My first Nagra-expierence has taken place

[Super-Swede]

I have borrowed a Nagra IV-L and today me and a friend of mine that is a musician gave it a good test in his home studio.

We recorded a 12-string guitar in 3 ways and used the same microphone, the same chair, the same instrument, the same of everything so we could compare the different recordings.

1. The guitar was recorded directly into his computer like he always do.

2. The same song was recorded with the Nagra and manual control and then sent to the computer.

3. The same as number 2 but with automatic control.

We also recorded some dialog on the Nagra and put everything on a CD wich we calls: Nagra Analyse!

I just have to say this: The Nagra delievered beautiful sound-quality, the sound was very rich and warm! Even if it was sent to the computer and being digitialised, it sounded beautiful. We used a very old magnetic tape and the Nagra hasn´t been used for many years so we can get even better result I believe. Later today I gathered some friends to listen to the CD with the 3 recordings. Without knowing wich song was recorded on wich format, they ALL voted for the Nagra recording with automatic control. Looks like we could have turned the level up a bit on the manual control. They all thought that the recording directly to the studio was the worst.

Long live Nagra!

[ccortez]

8)

[Alex]

That's why I still like the audio fidelity of S-VHS HI-FI with accompanying stereo linear dolby as back-up.

You should also compare your nagra to mini-dv since that has become an industry standard, and then run the mini-dv sound into the computer via firewire and see how the nagra compares with that. Probably a truer test.

I'd be curious to see if it's possible that recording to the nagra first, then line transferring that to mini-dv compares to originally recording to mini-dv.

Although there are auto level audio traps that abound when dealing with mini-dv audio input devices.

[freddiesykes]

I want one. That sexy little one that BK in Hong Kong has. How much do they run?

[reflex]

I want one. That sexy little one that BK in Hong Kong has. How much do they run?

You don't want to know. The tiny little SNST-R lists for a bit over 9500 euros brand new. Older SN's on eBay seem to sell for around $1000.

A Nagra IV-L in excellent condition will easily run into the low thousands.

[mathis]

No doubt a Nagra sounds fantastic. But to be fair you should also post the specs of your computer audio hardware and the microphone preamp you used.

[audadvnc]

Agreed. Of course the Nagra, when new, cost about $10,000. It's probably gonna sound better than your computer's $12 sound card.

[audadvnc]

Agreed. Of course the Nagra, when new, cost about $10,000. It's probably gonna sound better than your computer's $12 sound card.

[BK]

I want one. That sexy little one that BK in Hong Kong has. How much do they run?

I picked up mine at a secondhand shop, and at the time didn't know it costs so much to buy new. It was love at first sight. In my youthful days I recall seeing them in Hollywood movies where it's used for surveillance purposes by the authorities, usually concealed and strapped on someones body.

Got a bit of a bargain really, was in good condition and it came with the tiny original stereo mic. The cost was US$200 after some haggling.

The sound from this tiny thing is amazing, it has a warmth and depth to it unlike the ultra clean digital audio I am accustomed to.

Talking about Nagras, there was the 1" C format portable VTR made for Ampex that I remember seeing the demo of back in the mid 80's, that was an interesting device too. Maybe I'll find one in a secondhand shop one day.

http://www.labguysworld.com/VPR-5_Flyer.htm

Bill

[Rick Palidwor]

We used an old Nagra (model "E") to record sound for Sleep Always. Loved it. The film club I work for owns it and it rarely gets used, so I can access it pretty well any time I want. And someone just donated boxes and boxes of tape, used only once and properly stored.

Rick

[Nigel]

Ahhh....The power of 1/4 inch tape.

Wonderful sound. To bad iPods are just some much easier.

Good Luck

[the woy]

We're using an old Nagra 4.2 on our current S8 short film project with phantom power supply and Sennheiser and Neumann microphones, what a perfect sound and robustness! Lovely. It never let us down, in snow and ice, at -5 °C, harsh winds etc. The preamps are really great, if you compare it to other machines (DAT) circuits. Even though a Deva, Nagra V or other 192hHz 24bit digital recorders may deliver better quality (Signal to Noise ratio - everything from the technical viewpoint) and multitrack recording, I still love the warm sound of those Nagra portable field recorders.

