Were mic preamps in Vintage Nagra field recorders any good?

Just curious. I have a nice collection of pre's for my home studio. I really like the old AKAI r2r pre for some color. Just curious about the Nagras

 

What made the Nagra good was its portability and form factor. I think usually they were used with an outboard mixer and pre whenever possible. But it wouldn't astonish me to see idiots pulling the front ends out of the Nagras like they do with everything else: hopefully the price of the Nagra will serve as some kind of deterrent.

 

Why would someone be an idiot for doing such?

 

My dad had a Nagra and I never heard anything sound so good. On that basis of my thirty year old memory, I would say yes, they were good. Also, if you hand around some of the pro audio forums, Nagra pres are spoken of with much reverence, often compared to Sound Devices.

 

Good info. I basically have a chance to get an old, working Nagra (built in mic pre) really cheap ($100). I would probably take it anyway since I like old gadgets, recorders, etc. I'll play with the unit as a pre and see how I like it. When I do my recordings (I compose, produce and sell instrumental music for film/video use), I like to mix up the pres a given track. The odd pre's, like the Akai, sound fantastic on effect percussive instruments (tables, gongs, bells etc).

 

Nagra mic pre amps are the best in portable devices still now
The analogue Nagra IV and IV S TC had almost un burstable mic amps that could handle low o/p dynamic mic and high level
Condensors
Its all modular , the Dead used them a mic pres in some of their PA rigs

 

This chap has a few for sale @20 quid

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Nagra-4-Q..._Consumer_VintageAudio_RL&hash=item27eeb8bdc4

 

Thanks for the info. I did not know that about the Dead. I guess I'm not an idiot after all

 

If they are a detachable module someone probably has a rack to put them in. Anyone have a schematic? Unless there are rare parts in them I'm guessing it would be as easy to clone them though.

 

They were good for the application they were built for. Which was film sound recording and field recording. Not for studio use.

 

They were very flexible and could both TPower and P48
The high pass filters and low frequency attenuators were excellent
Taking them out of a working Nagra is almost a crime, the spare modules on the Bay are cheap.
Nagra publishes schematics for vintage kit

 

Curious: What's the difference?

 

I'm curious as well. I've been doing some research and the mic preamps in the old Nagra T studio deck were well liked by many studio engineers. They were the same pre's used in their field recorders. The Nagra EMP outboard PRE is considered top quality for both field and studio use.

 

For every 1 Nagra T machine found in a studio, you'll find 30 Studers and 25 MCI machines. Nagra makes awesome gear. But their main market is field recording and film sound recording. Nothing wrong with that. And Nagra preamps are excellent. But don't strip them out of working Nagra recording machines.

 

Most Studers and MCI and studio recorders in general were line input devices
Many studio desk mic pres were rudimentary, only some were excellent
The Nagra portable had mic pres of impeccable quality
The T was a transportable Nagra, possibly the best 2 track made.

 

I'm still curious on the difference of a Mic pre made for field recording vs one made for studio (besides the box it sits in).

 

Field Recording has portability and power efficiency as priorities and mobility. Nagra does portable professional gear with fewest compromises better than anyone save for Stellavox (their main competitor in the business). Studio microphone preamps can use beefier transformers, they can be designed with fewer compromises as there is more room for electronic refinements and also power supplies can be beefier. And again, I am one of the biggest Nagra admirers and fans there are. Stefan Kudelski (Nagra's late lamented founder, is very amazing in audio design) And Nagra is the Rolls-Royce of field recording equipment. It really does not get better than they do in that field.

 

Stellavox doesnt exist any more, Sonnosax is near to Nagra, its mixers and recorders are excellent
They all came from Nagra originally
Field recorders can exceed studio devices, they are freed from the mains and its peculiarities

 

Ok. Yes they were built for potability, however, if the mic preamp is quiet and sounds good, it should work well in any application.

 

"Will work", yes. Optimum no.

Mic pre's aren't rocket science. There is a cult of technically incompetent people who will butcher about anything into a "mic pre" for "color" when they should be spending their time in getting one good one and recording stuff worth recording in the first place instead of gimmick sound alteration. Good recording takes discipline and "phat toob mic pre" is a way to avoid that.

You can buy any of many mic pre's reasonably, or you can build one, many circuits are published and proven. The only expense is the transformers and new transformers are not insanely expensive.

The Nagra was built to permit field and cinema recording as accurately as possible given the space, weight and power limitations involved and it did that very well. Still does.

The Grateful Dead did a lot of weird things technically and having heard a lot of GD music on vinyl and tape, some directly off the board via Nagra (!) I don't know if they are really to be emulated. Jerry Garcia's guitar sounds really aren't that good. He was a good guitar player....early on and then he went off the deep end. And no one in that band could sing very well. I am not trying to offend Deadheads just stating reasons evaluating GD audio practice is tough .



http://fixthatmix.com/using_ampex_preamp.php has some good info.

 

Burt have you ever heard of having fun with a hobby?

 

Burt has a lot of very truthful things to say. A Nagra is something you don't butcher for a mic preamplifier. Building a microphone preamplifier is not that hard if you can solder and follow a schematic. Back when I was a young, gimpy recordist, I would have lusted for a Nagra IV-S to record the local symphony orchestra. Would have saved me a lot of strain physically speaking. The station I worked for, was on a low budget. So I made do with our old beat up Ampex 600 and 3 Altec Coke Bottle microphones into an Ampex mixer. It did just fine. I more than once had to use our old Wollensak instead. You make do with what is at hand when possible.

 

Who said I was going to butcher the Nagra?

 

Use the Nagra as she is. The machine is a legendary piece of equipment. I know you'll respect it. Too many mangle vintage gear for tube mic pres. You are a member here, you're a lot more discerning. Enjoy thy Nagra.

 

Some of the guys I work with claim the best remote stereo setup out there is a pair of mono Nagras running in tandem, one for each channel. The tracks are synched up in a DAW when they get back home.