NOTC came out on Blu-ray in 2009, but with a 5.1 audio mix. It would be cool to add laserdisc audio or whatever is more faithful to the theatrical version.
I have the old Japanese DVD around here somewhere, if anyone is still looking for it.
Is there a capture of the original Australian mono from a laserdisc floating around?
According to this discussion, most Superbit DVDs are only half-rate DTS. This is unfortunate since some earlier DVDs used full-bitrate DTS. Here's a list of DTS DVDs with bitrates.
I wouldn't bother turning 2-channel Dolby Surround into 5.1 with either software or hardware; any surround sound system will have hardware decoding for DPL from 2-channel sources. Let the viewer decide whether to turn on surround decoding or watch it in stereo.
ALAC, FLAC, WavPack and The True Audio are some lossless formats that are legal in mkv. (No, I've never come across TTA either.) Of those, FLAC seems like it would be the best-supported.
As for converting AC3 to lossless, I can't see how that is any different from just playing the AC3 file in the first place. Personally, I was always disappointed in the audio from DVDs; it just didn't seem as "alive" as laserdisc PCM. No, I haven't blind tested this, but Widescreen Review's DVD/LD comparisons often said the LD sound was better.
FYI, I have the Criterion laserdisc. I don't have an RF demodulator to grab the AC3, but I should be able to capture the PCM soundtrack if that's useful. PM me if you're interested.
I have some Superbit DVDs as well; this isn't the complete list, but anyway:
I bought a Behringer SRC2496 to use as an outboard ADC when recording from cassettes, VHS HiFi, and other analog sources. It supports up to 24/96, has an input level control, and an LED level indicator. For a capture card I have an Audigy 2 ZS which does bit-perfect. I made my own Toslink receiver bracket for it, but I've since picked up the deluxe drive bay module that provides more convenient I/O for that card.
If you're in the EU, elv has some inexpensive but high resolution ADC and DAC units. Unfortunately, shipping them anywhere else is exorbitant.
There's also generic ADC little black boxes on eBay and Amazon; they may not be terrible. I looked inside one, and found name-brand chips.
From the wanted list in post 2, I have these laserdiscs, and should be able to capture the PCM audio bit-perfectly.:
Apocalypse Now
Army Of Darkness
Blade Runner (dir cut, CAV)
Jaws (not sure of the version)
Die Hard 2 (and 1 and 3 if needed)
Terminator 2
Movies I want the LD (or even VHS HiFi) soundtracks from:
Return Of The Living Dead (plus 2 and 3)
The Junkman (all the music was replaced on the DVD version)
I have "Strange Days" and "Timecop" on DTS laserdisc, and the technology to capture them. (LDP with S/PDIF output, Audigy 2 ZS with S/PDIF inputs.) I just haven't hooked it all together yet.
I also have various SUPERBIT DVDs with DTS, but I assume those aren't as rare, and don't have as high a bitrate as the laserdiscs.
That's good to know... that's the chip I planned to use.
S/PDIF out seems to be one of the rarest features; the only player I've actually touched that had it was a broken Sony I got for free. There was another Hitachi at a local pawn shop, but I resisted buying it because of the difficulty of getting it home by bicycle. (I think it was a VIP-RX10; mine is the VIP-RX8EX.)
The '8000 doesn't have S/PDIF output, though. And, the older the player, the higher the risk that rubber belts and things have turned to goo.
For what it's worth, some Hitachi laserdisc players are rebadged Pioneers. Some of those use the CXD2500 digital audio chip which has an S/PDIF output option, and the boards even have unpopulated locations for a Toslink transmitter. Add a couple of jumpers, cut a hole in the back panel, and wire up a Toslink transmitter salvaged from a junked DVD player. My Hitachi now has optical and RCA outputs.
The LD-V8000 uses a Sony chip which does not have an S/PDIF output pin; it may be possible to swap it for a similar chip that does. Or, add a board which translates the available digital audio signals into S/PDIF. There's discussion of this at Diyaudio.com (If someone reading this happens to have a scrap LD-V8000, I'd be interested in getting the audio board out of it to experiment with. PM or email me.)
There's still plenty of VCRs to be found in thrift stores, if yours is decrepit. I brought a nice SVHS Sony home for $15 last summer to have as a backup.
One key problem with capturing from VHS is that because it's mechanical and analog, it produces an imprecise video signal that digital capture devices have trouble dealing with. A professional would use a "Time Base Corrector" (TBC for short) to stabilize the signal, which can dramatically improve the quality.
Other capture options include:
standalone DVD recorders; I've come across those in thrift stores, pawn shops, and yard sales for under $20. Some claim to include TBC of some sort, and supposedly some can be used to pass through a corrected video signal to another capture device. Downsides are that the discs sometimes need to be formatted first, and/or finalized after, and video is recorded as MPEG2, so it's not ideal for editing if you copy the disc to the computer later.
TV capture cards and USB devices; these nearly always have inputs for composite and Svideo and audio. Sometimes this capability isn't even mentioned on the box. Some include hardware MPEG encoders, but usually it's best to capture to DV so the video can be edited easily. I've come across ATSC tuners at thrift stores (USB and PCI-E); good computer recyclers like Freegeek will probably have a box full. Hauppauge is a common brand.
Camcorders; some MiniDV and Digital8 camcorders include video inputs. These are reputed to have decent TBC, and they can often pass through the video to Firewire, so the camcorder becomes an outboard Firewire capture device. This requires a Firewire port, obviously. Note that even a camera with a broken CCD or MiniDV mechanism should still work fine.
If you google video capture and TBC and VHS you'll find various helpful discussions. This is kind of a distillation of what I've learned from reading and doing some captures myself.