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Capture
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Features | Compatibility* | Cnx | Price |
Rating |
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| ADSTech PYRO A/V Link | DV/Firewire DV Converter Analog VideoIn |
Vista *based on user reports. |
FireWire | $150 | 7.5/10 26 votes |
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34 comments (52022 views) Post comment |
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| Description (from the manufacturer site) | |||||||||
| The ultimate tool for capturing and converting video into professional quality DV format and just as valuable for exporting edited DV content to analog video tape recorders.
The missing link in DV Video Capturing DV from a Digital camcorder is fantastic, but what about all of the video content you have in other formats (8mm, beta, VHS, DVD), how do you get that content into the DV format? PYRO A/V link solves the problem by converting any analog video source into DV. Capture, Edit, Export With PYRO A/V link you can capture from any video source, including DV camcorders. Mix and match your video content to create a truly unique video production. Edit the video with Video Studio 6 SE DVD and add video filters, transition effects, video overlays, narration, background music and more. When your video production is a wrap, export to any VCR or VTR, save as MPEG-2 and burn a DVD or publish to the Internet. Features: External FireWire/1394 device Converts analog (RCA, S-VHS or Component Video) to DV video format Export DV Video to analog video tape recorders (RCA, S-VHS) Convert between devices (from DV to Analog or Analog to DV) without using a computer Capture from DV camcorder with full device control Edit with powerful editing software Create VCD, SVCD, DVD disks |
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Just tested the pyro a/v link under Vista x64. It works just fine. I captured the video using the greatest windows capture tool, WinDV. I.m capturing from component output of my Panasonic DMR-ES10. Comments posted by ofbarea from Costa Rica, March 04, 2007: Compatibility: Win95? Win98? Win2K WinXP Vista NT4? MAC? Linux? - Rated: 8 of 10. |
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I've used this card for about 2 years now. I've seen a lot of comments about dropping frames with vhs tape. I had 4 really old and cheap vhs tapes that were recorded with a cheap vhs camera going back over 15 years. Out of six hours of footage, I had about 10 dropped frames (nearly all black frames where camera had started and stopped). There was absolutely no difference in the quality of the video between the actual tape, and the captured avi. My card was a rev c., so perhaps firmware was an issue with previous cards. I even did a vhs tape for a client that had wrinkles in it (bad spots). I only dropped 5 frames on the bad spot, and it even picked up very noisy footage that was recorded with dirty heads. I was able to clean up the footage using avisynth and virtualdub filters. Comments posted by Rob from United States, May 04, 2006: Compatibility: Win95? Win98? Win2K? WinXP Vista? NT4? MAC? Linux? - Rated: 10 of 10. |
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I use this card to capture and convert Betacam (analog component) to DV (digital, 4:1:1 component). I also use it to convert public domain DVDs to DV format (again, analog component - NOT RGB - to DV, but also using the Composite and S-Video inputs, depending upon how much "restoration" the image quality needs prior to encoding) for editing into my weekly show. Works great both ways. In all cases I use a TBC. The only real problem - or limitation - is the audio. You have to be very careful about matching the impedence level of your audio. Audio from a consumer player works fine. Audio from a professional mixer or the Betacam can easily overdrive the unit and distort. I use Premiere 6.5/Pro most of the time but I also use Avid and FCP. For real time MPEG2 encoding I use MyDVD (software) with this unit. Works great. Very pleased with the quality and the price. Comments posted by mistervideo from United States, April 12, 2006: Compatibility: Win95? Win98? Win2K? WinXP Vista? NT4? MAC? Linux? - Rated: 9 of 10. |
