I have tons of tapes that need to be backed up on DV and eventually DVD. My system is ready to go, I have practically a terabyte of free space on my machine (Dual 1.25GHZ G4, 2GB RAM, 4 x 250GB). But I have been stuck trying to decide which analog to DV converter to purchase. My main questions is:

Is there a difference in the quality of video that is encoded by the converter, or will all comporable converters encode the video in the same quality. My choices have been so far: Formac Studio DV($400), Canopus ADVC-100($300) or the Canopus ADVC-300($500). I know the ADVC-300 boasts features such as "high-quality image enhancement technology including digital noise reduction and image stabilization using Line Time Base Correction (LTBC)". But will I notice a distinct difference in the quality of video that is outputed from the converter? Please note: I am not willing to spend over $500 on a converter.

Thanks for your help in advance, This is a great forum!

I own and use the advc 100 by canopus. I am very pleased with it, never drops frames, maintains synch. My take on the 300 is that if you have some old tapes, this might help maintain synch where the old tapes have lost a bit of the time track.

Just my 2 cents.

I have the ADVC 100 and have had great results with it. It does help in keeping audio in sync also. It's a good unit for the price.

Jeff Patnaude

Thanks guys! I think I am definately going to go with the Canopus ADVC-100 or the 300. Canopus definitely has a broader product line in the digital video market. And from your positive experiences I can see more people in DV would chose Canopus as well.

Thanks again, I am glad that I found this forum for the future!!

If you can get it the Sept 2004 issue of Videomaker magazine has an article comparing capture cards/boxes.

Good luck.

Dennis Vogel