[bigwurock]

i have done a few transfers here..by no means not with anything pro equipment.....
i use....

jvc super vhs hr-s3800u>s-video>canopus advc100>firewire>pc>vegas6......

by any means pro...no...good results...yea pretty good....the one reason i like the canopus is not just for the filters but the audio lock..which after playing a 2 hour vhs the audio could drift...

i think alot that people have forgot about transferring vhs is that you can only get the best result on how good the vhs is that you have...ex. how good is that 2nd gen vhs you have? how were the first 2 copies made..?..age of vhs, how many times has the vhs been played..ect...was the first copy off the master done good? i have seen 4th gen vhs that look better than 2nd gen..so alot depends on the right coping of the vhs too..

since i really don't follow up on standalone recorders i don't know alot of details about them...though they do remind of the cheap-lazy way to transfer...lol...are they the worst quality...?...thats all debateable...i have seen some really good quality shows made from them but i never saw the vhs they came from so i am assuming the vhs was really good quality by itself...not knocking them but not what i prefer to use..the one i had was pretty basic...you could not adjust the true bitrate..only could to 1 hour, 2 hour, 3 hour and 4 hour...and plus you can only do ac3 audio...which in itself is worthless....that was about 4 years ago so not sure if you can adjust bitrate and use lpcm audio now with a standalone..?...

why i think pc is better..first of all i use vegas6...yep still stuck on vegas6..just that i like it so well and never really upgraded...vegas is considered a very good video editing software that by itself beats a standalone recording right there....vegas you can crop and adjust the video..the whole thing or parts, i can put in new audio that is better than the master source (usually anyways), i can split the video if needed..say if there is a pause or frames missing...you can still use the new audio and fill in the video with whatever you want..stills or moving pictures...i can adjust the bitrate to anything i want to..can use lpcm audio..i can edit colors ect..but i usually don't cause then you run into the new debate of everyones tv is set up differently...i can go on and on with options in vegas...

what really bugs me the most of what people transfer is that some don't use the best audio possible...why in the world do you want to use ac3 audio on a show you work hard on and then put crappy ac3 on it...sometimes it can't be helped but for the most part that people author stuff up on standalone keep that junk ac3 audio on it...people that even run vegas or anyother pc program still use ac3...why..?...granted there are times where it cannot be helped but most of the time it can...can go on here also....lol

the lineage really confuses me here too...

Lineage: Master Reels (3/4 inch tape) > Master VHS > 1st gen 8mm >
Sony TRV-740 Digital8 Camera with TBC/DNR > firewire > JVC DRM-100 Dvd Recorder >
XP mode > 2 dvd-r SA Authored with ac3 audio > Reauthored on a DUAL LAYER by Skulljam9 without Re-Encoding

there can only be 1 "master" but in lossless state, copies should be as good as the master if done right...but not in this case...reminds me of the old days of audio when DAT was being used...people would label their analog tapes this way..DAT>cassette master...it is not a master from the show..maybe a master of a different source..??..this all gets debatable too...not sure how you get a master vhs off of master reels..?..

anyways i can go on and on...these are all opinions and thats all...