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PROS Very High quailty captures. RGB Input. External/portable. Installs without drivers. Wont miss a frame, unless your heavily multitasking or if the video has lots of noise (usually VHS). Cons Price, you can get an internal card for cheaper. Misses frames when capturing from (Noisey VHS Tapes). Only captures DV format, so forget about realtime encoding into mpeg2. If you have a fast pc you can encode on the fly but this is strictly software encoding which would probably eat up all your cpu especially at high quality settings. 5-7 minutes will eat up around 1.5 gigs more a less. I have used the ADS pyro without problems, overall its a great product. I also have an old Hauppage tv tuner from years ago with coaxil input and 1 yellow video cable input. The ADS completely blows it away. ONE, JOE Comments posted by TrasH from United States, December 21, 2005: Compatibility: Win95? Win98? Win2K? WinXP Vista? NT4? MAC? Linux? - Rated: 8 of 10. |
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My Pyro died 6 months after I bought it. It has the new firmware update. I called the company to get it fixed. ADS said they no longer make it, so they will no longer fix them. So spend your money elsewhere and send a message to ADS and don't buy their garbage. I got it up the ass, take my advice don't buy ADS. Comments posted by Chris from United States, November 12, 2005: Compatibility: Win95? Win98? Win2K? WinXP Vista? NT4? MAC? Linux? - Rated: 1 of 10. |
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I bought a PYRO A/V Link Basic bundle that I got for less than $150. It is a Rev.C with the original firmware. I use WinDV capture application. The A/V link with the original firmware has a big flaw. It drops too many frames when capturing from sources that are not clean, like VHS. This was supposed to be fixed with a new firmware upgrade but I never try it. One of the strong points of the A/V link is that it ignores macrovision. Other products like Canopus ADVC-100 also have a way to disable it but they cost about $100 more. Another option is the DataVideo DAC-100, but it has a problem with black and white sources. I have a Panasonic DMR-ES10 DVD recorder that has excellent video synchronization circuits. I just connect the VHS to the ES10 to the Pyro A/V link and no dropped frames. I think the quality of the captures is excellent. For some captures that I like with no overscan noise I frame server the avi DV capture from Virtualdub (plus some filters) to TMPGEnc and to me the results rival the ones obtained by the ES10. Comments posted by ofbarea from United States, November 06, 2005: Compatibility: Win95? Win98? Win2K WinXP Vista? |
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I noticed that Linux was not listed for compatibility. I have used the ADS Pyro A/V Link under Linux successfully. I needed to compile and install the IEEE1394 driver modules, which weren't immediately available in my distro, but once that was done I had zero trouble capturing video from my Hi8 camcorder and a VHS VCR. I have gotten very good quality captures, with little or no frame drop. I use Fedora Core 2, mjpegtools, kino, vlc, and growisofs, along with supporting tools and libraries. My only problem initially was recognizing that the box had to be triggered to send frames using "dvcont play" before I could start capturing frames. I am very happy with the performance of this device. Comments posted by Rob from United States, October 23, 2004: Compatibility: Win95? Win98? Win2K? WinXP? Vista? NT4? MAC? Linux - Rated: 8 of 10. |
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I am very disappointed with this box and am selling it and getting a DAC-100. I have the latest firmnware and been doing numerous tests comparing it to the capture quality through a JVC BR-DV3000 at one end of the spectrum and a humble Avermedia PCI card at the other and the capture quality obtained by the Pyro is really poor compared to any other system I have used, even with a TBC. There is something seriously wrong with the analog to digital conversion in this box. The quality going in the other direction - DV to analog - is very good however. But I need it to be good going both ways. Comments posted by trock from United States, September 18, 2004: Compatibility: Win95? Win98? Win2K? WinXP Vista? NT4? MAC? Linux? - Rated: 4 of 10. |
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OK, got my ADS back today. Testing it on a VHS tape that had numerous frame drops prior to the firmware update. Over an hour captured - no frame drops. Looks like the fix works, at least for me. I'll have to capture several hours of VHS before I'll be 100% convinced. Comments posted by pbanders from United States, July 29, 2004: Compatibility: Win95? Win98? Win2K? WinXP? Vista? NT4? MAC? Linux? - Rated: No rating. |
