Posted by Steve Dedman on October 23, 2002 at 10:54:47:
In Reply to: VHS sound posted by Alex on October 22, 2002 at 20:21:52:
The reason that you sound like $&!+ on a VHS is simple. They were never designed for high quality taping. Of all of the various formats of video reproduction (DV, DVCam, DVC, 3/4", 1" [for us fossils], and of course, BetaCam) VHS has the poorest quality video and sound reproduction. But (surprise, surprise) it is the cheapest format to which to manufacture tapes and equipment, and therefore get into the hands of consumers. It doesn't matter how many bells & whistles your camcorder or VHS deck has. The process of getting the video and sound onto the tape hasn't changed in 25 years. The crappy built-in mikes only compound the problem, they aren't the cause.
The only way that you will ever sound as good on video as you do live is to buy a digital beta deck (~ $45,000) and the ancillary equipment to have it professionally mixed. Best bet - find a video production house and start buying beer for the production manager. Then you MIGHT get a 10-minute video done for ~$3,000. But, the only thing people have to watch it on is...A VHS! So, you still have to dub it down to the same crappy quality you started with! Beta is the far-superior system, but that's another tale for another time.
SD