traut

Still have my IVS-TC.

Used to have a IV-L & 4.2.

Put it on consignment with the girls @ Colossal Sound, who folded up their tent and skedaddled.

20 hours ago, JBond said:

The Iconic Nagra III - There was only one production unit before this one. 

The second Nagra III ever made is still alive and for sale in France.  As of now, there are only five 1958 Nagra IIIs known to exist. Fewer than 109 were produced in 1958. 

Picture Credit eBay

 

It looks in good condition.

Does it still function?

12 hours ago, Jeff Wexler said:

I loved my Nagra IS  ---   used it on many jobs when there was a lot of "over-the-shoulder" work. Also, nice to having with me as a backup (though my trusty Nagra 4.2 never failed me). I did not know many other Production Sound Mixers that owned an IS and everyone was always interested in seeing it on the jobs I was on.

Bruce was a fan of Stellavox for doc work. I worked for John Glascock doing tape to film transfers and listened to hours of Bruce's recordings. He was a master.

Magnificent!

You must always have a backup of everything.

They will always wait for a PA to make a run to get a new camera body, but heaven forbid that production has to wait on sound.

I used Neumanns with a VdB 48 v cable to Audio Ltd xmttrs.  Worked great.

I used two HHBs for several years, often in extreme environments with very few problems.

I was told the reason Schoeps crackle when humid is the lacquer that is the insulation on the wires in the capsule develop hairline cracks and enough moisture can cause a short.

I used 184, 185, 81 & 82 for years with never a humidity problem.

My Schoeps on the other hand.............

On 5/20/2019 at 7:14 AM, David Waelder said:

Have you tried contacting Location Sound Corporation?

 

https://www.locationsound.com/

 

I think most on this forum already know that Location Sound is the direct descendant of Audio Services but I bring it up for those not acquainted with the history. The name was changed after the employees took over the company from Richard Topham on his retirement. (There was also a conflict with the New York company separately owned by Ron Topham that is too complicated to summarize here.)

 

Anyway, they performed many of the conversions are likely to have any documentation that Harvey Warnke provided. 

 

David

The original Location Sound Services was owned by John Glascock.  When John closed up shop, Dick Sr. asked if he could use the name.  The rest is history.

I have one.

I have a friend who has an ex Le Mans Lola that he converted to a camera car that can easily exceed 200 mph.

On 3/12/2018 at 5:04 PM, JBond said:

Thank you, daniel 
That's a great story and is just the kind of story I was looking for to be told when I started this thread back in January 2015.
I wanted it to be about untold stories using Nagra tape recorders in your profession that only soundmen knew about.
 The original title of this thread was Nagra Stories only soundmen can tell.

There were others on here that told stories over the last three years and I appreciated their stories also. 

Wow, so you were on the ship for a month? God, it seems so primitive using tape reels in your profession today. I can see you now hanging on and trying to change the reels on an SN. The locking reel hubs unlike a Nagra  III or IVS really need two hands as the reel lock would make it impossible to do one-handed so I can see you now trying to do that and keep yourself upright on a rolling ship.  I can also imagine how you must have felt not wanting to drop a reel to watch it roll down along the deck leaving a 50 ft tape trail behind,  especially with a crew as you explained that did not make you feel at all comfortable. 
You got the gig over a more experienced soundman, so I guess the pressure was on you to show your best.  I appreciate your taking the time to tell your story and hope it'll inspire others to tell theirs.  After all, when I started this thread I wanted it to be about Nagra stories that only a soundmen could tell.

It would've been nice if the guy had sold you the SN.  If I were you, I would look for an SN as you have a great memory to go with it.

 

I climbed up a rope ladder onto a ship underway with a 4.2 over my shoulder and a boom in my left hand.

It was even scarier descending!

On 4/22/2018 at 5:32 PM, Dalton Patterson said:

+1

I have never used Comteks before and I used Comteks for the last three day. Politely put, IMHO the airplane seat headphone jack sound almost as good if not better. The range is very short, 50 yards max in a perfect environment. This helps allow the people out of hearing distance to hear the dialogue, but with compromised fidelity. 

