Nagra Stories Sound-men won’t ever tell

[The Immoral Mr Teas]

17 hours ago, gekeda said:

Hi, any here familiar with SQN mixers? I got one of them basically for free and want to try it out. What cables do I need to connect it to a NAGRA 3? 
THANKS!

 

https://www.sqn.co.uk/

 

might start answering questions on cabling etc. Can't -quite- see what model you have from the view you've posted but if you click on 'PRODUCTS' it has details of the two still current Series 5 and Series 4 mini plus most of the earlier products (including the earlier Series 5).

 

It is also WELL worth having a good read of the history (and chronology) ... hidden away in 'CONTACT' it seems. The original mono mixer was designed specifically to host the small Nagra SN for news gathering and documentary.

 

Specifically I do think I once had a cable to connect the older mono mixer to a Nagra III, and the SQN, ubiquitous in the UK, was designed very much with the Nagra recorders in mind before / as well as connecting to video cameras, so a message to the SQN team would surely answer any questions you might still have if you can't work it out from the manuals. They also make their own cables up (virtually necessary for some of the multi-out / direct out sockets) and would create something to order I imagine if the need was vintage and the cable wasn't on the list.

 

I grew up with the SQN 4-S as much as the Nagra 3 and 4s, as did many here; they are beautifully built and sound great.

 

Jez

[Fosbery]

Good morning,How to understand these serial numbers?  How should I comment on this?

[dela]

There are several options here:

 

1) The easiest: take the output from the 5 pin XLR socket (standard stereo pin configuration)

2) There is also a stereo output in the 12 pin multiconnector

3) In the Hirose connector there are direct outs from the 4 channels

 

The SQN mixers were originally built to be used along with Nagras; on some of the older mixers even had Nagra compatible outputs...

 

Edit: Sorry that I didn´t notice that there has been other comments...

Edited December 14, 2025 by dela
Missed other comments

[DHB]

You know, I've just seen on eBay a decent-looking IV-S at a decent-looking price (£3,576.70 or Best Offer), complete with sync head, etc (see pics)..

 

 

 

..but I've never noticed anyone mention (..maybe I just haven't looked enough..) that the sync-head Nagras have - the US standard - 2mm record/playback heads, whereas the European non-sync Nagras have - of course - the normal European 2.75mm heads ..same as most Studers.

 

So you get more track height - effectively, more 'recording', and slightly less likely drop-out - on the non-sync models than on the sync versions. (Otaris tend to give a more 'beefy' sound when playing US-originated 2mm tracks than do the European 2.75mm Nagras and Studers, I've found ..but that's possibly because the latter are also playing back 2x .75mm [1.5mm] of erased blank hiss besides the actual signal.)

 

I thought "Should I get this apparently-good-condition recorder at this apparently-reasonable price?" ..but then I thought "I want to get maximum recording track height!" ..so I'll stay with my non-sync (perfect condition) IV-S.

 

I've made up my mind, but what are *your* thoughts?

[dela]

The IV-S was intended as a pilot controlled recorder, and they found out that there would also be a market for non-sync recorders, either for lower cost (if you don´t need sync capabilities), or you wanted to have (slightly) higher sound quality. The pilot controlled IV-S can obviously only work with 2 mm track width, but on the non-sync version you could choose: I you are in a environment/workflow with lots of sync recorders, it was an advantage to stick with 2 mm rack width, and don´t risk incompatibility with ones other recorders. If you prioritized sound quality and the other equipment had 2.75 mm track width, you could go for optimum S/R ratio and get a non-sync IV-S with 2.75 mm tracks. I think that it depended on which specific use case you had; I have an ex-Radio Denmark non-sync IV-S with 2 mm heads.

 

Among some "connoisseurs" the non-sync IV-S with 2.75 mm heads is considered the only version suitable for music recording. I find it a bit narrow minded, because:

 

1) The S/N ratio gain is only 1,5 dB when using wide tracks

2) The IV-S machines are 45-55 years old, and thus ordinary wear will have taken a toll on specs. I would argue that the 1,5 dB difference is much smaller than the effects of head wear, aging of components and mechanical factors. 

 

If I should choose the IV-S with the best sound quality, I would go for the machine in best overall condition and/or age. I have a 1996 IV-S TC, and with new heads, I am sure that it would beat a 1971-1978 non-sync IV-S. The newer versions had lower noise transistors, and generally would have 20 years less wear.

 

One annoying thing to notice is that you can´t just replace 2 mm heads with 2.75 mm heads on the IV-S. The bias generator transformer will need to be replaced with a type fitting the 2.75 mm heads, so you are a bit stuck with the track width you have. I have a set of unused 2.75 mm heads, but I have no machine for them... One day I might experiment with replacing them anyway...

 

[DHB]

Mmm.. "..they found out that there would also be a market for non-sync recorders.." ..it was Marcel Cellier (who would have been 100 years old a few months ago) who asked Kudelski if he could make a stereo Nagra for recording music ..especially Bulgarian women's choirs.. without needing the sync head - as he was just recording sound, not film. So the 4.2 body was used, and given two separate channels for stereo, and the 2.75mm heads as no sync track was needed between the audio tracks.

 

Luckily ..or rather, that was a consideration when buying it.. the heads were in really good condition when I got mine - and I had it 'tuned up' by Petronel Butuc (..of Audiophiles Clinic..) here in England - and it is a really great machine (he went though all the circuitry, and replaced several components to bring it up to scratch, adjusted the bias for my preferred tape, etc.).

 

I think it was an ex-BBC machine (..like my Studer, which Petronel also overhauled..) and hadn't been hammered day in and day out. But your 1996 machine with new heads must be great by comparison! (..Yes, mine's an early 1971-1978 non-sync IV-S.)

 

Many thanks for your appraisal of the differences between the 2.75mm ('wide track') and 2mm machines. (The crazy thing with my - or the - early 2.75mm machines is that the mic connectors are *male*, so I use two short female-to-female leads for the mic inputs, thinking that's less strain - because the connection is flexible - on the sticky-out mic-to-machine connectors ..or that's what I tell myself!)

 

Cheers, David.

[JBond]

 

I'm so sorry to read today all that has happened in the last year, first Jeff's wife and now Jeff. 

 

From the beginning, Jeff has always treated me very well, and a lot of my posting was due to him. I'm glad I brought his work to attention in a number of my posts dedicated to him. Not that he needed it, but I know he liked it when I did. 

 

There was a reason I had been away and had always planned to come back, but today I was met with this shocking news. 

Jeff was the #1 reason I posted so much; he kept me going. There were many times he thanked me, but this one post stood out the most to me. 

 

 

"If JWSOUND had never done anything other than host JBoind's amazing collection and his celebration of the Nagra and its history, I would be a perfectly content person  ---  this long running topic, the commentary, the history, all the fantastic images, has truly been one of the best things about this site. Thank you, JBond, for all that you do for us! "

Jeff Wexler

 

 

It meant the world to me when he posted that, made everything worthwhile.

I feel I let him down these last couple of years.