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Nagra VI:

VI Months Later

The Nagra VI connected to an external DVD Burner. Shown with a Grado microphone and a keyboard for Metadata entry, etc.

Six months after demonstating the new recorder for the Los Angeles film community, the company has announced updated operating software. This is actually the third revision in that time period. (Busy fellows, these Swiss software engineers!) At the time of the Southern California debut, the machine was running Version 1.20, released September 10, 2008. Since then, they released V1.30, V1.40 and are now running V1.51.

The most conspicuous (and welcome) change is that the recorder can now mirror record to an attached DVD drive. A wide assortment of generic DVD drives may be connected via the USB port and copying proceeds after the data is written to the internal hard drive. This is a most welcome change as it permits progressively making a copy of the day's work that can be turned in immediately at wrap.

In addition to DVD drives, mirroring to outboard hard drives and flash media is also supported. And connection of an external keyboard for data entry and remote control is now fully implemented.

The onboard speaker is also visible in this picture. That's always been there. Indeed, Nagras have had a built-in speaker since the very first Nagra in 1951. It's worth noting as other manufacturers have moved away from including a speaker to save space.

Mouse over to load USB memory stick

Now that the USB port is fully active and external media may be used, the engineers also revised the software to permit recording without using the internal hard drive. While one wouldn't ordinarily want to bypass the internal drive, it's useful in case one needs to work in temperature or vibration extremes. Being able to continue working with an external drive provides additional assurance that the assignment may be completed even in the event of an equipment failure.

With the possibility of additional drives, the engineers have added a useful utility to the software. There is now a "Media speed test" mode in the tools menu that can verify read/write speed performance prior to using a device for recording. The program will also calculate how many tracks can be recorded at a given sample frequency.

The Nagra had always been a well integrated machine with natural controls and good information displays. A couple of refinements further enhance the working experience.

Mouse over to change display.
Also notice the graphic indication that the machine is connected to power. When connected to DC power, a horizontal flash graphic is displayed.

Notice the letter "H" on the upper right screen, adjacent to the battery display. This indicates that the system is accessing the hard drive. Mouse over and you'll see the indicator change, when the machine is no longer in "RECORD," to indicate "U" for writing to the USB drive or "C" when writing to the Compact Flash card.

Also notice that the bar graphs are a darker color on tracks 5 & 6. These tracks are not armed but they are connected to a source. The display clearly differentiates the unarmed tracks but also continues to display essential information.

mouse over to change display

Adjusting the level points for the modulometer also affects the lights above the potentiometers.

With V1.3 the user acquired the ability to adjust and customize the range of the modulometer display. This also permits designating the level points where the bar graphs change color.

Mouse over to change bar graph.
The new software permits the operator to specify the level points where the graph changes color. In this case, a steady tone supplied by an outboard reference oscillator is displayed in accordance with differing parameters.

A number of other refinements are incorporated in these updates: -The system will now recognize hard drives in excess of 135 GB capacity. -When metadata is changed the DVD copy is automatically updated. -It's now possible to have the date in American (MM,DD,YY), rather than just European, format. -The reference generator may now be toggled to stay "on" for recording long tones. -The time code generator can now be set from the Real Time clock. There are a series of other improvements. For detailed information, consult the Support page on the Nagra website:

http://www.nagraaudio.com/pro/index.php

General information on the recorder is available from the home site:

http://www.nagraaudio.com/

The mix screen simplifies coordination of levels, balance settings, etc.

Of course, from the pictures it's apparent that the machine is now available with a blue face plate as well as the gray of the first production run. It's also available in a burgundy/red that is quite attractive. In addition to being handsome, this feature also makes it easy to differentiate recorders in situations, like a reality TV series, where multiple recorders may be in regular use.

Software driven machines may be continuously updated as the developers become aware of needs and possibilities. All of these recorders, Aaton, Sound Devices, Deva, etc., announce new features and implement new capabilities regularly. Development never really ends and the product line is steadily improved.

I understand that Nagra will release yet a further update in only a few weeks. This will offer several refinements including a 5 + 1 format with up to 5 isolated tracks plus a one track mix-down.

Saving configuration templates and loading them from Compact Flash or a USB drive will also be possible. And, there is the very interesting possibility of creating templates in a text format on a PC and then loading them into the Nagra.

We'll update this report as new material becomes available.

Considerable information is available in the Home screen. (Actually designation of which template is the Home screen may be specified by the user.) In this example we see 2 armed tracks (5 & 6) plus inputs to three other tracks. The screen confirms time code, 30 fps status, 24 bit recording at 48 khz, a battery 3/4 charged, and recording to internal hard drive.