Nagra Stories Sound-men won’t ever tell

[traut]

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?

[JBond]

This recorder isn't mine.  I don't know the seller but I thought I would share it here because we talked about the 1958 Nagra III in great detail when I first found mine many years ago. Back then, no one knew what the serial numbers meant or even cared much about it either. Nagra never told anyone how to figure it out, so it was always just a random number to everyone. Now, if you're into Nagra and you happen to read Jwsound, you know how to figure out when a Nagra III was made and how many were made per year, with few exceptions.  Though there might be some small differences in the numbers, it's still the best and only way to know the year and number made. The seller is asking $7,500 for it, way more than Nagra III's sell for -15 times the usual sale price. The seller knows it's number B5802 from 1958, or they wouldn't be starting so high. It would have been more exciting if one of us found it for sale and figured it out to be a 5802  instead of the seller.  The best offer will determine the price. I like the term he used in the title I wasn't going to copy it.  The year made of the Nagra III today is now common knowledge.  He found a lottery ticket because of his knowledge. You can find the auction on eBay France and watch the video of it playing.
I'm only sharing this because of the historical value of the 1958 Nagra III. There was not a 1957 Nagra III maybe that prototype Nagra has in the case was made in 1957. So this find just adds to the Jwsound Nagra Stories topic. If the seller got his info from here, good for them! I hope they make a good profit. Let's face it there is nowhere this information exists written down other than on Nagra Stories and for this guy, it's going to pay off.

 

Don't forget there is another special Nagra III recorder,  its number 67 10000 Nagra made a big deal of their 10,000 Nagra III 

 

 

[Laurent M]

About a week before going on sale on ebay, this Nagra III 58-00002 was on sale for immediate purchase at the price of 400 euros on another site "le Bon Coin", well known in France.
I bought it first, before being "short circuited" by the other buyer whose only goal was to make a profit on it by reselling it at a very high price.

[JBond]

So let me understand, you both saw it on that site "le Bon Coinand" and he copied and put it on eBay, then sold it before he even owned it? Now he goes back to buy it on the site and it is gone?

 

 So you bought it on that site before he did? and do you have it in your possession for 400 euros?

 

[grawk]

I read that as the original seller sold to the ebayer instead, even tho he believed he'd purchased it already.

[JBond]

Maybe you're right grawk  

[Laurent M]

Sorry, as I am French my explanations are not very clear.
The 2nd buyer contacted the original seller before the transaction was finalized and made him a better offer so my purchase was canceled.

[JBond]

 

 

The Story of the Nagra ISS,  the one that got away,

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Story of the Nagra ISS,  the old one that got away 

turns into "New Old Stock" that never goes away, 

Mega Rare! 

 

 

 

 

[srs148]

I'm sorry to read about all of the frustration you've gone through as a result of this failed purchase attempt.  All of us in the community of Nagra collectors and appreciators know this particular seller very well - it's a running joke in the FB groups how overpriced and 'RAR' everything is. 

 

He is infamous for his high prices that, as you said, disrupt the market because they distort the reality of the market valuation of the equipment.  A would-be seller who may know little to nothing about this type of gear is likely going to first check eBay for price reference.  They'll see an inflated price and think - well, its listed for $25k - it must be worth at least half to three quarters of that price.  I can't tell you how many times I'll speak with sellers who say "they're going for $xx on ebay."  Going for equals Listed For, which is rarely the market-moving sales price.  But it really makes it difficult to get a good value for our dollar.  With that said, I've seen this done across every product category in recent years.

 

But that seller who shall not be named has actually made sales at those exorbitant prices.  He preys on the guys who get infatuated with these machines from reading about them in forums, seeing people waxing poetic about them in their Facebook posts, or watching YouTube videos.  They get a bug up their a$$ to get and just have to have it - at any price.  I've been there, so I get it.  A guy I know bought a cosmetically mint condition Nagra T Audio without meter bridge or stand for 34k Euro from him.  This guy had the funds and just had to have a Nagra T - unfortunately, the machine had not been serviced and needed it badly - it looked good, but didn't run well.  

 

This leads me to another point - he has a track record of lying about what he sells. I have purchased Nagra parts and accessories from him and he was not fully transparent about the condition of the items.  Some were fine, but some had cosmetic flaws that he 'failed' to capture in his photos to me.  Obviously, the statement about the ISS being New Old Stock is completely fabricated by him and not told to him by the original seller.  Additionally, the photos are purposefully taken with lower contrast as to not highlight the cosmetic flaws in what he sells.  Finally, he typically lowballs sellers on the buy side - he beat down a person I know to acquire a pristine Nagra D for $1500.  He told the seller it was not desirable on the collector market because it's digital, not analog.  He later relisted for €12k on eBay.  Sounds like your antique dealer acquaintance.

[silverscreenpost]

Hi all, I started out in the film sound department of a TV company in London in 1963, about the time the sync Nagra arrived on the scene. In fact at the time pulsed tape systems were already quite widely in use. The original ones that most studios had were made by Leevers Rich, followed up by Perfectone made in France. We used both all the time. Perfectone recorded a "mains frequency" with a 3 track headblock. The centre track recorded the audio and the two outer tracks either side recorded the pulse. When the tape was copied to mag film it was played back and the pulse was amplified to 240v ac which directly ran the multi duty motor of the Westrex film recorder!!. Believe it or not it was a very reliable system. Perfectone had two portable models The mark 1 was in 2 boxes, one was the tape mechanism and the other was a 3 channel mixer and the Mk 2 was a bigger and heavier recorder/mixer in one box. The Perfectone Mk 1 system may well have been used on  Black Orpheus"  as it was a french crew. 

 

The original Nagras were designed for radio use and many of them were supplied to the Canadian broadcaster CBC in the 1950s for use on their more remote local radio stations. The Nagra 3 really trailed into a world that was already using pulsed tape on location.

