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Nagra VI software update 3.20


Eric Lamontagne

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NAGRA VI SERVICE BULLETIN FOR THE VERSION 3.20(Installation of this version WILL NOT erase the settings and internal templates of yourmachine), however the short-cut selections (U1, U2 and U3 (F1 – F6 on the external keyboard WILL be erased).

This is a list of the improvements and new features smaller alterations, improvements and“bug” fixed implemented version 3.20 for the NAGRA-VI detailed explanations of all the newfeatures and printed examples of the menu changes, and new features are all covered in thenew version of the manual available on our web site www.nagraaudio.com

Features:· NEW The Nagra VI now allows “track rotation” on the copy file. This feature allows the mixtracks (7+8 ) to be recorded on the copy as tracks 1+ 2. All the other tracks are shifted accordingly, thus 1+2 become tracks 3+4 and so on. The recordings on the working driveremain untouched. This is activated by a new menu “Track rotate” in the copy set-up screen.

NEW The MIDI interface has been implemented allowing an external MIDI control surface tobe used for the mixer functions (Mix gain, Mix pan, Mix out, Mic/Line inputs and line outputs)as well as main transport functions (play, record….). A new menu selection “MIDIconfiguration” has been added to the TOOLS menu and allows automatic programming of the MIDI features.

NEW A playback progression bar has been added to the main display screen to show theadvance of playback of the current index.

NEW A “double” press of the headphone level control pot will now switch the monitoring modeto Mono.·

NEW Two new positions “On play” and “Always On” have been added to the Line Out menuallowing the outputs to be muted when the main selector is set to any mode other than playback, to avoid audio feedback in test and record modes.

NEW The most recently selected template is now indicated as “last” in the templates screen.This only operates for internal templates, and will be cancelled if an external template is recalled.

NEW If the Auto-copy mode is active, then the “report” files will also be copied to thedestination folder.

NEW In the event of a change of Scene, the working directory is scanned to locate the highest take number with the same Scene name. The take # is then automatically set to the next subsequent number. (Wild tracks have their own numbering system)

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Tom,

Any chance you are going to try an external midi control surface?

I'm excited by the surprise update and the new possibilities...Wow.

Eric

 

yes definitely going to do midi.  even though I have a Cantar, the Nagra will offer more control than the Cantar even.  6 mic/line trims, 6 faders, 6 pans, 1 fader master, 1 analog output master (could be set to different routing than mix, such as IFB / boom PL matrix), plus transport commands.  thinking also of rolling my own hardware control surface too.

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Maybe because only 3 people own them and they're not going to give them up?

 

I know at least 5 guys here (Thessaloniki & Athens) owning VI. And I know a company going to add two more. Not bad Nagra-to-noise ratio for a small industry.

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Well, according to the document Rado posted above, Nagra claim to have sold the VI to 48 countries. So, adding Vas' additional ones in Greece, the number goes up to 52 at least. It's not so bad [emoji6]

I just convinced a dear friend of mine to buy one.

He is a location music recorder and the midi controller support came at the right time to close the deal.

I think people buy Nagra for music recording because of the uncompromising sound quality...

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I think people buy Nagra for music recording because of the uncompromising sound quality...

Quite possible.

However, for almost any music recording scenario I have participated in or can even think of, 4 preamps is not enough by a long way. Especially as size and power consumption is of less importance to music recordists than it is to us.

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Maybe because only 3 people own them and they're not going to give them up?

 

I suspect that there wouldn't be a lot more of them for sale if 300 people owned them... I guess it's hard to part ways with a machine this well built (even old tape Nagras still have their caring homes all over the world.)

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I had considered selling my VI, but there are some things that it does better or just "feels" better than anything else I've used. This mix rotate and midi capability increases its utility by 1000% and can actually use it on things I wouldn't have considered before. The limited track count isn't an issue for the stuff that I typically work on.

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I had considered selling my VI, but there are some things that it does better or just "feels" better than anything else I've used. This mix rotate and midi capability increases its utility by 1000% and can actually use it on things I wouldn't have considered before. The limited track count isn't an issue for the stuff that I typically work on.