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jabloom, thanks so much for posting this news. I do most of my capture with the ADS from my Tivo, so I don't have dropped frame problems, but would like to be able to do VHS without having to get a TBC. Hopefully, this fix will make this possible, thanks again! Comments posted by pbanders from United States, July 14, 2004: Compatibility: Win95? Win98? Win2K? WinXP? Vista? NT4? MAC? Linux? - Rated: No rating. |
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This unit can now be returned to ADS to have the firmware upgraded to version 3.0. This version of the firmware eliminates the dropped frame problems with older or poor quality analog tapes. ADS will be emailing all registered owners of the Pyro A/V Link and will also be posting the upgrade procedure on its website. I have confirmed all this information by speaking to ADS Tech Support. More details are posted by John Price on the www.creativecow.net ADS Pyro forum. Comments posted by jabloomf1230 from United States, July 14, 2004: Compatibility: Win95? Win98? Win2K? WinXP Vista? NT4? MAC? Linux? - Rated: No rating. |
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Usage note for the ADS Pyro A/V Link and other DV converters (e.g. Canopus ADVC-100) - note that while these devices capture from analog to DV, direct capture with software conversion on-the-fly (i.e., no post-capture transcoding) to other compression formats (MPEG 1/2, WMV, MPEG-4) is very simple using Ulead VideoStudio 8.0, with extremely flexible control over encoding parameters. No lengthy transcoding necessary to render captures directly to DVD, VCD, or other formats using this approach. Ulead MovieFactory 3.0 also supports on-the-fly encoding from DV, and has a direct-to-disk feature that permits you to use a DV encoder to capture-encode-burn in real time (less than 10 seconds post-production overhead for the disc to be written). For even higher quality video, you can capture to DV, then post-process the file using multi-pass MPEG encoding (e.g. TMPGENC and others). With the locked A/V sync feature of the ADS, these approaches simplify and assure high quality captures. Comments posted by pbanders from United States, June 21, 2004: Compatibility: Win95? Win98? Win2K? WinXP? Vista? NT4? MAC? Linux? - Rated: No rating. |
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If you have WinXP and Firewire it is "plug and play". Very Easy to install. Capture is DV. I am very happy with this product and recommend it to anyone who has a working knowlege of pc's and technology. It does require some "know how" to get the best results. I have had no problems with it. Comments posted by Mrpilot007 from United States, May 05, 2004: Compatibility: Win95? Win98? Win2K? WinXP Vista? NT4? MAC? Linux? - Rated: 10 of 10. |
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I just picked up a Revision C version of this card at CompUSA on sale for $129.99 after rebate (4/10/2004). Anyway, it does allow for locked audio (Rev B & C have this according to the website) and has worked well for me while using both Scenalyzer Live & Studio 9. I've done multi-hour captures with both programs and had no dropped frame problems (I have seen it drop 33 frames or so when I first start a capture, then run for hours without any additional drops). Comes with all the cables you need, which is a big plus considering the cost of cables these days. Comments posted by jg0001 from United States, April 13, 2004: Compatibility: Win95? Win98? Win2K? WinXP? Vista? NT4? MAC? Linux? - Rated: No rating. |
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Not recommended. This device drops frames every minute or so when capturing from VHS tapes, even tapes with no visible artifacts on TV. The only good points are: -the visual quality of the captured video is good. -there is no problem with A/V sync, even after A LOT of dropped frames. Comments posted by Rogerio Ribeiro from Other, April 03, 2004: Compatibility: Win95? Win98? Win2K? WinXP Vista? NT4? MAC? Linux? - Rated: 4 of 10. |
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Excellent DV device for the money. It drops a few frames now and then, but this seems to be related more to the quality of the original video source. I use WinDV to capture the video, TMPGEncPlus to covert to MPEG2 and ULead VS 7 to edit and burn DVDs. I highly recommend this product. Comments posted by jabloomf1230 from United States, March 11, 2004: Compatibility: Win95? Win98? Win2K? WinXP Vista? NT4? MAC? Linux? - Rated: 9 of 10. |