 

I still own 2 Nagra 4.2s with all their bits as a momento. One "bit" is a Nagra external crystal pulse generator which divides down a 15Khz crystal to 50Hz output. I was sent to the Greenwich Observatory to check its accuracy against the atomic clock in 1963. Those were the days.

[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.

[The Immoral Mr Teas]

1 hour ago, JBond said:

 

.... even if it's a mannequin. 

 

 

I used to drive past a house near my old school with a mannequin's leg in the window. Reckon that's all that's needed here for a really good display, Man Ray style. A leg and a hand.

[The Immoral Mr Teas]

 

Another 'Three' featuring on Rank's Look At Life series, this one in 1964 from On Tape For Tomorrow on collecting and archiving folk song and music in the British Isles. Now I must get one of those nice barrel tables for my III to sit on.

 

Jez

 

[JBond]

6 hours ago, The Immoral Mr Teas said:

 Now I must get one of those nice barrel tables for my III to sit on.

 

Jez

 

You should. It will look good👍

 

[JBond]

Jez, what can I do with just a leg?

 

Ralphy keeps rubbing the leg; his Mother is freaking out.

The leg in the window with passers-by in the street

 

 

[JMB]

On 9/29/2017 at 1:15 PM, MarkC said:

What a fascinating story Dela. TCO is a great acronym, especially for my car. Built for european climate and disastrously unreliable in Australia.

 

This tool kit inside the Nagra is quirky? How many pieces were in it?

 

Is the E smaller than the IVs and 4.2s? Was it a competitor to the Stellavox?

 

Apologies for diverting this discussion but I have a question regarding this accessory QSEF. 

 

I am comparing the quality to the QSCE cable, which is great, but for some reason the sound is degraded using the QSEF. Could someone help me here, I was expecting the QSEF to sound better.

 

Thank you all in advance

Mark

 

 

 

Hi Mark,

 

you mention the sound is affected by the QSEF.

Could you please open it, and give us a first impression of it's internal secrets?

When we see if it is an amp, or a transformer, we would know more.

Thanks!

To my understanding we did not need this rare QSEF - XLRs with banana ends will do, or the connectors fixed with XLRs.

 

Matthias

[Philip Perkins]

On 1/24/2024 at 1:28 PM, The Immoral Mr Teas said:

 

Another 'Three' featuring on Rank's Look At Life series, this one in 1964 from On Tape For Tomorrow on collecting and archiving folk song and music in the British Isles. Now I must get one of those nice barrel tables for my III to sit on.

 

Jez

 

That's a Pilotone machine--maybe he did film sound too?

 

[dela]

Regarding the QSEF balanced input converter: I don't have QSEF right now, but I have had it opened. There is a set of input transformers, as well as a small transistor output stage for adapting the transformer output to the IV-S. 

I think that somewhere on this thread there is a description on the QSNES balanced/unbalanced converter for interfacing with a noise reduction unit with balanced in- and outputs. This interface basically is a QSEF and a QSSF unit built together...

 

The QSEF is a bit "rare" in the meaning that it is not often needed by anyone. It is primarily relevant if you need a long input cable length, otherwise it is mostly dead weight (with a potential coloration of the input signal). 

[JBond]

Made in Sweden, Nagra style
It's made like what you would expect from a new Nagra handheld device, a toy? or something else. 

There is a lot to it, so you must watch to actually see all that it does, along with the matching mixer and microphone.
The bright orange patch on the back is a very puzzling choice of color with the fine-quality anodized aluminum case. A brown patch of genuine leather would have given it a more fitting, more expensive look. 

 

 

[The Immoral Mr Teas]

Re the TP7

 

 

https://teenage.engineering/products/tp-7

 

I got two and a half minutes in before pausing it to find out more. Despite the 3.5mm inputs my - it looks classy. And expensive. It looks expensive and it is expensive. But you'd definitely feel like the young Coppola taking this out of your pocket on your first day of work with Corman.

 

Jez

 

 

 

 

 

[The Documentary Sound Guy]

The make a ... mixer ... too:  https://teenage.engineering/products/tx-6

So, if you want to do your mix entirely with 3.5mm mics and can get away with a console the size of your palm, they've got you covered.  I can't think of a less practical form factor.  I'm definitely not their target market, but I'm wondering who is?  Podcasters and YouTubers? 

[tourtelot]

Leave it to Nagra to use an (albeit smokin') electric typewrite in their literature for their oh-so-cool new SN.  I won't be among those who might purchase it (my SD 788T still works great), but I can't argue the drip.

 

D.

 

[The Immoral Mr Teas]

Not actually a new Nagra Doug, just a new competitor for uber-styling, hip-factor and list-price. Sure I'd love one too but I'd have to sell my SJ to afford it - or if I found the right hipster I might be able to do a straight swap for my Brother EM-250 ... ?

 

J

 

[dela]

Although it is not a Nagra, I think that it is a really cute little thing. It is expensive, but for a device clearly meant for podcast/voice recording, it has some really innovative features, and it also has a good build quality. It has a tactile interface, like the SN, and the very mechanic control is much more intuitive than with than buttons. I probably won't buy one because I don't need one (not that it usually stops me..), but if I could imagine me needing a voice recorder, I would be really tempted. Especially since the transcription process has also been considered as an integrated part of the workflow.

[The Immoral Mr Teas]

+1 on dela's comment. I haven't thrown away a certain desktop cassette recorder from way back for the single reason that it was superb for the pause - brief rewind - play function it had for copying out (typing indeed) interview tapes. My studio Tascam, WM-D6C and D3 can't do this half so well (nor the Nakamichi which I DID throw out - but the damn thing started eating tapes).

 

J