Datavideo DAC-100

starixiom wrote on 3/25/2003, 3:24 PM

Has anyone used this device? How does it compare to the Canopus Advc-100? The specs from various sites tend to indicate that they are similar in terms of quality. I have not found any mention of locked audio though.

Comments

Chienworks wrote on 3/25/2003, 4:31 PM

The locked audio comes from the fact that the audio and video are combined into a single DV stream before being sent through firewire. In this respect, it would be very difficult for any A/V -> DV converter to not lock audio just as well as any other converter.

SonyDennis wrote on 3/25/2003, 5:16 PM

Actually, DV can contain "locked" or "unlocked" audio, but the terms are different than their usual usage in digital media. In DV, locked audio has a specified number of samples per fixed group of frames, exactly, and unlocked audio is allowed to have more or less. Devices producing unlocked audio are supposed to still adhere to the system sampling rate (48 or 32 kHz), but some don't. Any DV reader that does not take this into consideration can have audio drift issues. Vegas deals with DV unlocked audio.
///d@

starixiom wrote on 3/25/2003, 6:59 PM

Dennis,
That is exactly what i meant about "locked" with regards to drifting. I got confused when canopus was advertising locked as a special feature. Then i did the research and found exactly What you guys meant between the possible drift issue and the combining of video/audio.

How would Vegas compensate for this possible situation? the reason i ask is because this unit is $100 less than the canopus. If Vegas can compensate then there really isnt a need to spend the extra money as long as correcting the drifting has minimal amounts of hassle. If not, then spending the extra would be benefical.

Spot|DSE wrote on 3/25/2003, 10:41 PM

Starixiom,
Watch for a review of the DataVideo in the next week from me, on the DMN and Sundance Media Group sites.
I'm playing with it now. Just finished reviewing the ADS A/V Link. You can see it at the www.dmnforums.com site.

starixiom wrote on 3/26/2003, 2:47 PM

SPOT,
Wow that was perfect timing. I took a look at your ADS review and to me the canopus picture still looked the best all thing considered. Cant wait for your new review.

Kered5 wrote on 3/26/2003, 4:16 PM

For what it's worth...I've been using a Datavideo DAC-100 for a few months now with Vegas 4...both as a digitizer to convert an analog source and as a means to drive an external monitor through the firewire port. Been happy with both aspects of it's operation and never experienced any audio drift even on long video files. Like you say...it's $100 less than the Canopus!

Spot|DSE wrote on 3/26/2003, 5:32 PM

Canopus picture DOES look best, but consider this....
The OHCI capture is direct from tape to hard drive, right? So, the picture that is CLOSEST to that image, is what you are looking for in this case. Yes, the Canopus image looks "BEST" but it's not CLOSEST to the image from the tape....
Doesn't that Dazzle just suck though?

starixiom wrote on 4/19/2003, 6:34 PM

SPOT,

I cant find your comparison of the ADS/ Canopus DAC on the DMN site. Did you take it down or did you get a chance to review the Datavideo in an update?