 1394A cards.

I have put a spiel on this subject on my website here:

https://www.aaproductions.net/dvtransfer.htm

Unfortunately the Tunghey card I have is currently not available, but any of the other cheap VIA cards "should" work.

I would suggest not using OBS. DV is not "captured" (well, it shouldn't be), it is "transferred". For SD, use WinDV (if it works) or Scenalyzer. For HDV (eg 1440x1080i) use HDVSplit.

I just tried OBS and although it sees the "Microsoft VCR" ie the camcorder, I couldn't get a picture. I may be doing something wrong there but...

Once transferred, you can then convert them to MP4 as you desire.

[braxus]

So Firewire 400 is fine for HDV then?

[Alwyn]

So Firewire 400 is fine for HDV then?

Yes, the bitrate for HDV is the same as DV: 13GB/hour. The difference is that HDV is in MPEG format, which has better compression than the DV format, so you get 1440x1080 of HDV whereas for DV you only get 720x576 (for PAL).

[braxus]

https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B07N2WQZTS/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1

So I purchased this card. Hopefully its the right one to use.

[Alwyn]

That should do nicely. Let us know!

[Tracer93]

Hi there .... it the OP smiling

[rgr]

WinDV[/url] (if it works) or Scenalyzer.

What about CaptureFlux?

And also DVDate to extract dates (subtitles) to srt.

[dellsam34]

I occasionally use CaptureFlux for analog tapes, for me it works better than vdub, Haven't tried it for digital tapes.

[JN-]

The Vegas Capture util can do the job also. Is depreciated from VP20. If u have a pre VP20 version it can be used seperately without loading the full VP nle.

[Drainpipe]

I have put a spiel on this subject on my website here:

https://www.aaproductions.net/dvtransfer.htm

Thank you so much for this! I have been tearing my hair out trying to get a TI-based Startech card to work under Windows 10 to absolutely no avail, until I booted into Ubuntu and found that all the exact same issues existed under Linux!

I've now ordered a cheap, unbranded VIA-based card from eBay.

[Alwyn]

Be sure to let us know how it goes. Be good to know one way or the other.

[Drainpipe]

Be sure to let us know how it goes. Be good to know one way or the other.

Absolutely, will definitely report back next week after the VIA-based card has arrived.

Just for interest, I did manage to get one device to work with the Startech card - a Canopus ADVC-55. That device would *only* work if it was receiving a valid video input before being connected to the Firewire port. If I connected it to the computer in the absence of a valid video input, it just wouldn't work at all. That trick didn't work with an ADVC-100, or any of several different makes of DV and Digital8 camcorders I tried, none of which I could get to function at all (they showed up in Device Manager, but no software was able to capture video from them, either freezing up or giving an error).

[rgr]

I occasionally use CaptureFlux for analog tapes, for me it works better than vdub, Haven't tried it for digital tapes.

I tested CaptureFlux with miniDV. Quite unpleasant to use. I'm sticking with Vegas Capture.

[godai]

i use virtualdub and go fine so far. for what i see. get something like 20gb for hour and half.

my question firewire on a motherboard it be ok? i use that way

[Alwyn]

get something like 20gb for hour and half.

That's good, DV is 13GB per hour. If VDub is capturing in the DV codec, then that's what you want.

my question firewire on a motherboard it be ok? i use that way

If you don't have a camcorder that will do DV over USB, a Firewire card on the mobo is the best way to go when you get the driver set up.

[Drainpipe]

Be sure to let us know how it goes. Be good to know one way or the other.

Absolutely, will definitely report back next week after the VIA-based card has arrived.

Nope, the VIA card doesn't work either. Symptoms exactly the same as I was seeing with the TI card, except it's even worse because I can't even get the ADVC-55 to work with the VIA card.

I notice both cards use the same "asmedia" PCI-PCIe bridge chip - I'm wondering if that could be the problem?

