ADS Technologies PYRO A/V Link Analog to DV Video Converter

I was looking for an analog to...

Strengths: Easy set up, good quality interface at a good price, compatible with Mac.

Weakness: None

I was looking for an analog to digital video interface for my Mac. The ADS pyro link was the only 720 x 480 interface in my price range that was compatible with the Mac. I looked at the convertX in the Mac Connection only to find out that it did not support Mac's. Belkin has a cable interface, but it was only 352 x 288. I am not dissappointed in this purchase. The link is easy to set up and...
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I was looking for an analog to digital video interface for my Mac. The ADS pyro link was the only 720 x 480 interface in my price range that was compatible with the Mac. I looked at the convertX in the Mac Connection only to find out that it did not support Mac's. Belkin has a cable interface, but it was only 352 x 288.

I am not dissappointed in this purchase. The link is easy to set up and relatively plug and play. I plugged in the power, connected the link to the firewire port and streamed video right into iMovie. The link was recognized by the profiler without loading any drivers. PADOWWW!!! I am ready to turn some treasured analog footage into DVD's.

There is some authoring software included but having iDVD, I did not bother to check it out.

By Edwin966 - Apr 27, 2004

I really like this gizmo. I have...

Strengths: Works as advertised. This firewire digitizer brings video in so fast that the monitoring of it say in iMovie (Mac) showed no time lag.

Weakness: The software that comes with it is for Windows only. Mac users must resort to iMovie or buy their own.

I really like this gizmo. I have tried to use it to digitize just an
analog audio input but no success yet. That would be nice.
Accompanying software is for Windows only--> The advertisement
for the Pyro should say that straight out.

By unclemart - Nov 10, 2004

ADS Pyro A/V Link with Premiere Elements

Strengths: Ports are easily lable

Weakness: I can not think of any at this time.

My brother had a VHS-C camcorder that I used to record our marriage and our kids karate classes then I moved to a digital camcorder because VHS-C camera broke, and the only way I can now watch those movies is by using one of those VHS adapters in my aging VCR. I also wanted to convert movies from my DVR, so I tried the Sanyo DVD video recorder + 4 Head Hi-Fi Stereo VCR but the DVD recorder...
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My brother had a VHS-C camcorder that I used to record our marriage and our kids karate classes then I moved to a digital camcorder because VHS-C camera broke, and the only way I can now watch those movies is by using one of those VHS adapters in my aging VCR. I also wanted to convert movies from my DVR, so I tried the Sanyo DVD video recorder + 4 Head Hi-Fi Stereo VCR but the DVD recorder deleting the commercials is a pain, you really have to time the commercials and there is no way of creating chapters.

I conducted an extensive search using Google and found that the PYRO A/V Link, from ADS Tech, might be the device to satisfy my two desires of turning analog video into DVD and also converting movies into DVD format.

The AV Link arrived in a well packed box that included:
• PYRO A/V Link unit
• AC adapter
• 6 ft. RCA A/V cable
• 6 ft. S-VHS cable
• 6 ft. 6-pin to 6-pin 1394 (FireWire) cable
• 6 ft. 4-pin to 4-pin 1394 cable
• and Adobe Premiere Elements 2.0 DVD software
I took everything out and connected my Digital cable box and DVR to the A/V Link (using RCA, S-VHS, or Component Video connections, as well as a 4-pin FireWire connection) and then plugged that into my desktop computer's 6-pin FireWire port. The connections are well labeled and easily accessed on the small device. The input connections are on the front and the output connections are on the back of the unit.

I launched the Adobe Premiere Elements 2.0 DVD software on my desktop and then pressed play on the DVR. I went to the Capture tab and clicked on Capture Video to start the recording and conversion to MPEG. The A/V Link converts any analog source into high quality digital video format. You can then create VCD, SVCD, or DVD disks.

For those of us with digital video camcorders who want to save movies to analog format for friends and relatives who may not yet have a DVD player or computer, you can use the A/V Link to make analog copies of your movies. You can preview the output on a TV and record directly from your DV camcorder through the A/V Link and onto a VHS tape without using a computer for any reason.

You can use other third-party software you may have or even Windows Movie Maker 2 to create and edit video files from your analog or digital signal input. I also found I was able to rip my DVD movies through the A/V Link onto my desktop, which I could then convert to DVD. There are other software solutions out there to convert DVDs, but I found them to be more time-consuming and unreliable. The PYRO device should satisfy all your digital video conversion needs.

The PYRO A/V Link only requires a PIII 400MHz or greater PC running Windows 98 or later, and it also works on Mac OS 9 or later products. A FireWire/1394 port is required to transfer video to your PC.

The PYRO A/V Link's suggested retail price is shown as US$279 on the ADS Tech site. You can also find it on the TigerDirect website starting around $159.

By mcartagena - Dec 23, 2005

Initially had trouble due to the...

Strengths: Good capture; multiple inputs.

Weakness: Price? Are less expensive capture boxes just as good???

Initially had trouble due to the provided software (ULead 7 DVD SE) consistently dropping frames. Tried several other software packages. Only one that works is Moviemaker 2.1 which is provided free with Windows Update Service Pack #2. The good news is that Moviemaker 2.1 is a great for capturing. Moviemaker doesn't include burn software. I simply take the Moviemaker captured file, drop it in...
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Initially had trouble due to the provided software (ULead 7 DVD SE) consistently dropping frames. Tried several other software packages. Only one that works is Moviemaker 2.1 which is provided free with Windows Update Service Pack #2. The good news is that Moviemaker 2.1 is a great for capturing. Moviemaker doesn't include burn software. I simply take the Moviemaker captured file, drop it in ULead 7 and then burn with excellent results. Talked to ULead. They think I am having capture problems with their software due to a conflict with other software on my system. I have been unable to find this conflict but am attempting no further as the Moviemaker option works great.

By sarshas - Dec 12, 2004