Out of sync audio when recording VHS to computer

[Leon Grizzard]

I bought some software and interface stuff to try to record some VHS tapes to my computer to burn to DVD (VHS2DVD). I have tried to record a guitar instructional video, but the audio is slightly out of sync, although still usable. I have updated drivers, installed a recommended video decoder filter (DivX 5.2.1) and jiggered with the settings as recommended by the VHS2DVD folks, but still out of sync. I have not tried to turn off the many background processes, which the manual says may help, because I don't know which to turn off and which to leave on, which is question number 1.

The manual says I may have insufficient resources, which I take to mean my processor is wimpy. So question 2 is: is that right? And question 3 is, if so, is upgrading my processor likely to fix the problem, and is that something my local computer shop can do without loosing data or otherwise having to reload programs etc. I would rather suffer a little out of sync than go through all that.

My processor is an Athlon 64 x2 dual core 6000+ 3.00 GHz. My computer has Windows 7, Home Premium, 64 bit.

[Mitch Drumm]

I have not tried to turn off the many background processes, which the manual says may help, because I don't know which to turn off and which to leave on, which is question number 1.

The manual says I may have insufficient resources, which I take to mean my processor is wimpy. So question 2 is: is that right? And question 3 is, if so, is upgrading my processor likely to fix the problem, and is that something my local computer shop can do without loosing data or otherwise having to reload programs etc.

My processor is an Athlon 64 x2 dual core 6000+ 3.00 GHz. My computer has Windows 7, Home Premium, 64 bit.

Question #2: No, that's not a wimpy processor. "Resources" problems typically refer to available memory (RAM) rather than the processor itself, but you don't have an antique PC, so you likely have a reasonable amount of memory.

Question 3: Upgrading the processor isn't likely to fix the problem. Your PC shop can upgrade it without you losing data or programs, but it's very unlikely to have any connection to your problem.

I know very little about VHS transfer to PC, but I wouldn't be looking at the processor. Background processes might be a factor generally if you have little RAM, but I don't know if that could affect audio synchronization.

Generally, to increase "resources" (available memory), you shouldn't have any other programs running when you try to transfer. Reboot your PC before you start the transfers. But, if you have 2 GB or more of RAM, I doubt if you have any resource issues.

Look at the processes tab of Task Manager. Poke "show processes from all users". How many processes do you show? An average number of processes running is maybe 40 or 50.

In Task Manager, poke the "memory" column to rank processes in order of memory used. What are the 2 or 3 processes at the top of that list?

Look at the "performance" tab in Task Manager. How much "free" physical memory do you show?

I'd look into the software and the transfer process generally. I can tell you that audio synchronization is a very common problem, so there ought to be a lot of information about it online. Hit Google to find out what others have done about that issue.