Nagra
Overview
For 60 years, consumers have linked the Nagra brand name with impressive, innovative, and award-winning portable audio recorders, with analog equipment known for the classic style of a reel-to-reel tape deck and single transport selector. Originally created by company founder and Polish inventor Stefan Kudelski, who later turned the business over to his son, Nagra products earned recognition due to their reliability, excellent craftsmanship, and ability to withstand extreme conditions. One element that sets these tools apart from other manufacturers is the Neo-Pilottone system created by Kudelski. This patented method allows gear to synchronize audio data start point and recording speed with a motion picture camera and have it play back at the same speed as a projector, camera, or other reference. The system led to Nagra becoming the primary audio recorder brand in Hollywood from the 1960s to the 1990s due to the ease in synchronizing a recording’s start point to the clap of a film clapper. For over three decades, Hollywood featured these goods both behind and in front of the camera. Nagra’s ubiquity in filmmaking has seen its models make their way in front of the camera as well, include appearances in 1981’s Blow Out starring John Travolta and directed by Brian De Palma, The Beatles’ second film Help!, and, most recently, The Informant! starring Matt Damon. Even after the advent and popularity of digital recording, Nagra analog products still find use in movies. Many foley artists find benefits in using this gear to record loud sounds such as explosions and gunshots, which may be difficult for digital recorders to capture. In the early 1990s, however, Nagra began offering digital equipment. Modern filmmakers can obtain top-quality sound with the Nagra-D, the Nagra V, and the Nagra VI, which function as pulse-code modulation (PCM) digital devices ranging from two to six tracks with removable disk drives. Aside from moviemaking, Nagra developed specialized digital equipment with USB file support for broadcast news reporters, radio shows, and musicians.