@SeanMAC

 

That being said, director dropped it and battery flew out. Later that afternoon he said, how come my sound isn't working. Instead of answering; because you dropped it, I politely said, sorry you are out of range. Also it meant that when he inevitably dropped it, I didn't care because it was just a comtek. 

 

P/s. what did you decide>>>???

I use BST25 in 216 MHz with phase right antenna.

Excellent range.

Granted, sound isn't great, but good enough.

Client and agency are not worthy of IFB's, considering the way they treat them.

Cheers!

On 5/7/2018 at 1:04 PM, dougdunderdale said:

I'm working a lot with Alexa Minis these days and have tried using my UWP to feed my audio into the camera. Using the headphone out and cranking everything (transmitter, receiver and camera) to the max, I get only one bar on the camera meter. Since there is no ability to monitor the audio on the camera, it's hard to know if I'm actually getting my audio or just a massively amplified noise floor. If there is anybody who is successfully using the UWP as a camera hop into the Mini, can you help me with this? Also, the headphone out from the UWP is much noisier than the Line out, which is only vaguely annoying b/c the camera hop is just a reference track.

I use headphone out.

Perhaps either a cable or camera setting problem?

Cheers!

On 4/1/2018 at 1:26 PM, newzhack said:

Isn’t the Alexa expecting line level?


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
How did you boost the level?


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

I use headphone output with no problems.

Cheers!

On 5/20/2018 at 1:19 PM, Jeff Wexler said:

Well said, Philip! Although I am still proud of my history and being one of the first to use DAT in movie production, it's not a format I ever really liked. I was actually happier in the earliest days of DAT before the so-called "Pro" machines came along ---- even my HHB machine which I used for more movies than any of the others wasn't great compared to any of the Nagras. Don't get me started on Fostex, could get really ugly really fast. When the possibility of file-based recording arrived with the original Zaxcom Deva I, I was totally ready to abandon DAT!

Hi Jeff,

When I made the switch to DAT, I went with the HHB.

Heard too many Stella and Fostex horror stories.

Gary used to boom for me and he told me about a horror day with you on top of a process trailer when you finally figured out the reason the Stella kept popping out of record was because the sun would hit a sensor inside the machine!

I chose Cantar when I went HD and was very happy.

Do you remember the Sony WM-D6 Pro with 60Hz sync?

I rigged 3 for John Glascock to be strapped on Arri SR's that would auto roll when the camera did for a doc he did on the Yangtze River in the 80's.

Cheers and thanks for your site.

Traut

On 4/22/2018 at 5:32 PM, Dalton Patterson said:

+1

I have never used Comteks before and I used Comteks for the last three day. Politely put, IMHO the airplane seat headphone jack sound almost as good if not better. The range is very short, 50 yards max in a perfect environment. This helps allow the people out of hearing distance to hear the dialogue, but with compromised fidelity. 

@SeanMAC

 

That being said, director dropped it and battery flew out. Later that afternoon he said, how come my sound isn't working. Instead of answering; because you dropped it, I politely said, sorry you are out of range. Also it meant that when he inevitably dropped it, I didn't care because it was just a comtek. 

 

P/s. what did you decide>>>???

BST-25, 216 MHz with Phase Right antenna yields excellent range and sounds pretty good.

Comtek.

On 1/5/2018 at 12:32 AM, mikewest said:

 

 

 

 

Antoine was a wild man!

He stayed with us for a few days in LA in the late 80's.

I wonder where he is now?

Cheers!

On 10/9/2017 at 11:48 PM, mikewest said:

A very interesting development!

 

I just hope that Audio Ltd can supply quantity as in the past it was very slow

 

mike

Hi Mike,

Kish gave me a tour a few years ago.  Their facility was less than 1,00 square feet!  Perhaps they have expanded.  I love my Audio Ltds, and they are all for sale as I retired about a month ago.