My 2 € ct

Nic

PS.: Even our Nagra recordings have to end up digital...when finally dubbed to Broadcast Wave Format for editing, sounddesign and mixing.

[audadvnc]

Even our Nagra recordings have to end up digital...

True, but analog tape is similar to film in its ability to compress dynamic range without drawing attention to itself. Analog tape has a "soft saturation", so that overloaded signals get "beefier" rather than merely clipped, as happens with a digital signal (similar to film's "toe" characteristic versus video's 100 IRE clip point). That's why pro recording studios keep those old reel-to-reel decks on hand and maintained, despite their age and generally bad dispositions.

Also, many digital devices exhibit a very nasty clipping artifact, where a full excursion "+" (0xefff) signal becomes a full excursion "-" (0xf000) signal when you pass the clipping point -- guaranteed tweeter fry! Recording engineers are warned against clipping their digital machines to avoid this possibility, and therefore can't run their recording preamps as "hot" as they normally would with analog tape. So digital's full 16 or 24 bit dynamic bandwidth is hardly ever achieved in practise.

Digital recordings often need careful compression and other signal processing tricks to make them sound full on cheaper hi-fi's, boom boxes and computers, but an an analog tape properly transferred to digital (using good quality A/D converters) has this "full" characteristic built-in.

[flatwood]

... it came with the tiny original stereo mic. The cost was US$200 after some haggling. Bill

Holey smoke. What can you tell me about the mic??? That's the first most important element in the signal chain. I crave the analog sound so much that I own a 1978 MCI 2".

They all but got rid of tape compression with the new Quantegy 499 tape but you can pack 8db on it before it distorts (a noticable ripping sound).

Ampex 456 produces great tape compression, has +5 headroom and is hard to make distort. A roll of 2" new is around $200 bucks for 16.5 minutes of recording time across 24 channels at 30ips and virtually no noise. so fat and warm sounding. We cut everything on analog before going to digital. When I copy over to Pro Tools it sounds just like the analog tape. It's the only way to get that sound, or maybe I should say, the easiest since its the only way I know. I feel certain that the experts out there will have some additional solutions but for me if I want it to sound like it was recorded on a high quality analog machine then why not just record it on a high quality analog machine. Get the tools you need to make the project look and sound the way you want.

That's way more than you wanted to know but I am up in the air about keeping the 2" machine when I sell the studio so it's been on my mind and I read everything about Nagra recorders I see. They are such beautiful works of industrial art that I couldnt help responding.

We I also have the mixing console that came out of the grand ole opry when they upgraded a few years ago but I plan on leaving it here in nashville where it belongs. Besides, its 9 ft wide and weighs a ton.

I think a half inch analog two track 30 ips is all I will need in the future to record my sound tracks or maybe something like a 4 track 440. You will discover that I'm passionate about the sound and believe it will save me in the end.

[BK]

Holey smoke. What can you tell me about the mic??? That's the first most important element in the signal chain. I crave the analog sound so much that I own a 1978 MCI 2".

The mic consists of two tiny seperate condenser mic heads, each wired seperately to the connectors for the left or right channel. And when these connectors are plugged in, it triggers the little snst to go into record mode instead of playback when you turn the deck on. The tiny mics are designed for bugging and surveillence purposes really so quality is nothing to rave about.

I see if I could upload a pic or two.

In my job as a video editor ( Linear and Non-Linear ) I do get to mix audio on a daily basis, sometimes as much as six tracks in realtime on the fly and I tell you I get lost sometimes when there's so much going on at the sametime... so I envy you audio experts because you have lots of channels to worry about during your recording sessions in front of that huge desk with all those channels, knobs and switches. Guess it's all down to experience.

All the best!

Bill