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Re: first report on Nagra ARES-M

Subject: Re: first report on Nagra ARES-M
From: "Rob Danielson" danielson_rob
Date: Wed Jan 31, 2007 8:05 am ((PST))
There certainly were plenty of phantom-powered
"lavaliere" electret mics connected to Nagra pres
over the years. Its heathy that pro/consumer
divisions are breaking down-- especially if PIP
circuits benefit. Rob D.

At 4:21 AM +0100 1/31/07, Klas Strandberg wrote:
>There is nothing at all wrong with PIP, Rob.
>"PIP" is what happens anyway, after the phantom power has been
>knitted together from the two leads. The only disadvantage with PIP
>is that there is no current left over for filters and eq. networks.
>
>Klas.
>
>   At 20:24 2007-01-30, you wrote:
>>At 11:00 AM -0800 1/30/07, Dan Dugan wrote:
>>  >I've just received a Nagra ARES-M, Nagra's smallest, lowest-cost
>>  >recorder and the first Swiss/Chinese collaboration for them. See:
>>  >
>>  >http://www.nagraaudio.com/pro/
>>  >
>>  >Right off it's just the right size and has all the features nature
>>  >recordists need, including quiet PIP preamps (critical tests to
>>  >follow).
>>  >
>>  >It has a serious defect in the mounting of the 3.5mm jacks (mic, line
>>  >in, headphone, line out) a little below the surface of the case
>>  >(.75mm for the inputs, 1.2mm for the outputs) so that the plugs don't
>>  >insert far enough to lock securely. I think I'm going to have to
>>  >grind down the plastic around the jacks.
>>  >
>>  >The human interface is fine but not very intuitive; the learning
>>  >curve is steep but short. There are very helpful things like
>>  >pre-record buffer (only 2 seconds max) and ten presets for mic types
>>  >and levels. Loading a preset includes a default gain setting for that
>>  >mic, and record gains can be locked, something that would be useful
>>  >for survey work.
>>  >
>>  >The menu for the set-up of the presets is intentionally a bit hard to
>>  >get to; I think the idea is that an engineer sets it up and hands it
>>  >to a reporter who isn't that technical.
>>  >
>>  >There's a bewildering array of choices of encoding schemes, all
>>  >16-bit max; PCM, MP2, MP3, and weird phone encodings like u-law.
>>  >
>>  >Tested so far with its snap-on stereo mic (looks like M-S, Nagra USA
>>  >supplies it with the lower-noise Sennheiser capsules, not the stock
>>  >model), Shure WL-183s, and Telinga EM-23s. Sounds great with all of
>>  >them.
>>  >
>>  >I'm really busy right now, so if Rob Danielson has time to do
>>  >comparisons before I do, I'll be happy to ship it out. Rob?
>>  >
>>  >-Dan Dugan
>>
>>I'd love to, but not for a few weeks. We'll communicate. We might be
>>able to combine the ARES-M test with few other recorders in the less
>>than $500/channel club. Get Klas's EMKS-23 in there too?  Never
>>thought I'd be reading about PIP in a Nagra. Rob D.
>>--
>>Rob Danielson
>>Peck School of the Arts
>>University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
>>http://www.uwm.edu/~type/audio-art-tech-gallery/
>>
>>
>>
>>"Microphones are not ears,
>>Loudspeakers are not birds,
>>A listening room is not nature."
>>Klas Strandberg
>>Yahoo! Groups Links
>>
>>
>>
>
>Telinga Microphones, Botarbo,
>S-748 96 Tobo, Sweden.
>Phone & fax int + 295 310 01
>email: 
>website: www.telinga.com
>  =A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0
>
>
>
>
>"Microphones are not ears,
>Loudspeakers are not birds,
>A listening room is not nature."
>Klas Strandberg
>Yahoo! Groups Links
>
>
>


--
Rob Danielson
Peck School of the Arts
University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
http://www.uwm.edu/~type/audio-art-tech-gallery/





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