Sony GV-D900 Problems

seanybear wrote on 3/16/2002, 7:04 PM
Anyone else having problems with the Sony GV-D900 mini-DV recording device? On either a print-to-tape operation to the device or playback of any other print-to-tape cassette made on another machine -- the sound is ALWAYS choppy and erratic! This happens no matter what settings I choose. I have returned the unit twice to Sony for repair without luck. I am using the DCR-PC9 camcorder as my current device, but wanted the GV-D900 as my prime source for capture and tape printing.

Any suggestions?

Thanks

Comments

MoBetta wrote on 3/16/2002, 10:07 PM
As long as you are working Mini DV to Mini DV, you should not have any problems. I have experienced some problems in the past when transfering DV Cam to Mini DV.

Avoid recording in LP mode, that could also lead to problems.

Hope that helps.

MoBetta
seanybear wrote on 3/17/2002, 9:41 AM
I appreciate the advice. Unfortunately, any Sonic Foundry created tape (SP or LP mode) plays erratically (sound) in the Sony GV-D900. This occurs whether I "print" directly to a tape in the unit or create a tape in another camcorder then try to play in the machine. Very frustrating! When I play/transfer any other normal mini-DV recording, the output is fine. Sonic Foundry does "something" that the GV-D900 does not like.

So, I have been limited in the use of this Sony product unless anyone knows of any way to get around the problem.

Thanks
MoBetta wrote on 3/17/2002, 1:14 PM
Have you tried printing directly from the time line? Make sure you print NTSC DV settings, your file should also have the same properties, and if you recorded your mini DV tape in SP, it should print fine. Otherwise it could be related to your hardware: computer too slow, not enough RAM or you need to Defrag ( I suggest Diskeeper 7.0.).

My GVD 900 works just fine...

MoBetta
seanybear wrote on 3/18/2002, 7:09 AM
Question for Sonic Foundry.....

Have you found major "property" differences between the same manufacturer's camcorder line? Assuming my settings are all correct as MoBetta suggests, why would one Sony product work well and the other play/record erratically from VV3? I only have problems with VV3 created tapes on my GVD-900 – whether I create them directly to the unit or via another Sony camcorder (plays fine) and then try to play on the machine. Would hardware settings make that much of a difference between different devices?

My setup:

Windows 2000 w/ Service Pack 2
Compaq Armada 800 MHz
512 RAM

Plus, I defrag regularly and always use the VV3 NTSC DV settings

Thanks
daryl wrote on 3/18/2002, 10:12 AM
Sounds like a similar problem I'm having with a JVC DV deck. Mine is on the video capture side, the audio is messey. This has been turned over to Sonic Foundry's tech support. My work-around right now is to go back to Vidcap 2, it captures audio and video cleanly from my deck. NOTE - Vidcap 3 captures fine from DV cameras on my system.

Hope this helps.

Daryl
MoBetta wrote on 3/18/2002, 6:30 PM
Seanybear,

"whether I create them directly to the unit or via another Sony camcorder (plays fine) and then try to play on the machine"... Do you mean when you copy (transfer) from one camcorder to another? If so, you will not have any problem with the transfer and it means the problem is with your hardware (most likely) and not with V.V.3

Have you tried rendering your file and viewing it in Media Player? Do you print directly from the timeline? What defrag program do you use? Window's is pretty lame, try Diskeeper, makes a huge difference.

MoBetta
deef wrote on 3/21/2002, 6:03 PM
What do you mean audio is "messey"? Does this happen on all footage captured with the JVC DV deck?

What are your OS, system, and DV device specs?
deef wrote on 3/21/2002, 6:06 PM
Do you have DMA enabled on your hard drives/controllers?

I am unaware of any issues like this between models of mfgrs. What audio format is the footage?

If you capture some DV footage from another DV device and then directly print that to the JVC deck (without rendering) from Video Capture's Print to Tape tab, do you still see this?

PAL or NTSC?
seanybear wrote on 3/22/2002, 2:23 PM
For my situation, Jon (from tech support) has been assisting on other issues relating to Windows 2000. Running W2K SP2 on a Compaq 800MHz machine. When using print-to-tape on the Sony GVD900, the sound is always "blotchy" -- constant cutoffs throughout the process. Sound comes from wav/MP3 files -- all at 16 bit. Video output seems fine. Have checked DMA -- all enabled correctly. Read another forum topic on possible device conflicts in W2K where none supposedly exist, but capture works fine.

Any other suggestions?
deef wrote on 3/24/2002, 1:16 PM
Hard drives defragged?

Do you have the most up to date drivers installed for other devices installed on the system (display, hard drives, ATA or VIA drivers)

What motherboard are you using? RAID controller? SCSI devices?

What other devices do you have installed and what is the IRQ distribution?
seanybear wrote on 3/25/2002, 2:48 PM
Defrag is not a problem. But, we are checking into the IRQ distribution -- have many devices on # 11 -- including the firewire controller. Does anyone know how to change the IRQ settings in W2000 -- options are grayed out? Need a detailed step-by-step as the process we tried today was unsuccessful.


Thanks
deef wrote on 3/25/2002, 4:03 PM
You can change your system to not use ACPI via Device Manager by Choosing to update the driver for Computer and choosing Install from specific...and then choose Don't search...then choose standard PC. This will force a couple reboots and then redistribute the IRQs. This may or may not be your specific fix, but you can try it and then if it doesn't work, go back.