Cheers!

I have always been paid OT after 10 hours, except when I was doing docs for Cousteau and Nat Geo, which I was happy to do as that is the nature of the beast.

On 2/18/2017 at 2:05 PM, Jacek Zagaja said:

Nagra 4.2 can be started/stopped shorting Mixer pins - will test soon.

But my newly purchased 4.2 has T12 only (no selector). How can I connect P48 mic or dynamic?

I am not sure, but I seem to remember that if you open the machine, there is a switch to choose D, P or T on the mic preamp cards.

I mix commercials and have a good relationship with most of my directors.

If I have a problem, I go to them.

Problem solved.

On 10/22/2017 at 3:38 PM, mikewest said:

Hi Mark C,

 

I used my two Nagra 4.2 recorders for 13 years for drama and documentary work.

I regularly aligned the machines to achieve the best possible performance using a

Nakamichi T-100 audio analyser.

For me the 4.2 was the ultimate recorder with all the facilities you needed.

I built my own KAT unit (which added a 3rd microphone channel) and I added

a 48v phantom setting to it unlike the Nagra version.

I used a Nagra 4STC for Cousteau expeditions for 4 years.

Although it offered time code and two channel recording, I realised that it's noise performance

did not match the 4.2 due to it's two narrow tracks with a guard band.

I also felt that the headphone amplifier was not as good as the 4.2.

I move to DAT in 1993 then to hard disk in 2004 and on to CF and SD cards.

 

Microphones did not immediately develop quickly, I had worked with high quality condenser

units since 1966, the Sennheiser 804 was a breakthrough in directional microphones and the

next significant leap forward was the Sony ECM-50 electret personal microphone around 1974.

Currently there are many great electret personal microphones for use with radio systems.

A very innovative Japanese manufacturer Sanken now sell an interesting range of electret units.

In the last 15 years SoundField microphones allow recordings that can produce 5.1 results.

I own an SPS-200 that has achieved stunning results with a full orchestra

 

The greatest  audio developments were in radio microphones with Audio Ltd, Sennheiser and then

Lectrosonics as UHF transmission developed plus pre-emphasis then double ended compansion systems

and currently digital systems that offer remarkable dynamic range and quality.

 

I will try to find my measurement and test sheet for the Nagra 4.2

 

mike

Hi Mike,

I worked for Cousteau 1998-2004?

Mostly with JMC, but went to Antarctica with JYC for 3 weeks.

Wonderful memories.

Cheers, Mate!

Traut

On 10/22/2017 at 3:38 PM, mikewest said:

Hi Mark C,

 

I used my two Nagra 4.2 recorders for 13 years for drama and documentary work.

I regularly aligned the machines to achieve the best possible performance using a

Nakamichi T-100 audio analyser.

For me the 4.2 was the ultimate recorder with all the facilities you needed.

I built my own KAT unit (which added a 3rd microphone channel) and I added

a 48v phantom setting to it unlike the Nagra version.

I used a Nagra 4STC for Cousteau expeditions for 4 years.

Although it offered time code and two channel recording, I realised that it's noise performance

did not match the 4.2 due to it's two narrow tracks with a guard band.

I also felt that the headphone amplifier was not as good as the 4.2.

I move to DAT in 1993 then to hard disk in 2004 and on to CF and SD cards.

 

Microphones did not immediately develop quickly, I had worked with high quality condenser

units since 1966, the Sennheiser 804 was a breakthrough in directional microphones and the

next significant leap forward was the Sony ECM-50 electret personal microphone around 1974.

Currently there are many great electret personal microphones for use with radio systems.

A very innovative Japanese manufacturer Sanken now sell an interesting range of electret units.

In the last 15 years SoundField microphones allow recordings that can produce 5.1 results.

I own an SPS-200 that has achieved stunning results with a full orchestra

 

The greatest  audio developments were in radio microphones with Audio Ltd, Sennheiser and then

Lectrosonics as UHF transmission developed plus pre-emphasis then double ended compansion systems

and currently digital systems that offer remarkable dynamic range and quality.