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Just bought one from Circuit City for $125.00 out the door. I have been fighting with converting my VHS wedding video for two weeks now and could not get any good results with driver changes, software changes, different codecs. Nothing was working. Either got good video and no sound, or sound with marginal video. I was capturing through my TI4200. After buying the Pyro, within 45 minutes (including hookup and installation of software), I had my wedding video captured, edited, and saved. It played back perfectly with better color and clarity, and the sound track was in sync with the picture... YAHOO..... Count me as a very happy customer. Comments posted by Rob from United States, March 10, 2004: Compatibility: Win95? Win98? Win2K? WinXP Vista? NT4? MAC? Linux? - Rated: 9 of 10. |
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I have an Adaptec avc-2210 and wasn't happy about the limited options in capturing. I bought a Pyro A/V link because of the extra flexibility. Hooked the Pyro up and was immediately disappointed with the capture (Direct TV)quality resulting from capturing/converting DV to DVD and MPEG to DVD. Tried every option and made some improvements but at best it looks like a good copy of a VHS tape. The captures I got with the avc-2210 looked very very close to the live quality of the DTV signal. The Pyro is going back to Circuit City tomorrow. Maybe the Pyro is a defective unit but I have now decided that for what I want to do, the limited control of the avc-2210 is okay. Comments posted by rg from United States, February 05, 2004: Compatibility: Win95? Win98? Win2K WinXP? Vista? NT4? MAC? Linux? - Rated: 5 of 10. |
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I concur with the recent comments regarding frame drops and problems with VCR sources. I do 99% of my capture from LD, Tivo, and some DVD - no problems at all with these sources. But on VCR, I get a frame drop of 33 frames about every 5 minutes. I have a JVC SVHS player. Looks like a time base problem. I can't recommend this unit for anyone who is recording from VHS sources until this is fixed. Comments posted by pbanders from Other, January 09, 2004: Compatibility: Win95? Win98? Win2K? WinXP? Vista? NT4? MAC? Linux? - Rated: No rating. |
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Good for a clean source, but I would not advise getting this if you are wanting to convert VHS tapes to DVD. If the signal is anything but perfect it will cut out and drop about 30 frames each time. (I have not found a single video tape that works perfectly with it yet) Good if you want to convert Laserdisks. I do beleive this unit would work ok with VHS if you have a TBC...but unless you have one of these allready, you would be better off going with a Canopus ADVC-300, which has a TBC built in. Others are mentioning dropped frames...it is not the computer that is causing it. It is the unit itself. When the unit is not dropping frames, it does work very well, and the picture quality and smoothness is fantastic. Again, DO NOT GET THIS FOR VHS transfers. You will be dissapointed. I'm going to be returning mine if I can, and getting the Canopus. It looks like there is a price difference for a reason. Comments posted by Coluph from Other, January 06, 2004: Compatibility: Win95? Win98? Win2K? WinXP Vista? NT4? MAC? Linux? - Rated: 5 of 10. |
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I just wanted to add something that I think needs to be said. If your experiencing missing frames with this device, it's most likely your source. You should know that even though your source video tape LOOKS GOOD on tv, it's most likely dropping frames like crazy. Video tape is a noisy, and far from perfect medium. I know that we're all trying to save money out here, and I dreaded the thought of buying another device, but since I've added a true TimeBase Corrector to my path, my old video tapes transfer better than they ever have, and no dropped frames. In my opinion, to those of you who are experiencing dropped frames, it's not the device but your source. In most cases I'd bet on it. Try a TBC for yourself and see. I've bought two of these Pyro/ADS units and I'm quite happy with them. Comments posted by vcdforme from Other, January 04, 2004: Compatibility: Win95? Win98? Win2K WinXP? Vista? NT4? MAC? Linux? - Rated: No rating. |