I've found another card on eBay that seems to have a VIA chip on it, but I can't see the "asmedia" bridge chip on the board in the pictures, although they only show one side of the board so it's possible the bridge chip is on the other side of the board. The VIA chip also looks to be a smaller package than the one on the other card. I've ordered one of those, more in hope than expectation that it'll work

[Alwyn]

Oh that's a bummer. Did you try the other driver? Either VIA 1394 OHCI or the "Legacy"?

My Tunghey card is out of stock here but the one Braxus bought in post #6 is available, and it looks identical to mine:

https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B07N2WQZTS/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I have noticed the layout of some 1394 cards is quite different. Could you post the link to your card?

[Drainpipe]

Oh that's a bummer.

My Tunghey card is out of stock here but the one Braxus bought in post #6 is available, and it looks identical to mine:

https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B07N2WQZTS/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I have noticed the layout of some 1394 cards is quite different. Could you post the link to your card?

Those cards look identical to the VIA-based one I cannot get to work, with the asmedia bridge chip.

Here's a link to the one I have just ordered that looks a little different, without the asmedia bridge chip:
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/166394036869

[Alwyn]

Fingers crossed! Here's another lead (which came in after you had bought that dud one):

https://forum.videohelp.com/threads/413744-What-is-the-modern-solution-for-backing-up-...es#post2727305

[nicholasserra]

Have several of these that work well

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07Q2G79QG/

[Alwyn]

Have several of these that work well

Good stuff Nicholas. Can I ask what operating system and version (eg Win 10 22H2, Win 11 23H2) are these being used on?

[Drainpipe]

Have several of these that work well

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07Q2G79QG/

Thanks - that looks very similar to the one I have just ordered from eBay. Fingers crossed!

[nicholasserra]

Have several of these that work well

Good stuff Nicholas. Can I ask what operating system and version (eg Win 10 22H2, Win 11 23H2) are these being used on?

Windows 7 and windows 10 boxes

[Alwyn]

Thanks Nic.

[Drainpipe]

Oh that's a bummer.

My Tunghey card is out of stock here but the one Braxus bought in post #6 is available, and it looks identical to mine:

https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B07N2WQZTS/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I have noticed the layout of some 1394 cards is quite different. Could you post the link to your card?

Those cards look identical to the VIA-based one I cannot get to work, with the asmedia bridge chip.

Here's a link to the one I have just ordered that looks a little different, without the asmedia bridge chip:
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/166394036869

Unbelievably, this card has arrived snapped in half! The package has clearly been crushed in transit. Goodness knows how long this is going to take to sort out.

[Alwyn]

Unbelievably, this card has arrived snapped in half!

Gawd! You'll be rapt when you finally get this gear capturing DV!

[Drainpipe]

Unbelievably, this card has arrived snapped in half!

Gawd! You'll be rapt when you finally get this gear capturing DV!

Haha, well luckily it's not massively urgent for me because I still have an old computer I can use for capturing DV, but it's a slow machine (by modern standards) and I want to retire it.

It's just frustrating more than anything.

[Drainpipe]

Have several of these that work well

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07Q2G79QG/

Doesn't work for me, sadly.

I got a refund for the eBay one that turned up broken, and ordered one of these LinksTek ones from Amazon US, and it doesn't work.

Exactly the same effect - devices show up in Device Manager instantly, but nothing is able to capture video from them. The exception is the Canopus ADVC-55, which will work if, and only if, it is receiving a valid video input as the Firewire cable is connected to the computer. I get exactly the same behaviour in Windows 10 and Linux booted from a USB drive, so the issue does not appear to be software related.

I've now tried three different PCIe Firewire cards, and none of them work, all showing exactly the same problems:

• A StarTech branded card with TI chip and "asmedia" bridge chip.
• An unbranded card that looks similar to the StarTech card but with VIA chip and "asmedia" bridge chip
• A much smaller card with VIA chip and no bridge chip

I can only conclude that the issue lies with the motherboard, but I don't have any other PCs with PCIe slots.