sound device 702 or nagra ares P II

[maxd]

hi everybody
i have just one question:

what's the best recorders betweek the nagra and the sound devices??

i'm very interested by the nagra because it's very little. i would record much music (piano,voices.....etc..........) and ambient with good quality.


how is the quality of preamp and the conversion for theses recorders?

thanks for your advice

[David Spearritt]

Originally Posted by maxd

what's the best recorders betweek the nagra and the sound devices??

It depends on the models. We have the ARES-M, 702, and Nagra V. You get what you pay for, this is the order of sound quality, build quality and ergonomic quality.

how is the quality of preamp and the conversion for theses recorders?

Its not bad, The ARES-M is not as good as the 702, its little preamp is a bit noisy for serious music recording, but then this is not its main application of course. The 702 is very good value for money and works well as a music recorder.

Neither of them is a patch on the Nagra V however, but then its a lot pricier.

[MichaelPatrick]

The SoundDevices 744 is really a good buy because the converters and preamps are excellent. It only comes with 2 preamps, tho, so you'll need an outboard to drive all 4 channels. There will surely be times when you'll want spots or ambient mics.

[pkautzsch]

Nagra's Ares series is mainly intended for radio interview stuff, and not so much for recording quiet sources in high quality. For hi-quality recording they make the Nagra V. For your purpose, I'm quite sure the 702 is way better than the Ares.

In addition, the Ares P-II which you're referring to has, according to nagraaudio.com, a 12-pin DIN connector for external mics which would require an adaptor if you don't use the on-board mic. That shows it's intended to be primarily used with the on-board electret mic.
The 702 has standard XLR inputs.

[xxm]

I have been using the Ares PII for a while. It is intended for broadcast (most of Neumann mics as well:-) but accepts to be used for music recording as well. This machine is reliable and offers 5 to 6 hours of recording with some high quality cells. (I use the lithium one).

As said before, the machine needs an adapter to get xlr imput (can be ordered at nagra and comes with Gotham cable and Neutrik connectors, one mic level and one line level).
The preamps aren't so bad though. I use it on some location with a small sonosax, and yes, the sonosax sounds better. But not dramatically better.

The technology used is in the case of the PII (be aware of the differences between the PII+ or PII) does NOT provide phantom. this could be a major issue for you. The PII+ does.

The converters on the PII are a 20 bit AK4520A.

I personnaly used this recorder directly with tube mics without problem.
You can have a look at the Ares BB+ as well, that is exactly the same as the PII+ but in a more handy presentation.

I would anyway recommend to compare the Sound devices to any other recorder. I never used any, so I couldn't really help. Nagra obviously put more enery in the Nagra V (and VI) than the smaller Ares, but doesn't have to shame about these.

hope this could help.
Vincent

[maxd]

thanks for all yours advices.

for the nagra:what the prices of the adaptor to use mic with XLR?

i would buy a setup for use in field recording but also in studio.
do you think sound devices preamps have sufficient for a studio use???


thanks

max

[pkautzsch]

Sound Devices pres are amongst the best I've listened to. They are in the same ballpark as those of my good old Nagra 4.2, and WAY better than SQN.

[maxd]

thanks

and what do you think of this solution:

an nagra ARES M for the portabilty and a good preamp like sonosax....
i like the ares product because it's easy to record sound instantaneously....
and i could add a good preamp for most serious project...

what do you think of this idea???

the conversion are good on the ARES M?

thanks a lot

[xxm]

I understand it starts to be complicated... don't worry though.
If you want to go safe and have a single tool, the sound devices is very good for the price.
If you prefer have some separate tools, you can have a good preamp, a converter and a laptop.

the ares M is in my opinion no solution for you, it is really made for broadcast.

try to read a little more on the forum, it is really worth it!
a few hours spent reading will teach you a lot and help you find the best suitable solutions!

best of luck

vincent

[boojum]

I like it simple as I am not the sharpest knife in the drawer. My solution is an SD 722 + Schoeps CMC 64's. Light, small, easy to use and really reliable good sound. For sure you will not go wrong with this setup. My avatar recommended this setup and I guess it is pretty much the gold standard. It will do me for a long while: until I understand mic'ing. ;o) Then it is 744T time and a pair of Josephson C617's (?), the Jospephson/Gefell cooperative effort omni's. I do mostly acoustic.

Cheers