In a nutshell
Nagra IV-S, first designed for stereo music recording, was quickly taken up by movie production. Two-track recording allows to separate boom track from radio mike track, "in" from "off", playback from sync sound, etc. It is then possible to make up for mishaps that may have occurred during recording. Excellent microphone preamps, large dynamic range, high quality filters and limiters, two-needle level display, sturdiness and reliability, great autonomy, all this has made Nagra IV-S number one on production sets, radio studios and concert halls, long after the release of field digital recorders.
The Nagra IV-S has been replaced by DAT for economic reasons: sound dailies must be transferred to DAT in order to maintain TC continuity (mirror DAT); ¼" sound tape cost is three or four times DAT cost. Nevertheless, many American and European sound mixers manage to impose Nagra IV-S on productions in spite of an entirely digital post production chain.
Pilot signal (50/60 Hz), from internal quartz, frequency-modulates a RF carrier laid between the two audio tracks. Pilot signal can therefore be recorded afterwards with no prebias activation and without damage to recorded audio signals.
This product is commonly named:
Nagra IV-S, Nagra IVS, Nagra IV.S, Nagra 4-S, Nagra 4S, Nagra 4.S, IV-S, IVS, IV.S, 4-S, 4S, 4.S
The Nagra IV-S has been replaced by DAT for economic reasons: sound dailies must be transferred to DAT in order to maintain TC continuity (mirror DAT); ¼" sound tape cost is three or four times DAT cost. Nevertheless, many American and European sound mixers manage to impose Nagra IV-S on productions in spite of an entirely digital post production chain.
Pilot signal (50/60 Hz), from internal quartz, frequency-modulates a RF carrier laid between the two audio tracks. Pilot signal can therefore be recorded afterwards with no prebias activation and without damage to recorded audio signals.
This product is commonly named:
Nagra IV-S, Nagra IVS, Nagra IV.S, Nagra 4-S, Nagra 4S, Nagra 4.S, IV-S, IVS, IV.S, 4-S, 4S, 4.S