 

I will try to find my measurement and test sheet for the Nagra 4.2

 

mike

Hi Mike,

I worked with Cousteau 1998-2004?

Mainly with JMC.

Went to Antarctica with JYC.

Wonderful memories.

Cheers, Mate!

Traut

On 8/2/2017 at 8:17 PM, JBond said:

I have an extra 1967 Nagra III and a bunch of Nagra III accessories that won't fit in my case.   I would like to get a small roll around sound cart from the early 70's to add to my collection.  My idea is to set it all up as it would be in actual use. The recorder, mixer, pads, pencils anything that would be utilized on a movie set back in the late 60's early 70's using a Nagra III. 
 I know the Nagra IV or 4.2 was out then, but I have the Nagra III equipment already. Everything but the cables. I have to get all the cables etc.; It has to look like its all ready to go. 
I have both the Sennheiser MKH 815T and MKH 805 also.  
I want the set up to be a snapshot in time of how it was in use.
I think it would be a nice addition to my collection. 
I wish I never sold my Sela mixer, but I plan to use a Nagra BM mixer to keep it all Nagra.  What do you think?  
Maybe the things I have are not what was used on the cart. I don't know. 
Does anybody have any vintage pictures they can post of sound carts from the Nagra days? So maybe I can get some ideas? It can have any Nagra in the picture.  I just want to see what it looked like back then. 
Today's carts are all lit up and computerized. 
 

 

 

 

 

Sela was the way most of us rolled in the old days.

On 12/13/2017 at 6:31 PM, JBond said:

Finding a nice clean Nagra III is hard to do, there is always a lot wrong with them cosmetically.  I must have bought and sold 5 of them before finding two mint ones to keep. 
I only had one that didn’t work, what I find is most are all beat up but still work. Although, I don’t use them other than just proving everything works. I still check out just about every Nagra III that comes up for sale just to see if there are any differences in them.  I still see some nice ones now and then. 

 

 If you want I can post when I see a nice clean one up for sale or message you. I have three already and do not desire to own any others.  Unless you like the idea of a project. But what it sounds like because of the battery leakage and wires disconnected you have nothing but problems in front of you. The plastic piece is only the obvious.  When you do finally get it going the fact that the serial number is scratched out is a turnoff. 
Unless the outside is in really very good condition, it sounds like what you have is not worth fussing with. 
The first one I ever bought  and the only one I bought not working was for 50.00; the battery acid was so bad on the inside it reached into just about every part of the unit.  You can always sell it and start over.  I never had any problem selling a Nagra III even the 50.00 dollar one sold for 95.00.  I’m not sure how much you paid, but they can easily be had in working condition.  It's the cosmetic condition that's hard to find.
But all that being said I'm pretty fussy when it comes to a run of the mill Nagra III. Maybe you like fixing them up that's OK I understand that.  
I hope you'll find some answers here on Jwsound.  In fact, there are probably people on here that have the part you need.
Just know its easy to sell a Nagra III for parts and buy a real keeper.  That's what I did.

NEVER remove the motor housing.

The motor is over magnetized and removing it will affect the efficiency of the motor, resulting in increased battery drain!

On 10/6/2017 at 7:52 AM, MarkC said:

Hello again

 

To Sound-men would you say you used a mono Nagra, for film sound, longer than the Nagra stereo? I would be interested to know how long you used a mono Nagra machine in comparison to a stereo Nagra.

Also when was it when the digital framework began to interest you? How long was it till you moved from analogue to digital?

What about microphones? Did the technology develop in parallel?

 

All the best

MarkC

REQUEST: Nagra Mastrclass Video's

 

If any of you master's would be interested in a walk through of how you used to or still do setup your Nagra, I would love to see any video's. General Setup and Tips and Tricks please. Always here to learn!!

 

MarkC

Probably 50/50 mono vs IV-STC.

Then DAT, now Cantar.

Mics didn't evolve as much as RF did.