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This has performed wonderfully for me with only a couple of exceptions. Unfortunately, the device (which is a breakout box that connects to an IEEE-1394 "Firewire" slot) has a problem with older VHS tapes that don't have a very strong synch track. It can glitch in a fashion that is a bit worse than simple frame-drops. I'm hoping to come up with an alternate solution...however, when dealing with digi-vid and more robust signals (live, TiVo, SVHS, etc.) it works pretty flawlessly for all my caps. It worked for me with WIN98SE and now works with WINXP. I'm usinc Scenealyzer Live for capping, and Premiere 6.5 for editing (which works best with "Windows AVI" settings, and NOT "DV" settings, even though it is dvsd format video). I have not used the box to feed video from the computer OUT (which is one of it's functions), but I have no need for such a function, so I'm not missing anything there (but I can't comment on it's abilities there either). Comments posted by Doobiedo from Other, December 30, 2003: Compatibility: Win95? Win98 Win2K? WinXP Vista? NT4? MAC? Linux? - Rated: 9 of 10. |
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This capture card is great! I have a Sony VAIO 3GHz 160 GB hard drive and a multi format DVD burner. I used DVGate Plus program that came with the computer instead of the supplied software. This card captures video in great DV quality without any frames dropped. If you are having problems with it it is not the card, it's your computer. Make sure your hard drive is defragmented before you capture. A seperate hard drive really helps too. This the best capture card ever and I got it at Circuit City for $110! Comments posted by DYSmartGuy from Other, December 29, 2003: Compatibility: Win95? Win98? Win2K? WinXP Vista? NT4? MAC? Linux? - Rated: 10 of 10. |
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I only had the Pyro A/V for two days. I have a P4 2.4GHz, 1GB RAM, Win2K, two UDMA HD's (both over 150GB each), and am using Premiere 6.5 to capture. Hook up was a breeze. Premiere 6.5 also saw device right away. I have had problems with jerky playback in P 6.5. I was I could resolve. Everything else went far too easy. However, if I can't get it to play back, it won't be worth anything to me. I came from a Dazzle capture, but although it wasn't very good (capture to MPEG), at least it would play back smooth in Premiere 6.5. Great box if you can get it to work correctly. Comments posted by dstrege8 from Other, December 27, 2003: Compatibility: Win95? Win98? Win2K WinXP? Vista? NT4? MAC? Linux? - Rated: 8 of 10. |
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I have had this unit for about 2 weeks and converted 15 two-hour tapes. The ADS Pyro A/V Link has done an excellect job. I am using it to covert my 8mm movies and VHS to DVD. It has performed great with my VCR and 8mm Camera. I would get this over the Canopus and save the $100. They both have the same features, but this one costs less. Comments posted by seven_ex from Other, December 17, 2003: Compatibility: Win95? Win98? Win2K? WinXP Vista? NT4? MAC? Linux? - Rated: 10 of 10. |
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Column Explanation  Click on this for
more technical information.New comments= New comments since your last visit. New Card= New Capture Card since your last vist. Feature What kind of main capture features it supports Analog VideoIn = Analog composite or/and SVHS video input Video Card = If it is a Video Card/Graphic Card Tv Tuner = Built-In TV-Tuner Digital TV = Built-In Digital TV-Tuner DV/Firewire = DV/Firewire/i.Link input DV Converter = Analog composite or/and SVHS video input and converts to DV video MPEG1 hardware = Capture directly MPEG1(VCD) video using hardware* MPEG2 hardware = Capture directly MPEG2(SVCD and DVD) video using hardware* MJPEG hardware = Capture directly to MJPEG using hardware* MPEG4 hardware = Capture directly to MPEG4(DivX,Xvid) video using hardware* * = Most capture cards can capture to this format using software but it usually requires a very fast computer, if it supports realtime capturing it uses the capture cards hardware and it doesn't require a very fast computer and you may get better quality but less options/settings than software capturing. Compatibility What Operating System our users have reported that it works on, Win95=Works Cnx = Connection What type of connection the capture device has to the computer, PCI, AGP, USB1/1.1/2, DV or PCMCIA. Price The price in US dollar. Rating The first rating is based on a weighted rank (the true Bayesian), it requires at least 5 votes to get a weighted rating. The second rating between the ( ) is a normal average rating. Comment User comments, click on view to view them or add to post a own comment. We can not gurantee that this list is 100% correct. Don't forget to read the User Comments for more Info about each Capture card. If you find any features that are not correct contact us instead of posting a comment about it. |
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