Darn, I should have picked up a used VI before the firmware updates made people want to hang on to them!  8)

My recording is largely live music, and not the type necessitating loads of mics, so my 744T and SQN IV mixer combo suits me fine.  Speaking of SQN, I just picked up a nice mono unit (SQN 3-M) that I'll have some fun feeding my mono Nagras for old-style recording.  I really like the sound of the preamps in the SQN. 

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  • 2 months later...

Hi all

As you can see from this clip below i've got mine to work with the compact usb controller Korg NanoKontrol2, via a Kenton USB-MIDI host, which is pretty much the only device available i know of that performs the 'reverse' connectivity of normal USB-midi interfaces.

 

NAG_NANO_MIX.mp4

 

Although all pots and faders were recognised straight away by the 'learning' method of the new MIDI menu on the Nagra VI, when moving on to learn the transport keys it wouldn't recognise any of the default Midi CC values as valid data to 'pick up' and save, but editing the parameters of the controller itself via the PC utility solved that, after i'd guessed a probable range of controller values which would work. 

Anyone interested in using this particular panel i'll give you a list of the numbers or just email you the template file which you can load onto the panel directly

Doubtless the same method could get any other USB fader controller working with the Nagra, as long as it's operating in class-compliant mode ( i.e. where no extra driver required on PC or Mac ), as the Kenton converter will only recognise and forward midi messages generated by a usb class-compliant device.

Incidentally, the Kenton host box, and through it the Korg panel, can reliably be powered from the primary USB port on the Nagra VI, which is rather convenient  :-)

 

Edited by mskill
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  • 9 months later...

FYI some additional info on my Midi control setup for the Nagra VI

1)    The total current draw from the Nagra usb port is 120>130mA  ( NanoKontrol 2 is 60>70mA and the Kenton Midi host is 50mA ), and so using a usb splitter lead to supply just 5V power to the Kenton unit ( which in turn passes it through to the NanoKontrol ), there is more than enough of the 500mA supply capacity of the USB port left to run either the RF-dongle for mini keyboard or* a USB flash memory key, since the RF dongle uses very little current, and - for example,  2 recent SanDisk usb(3) keys i've bought use no more than 130mA in read and write.

However i wouldn't try attaching an external bus-powered 2.5" SSD at the same time as the Midi units are powered.

2)     just to be clear, the template i've set up to load onto a NanoKontrol2 only allocates Midi controller numbers to all the faders, pots and keys on the panel in the ranges that are recognised by the current Nagra MIDI implementation. You still of course have to learn-assign all the controls to the functions you want them to control - individually and manually - in the Nagra midi setup menu.

3)      Note that it's possible to allocate external midi control keys to activate 'TEST' and 'PRE-RECORD' states as well as Record, and all these override the normal 'safety' factor of the Nagra 'mode' selector switch.

That's to say, you can, with external midi, engage pre-record, record, and play with the selector switch at 'STOP', and also activate STOP with the selector switch set to RECORD. Whether you regard this as a reason for not allocating the external transport keys depends i guess on how likely you think accidental operation of keys on the NanoKontrol by 'nudging' is..

NB that the externally assigned 'test' doesn't seem to do anything. I'd have expected it to put the machine into the same mode as the selector switch Test position, including auto-pre-record that i have enabled, but nothing appears to happen. However since activating Pre-Record manually from the external panel has effectively the same effect as selecting 'Test' on the selector switch, i'm not letting this last detail bother me.

 Hope this helps anyone who's thinking of going down the same route as me.

And yes, i realise that the NanoKontrol mini-faders are hardly comparable with the proprietary ext-fader units from SD, Aaton, Cantaar, Sonosax, but i don't see any alternative available for use with a Nagra except larger mains-powered USB fader controllers, and what do you expect for  £130  ? :-)

Matt

 

* but obv not both at once as the Nagra won't recognise a usb hub, let alone 2 devices at once attached to it.  I don't have the 2nd optional ( keyboard ) usb port fitted, and probably won't have it done, as i think the cost is too much simply to let me have keyboard and external storage connected at the same time, since the usual manual copy/backup operation is just a few l/r/u/d keypresses on the front panel to initiate and not something i'd expect to do more than once a day with there already being main and backup media in the machine.

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