Software Bulletins for NAGRA VI

Addition of the Default settings menu. Number of indexes limited to 299. Addition of the index RENUMBER feature. Software Bulletins for NAGRA VI VERSION V1.01 (17/06/2008) VERSION V1.02 (25/06/2008) Display of the date and time of indexes in the directory. Inhibit erasure of a folder during recording. Assignment of track numbers to polyphonic files. VERSION V1.03 (03/07/2008) Error messages added concerning the AES A / B inputs. Copy Error messages added. Beep added when a record is started and when the folder is full. BUGS REMOVED AES slipping between External and Internal was not detected with the previous version. VERSION V1.10 (31/07/2008) Implementation of the Hold Max feature for the modulometers. Pressing the up key will indicate the maximum level achieved since the last reset, and pressing up + dn together will reset the hold memory. Addition of the formatting messages Formatting and Done/Failed in the FORMAT menu. Assignment of the potentiometers: A potentiometer can be assigned to one or more inputs for the microphone gain, to one or more mixer gain pots or non-assigned (no action). The microphone level is automatically saved as soon as no potentiometer is assigned to it. The level and the potentiometer assignment is saved in the templates. Metadata editing feature for ixml files. The Project, scene, take, notes and Wild track can all be edited. A wild track is indicated by -w after the take number. False Start feature implemented. Pressing Skip backwards when moving the main function selector to record will create a false start which is indicated by -F after the take number. Addition of the Scene, take number and w in yellow on the Cinema display screen Phase indication changed to N (Normal in grey) and I (inverted in yellow) on the status screen. Beep level changed from -12 db to -18 db Track arming selection added to the inputs menu Increase the number of characters for the scene to 8 characters VERSION V1.20 (11/09/2008) Implementation of the internal Chase Synchronizer feature for the time code system. GOTO time code function is also activated. Implementation of the User Programmable Keys, allowing a short-cut to any menu position. Alteration to the pots assignment menu to automatically select Not Assigned if no pot is allocated to a certain input. Change name of the Mike Sensitivity menu to Mike display scale to avoid confusion in the operation of the menu. Change the Format menu to Re-format to avoid confusion as to the file format menu. Change the maximum attenuation of the mixer menu from -30dB to -60dB to allow a fade-out to be performed. Introduction of the Monitoring Boost menu. This digitally increases the level of the headphone and loudspeaker outputs by 6 or 12 db. Change all indications from dbm to dbu Short-cut to the Default or Status screen and the Modulometers screen by pressing the Left or Right arrow keys respectively. The values of -30 db and -36 db have been added to the Beep menu

Increase of the USB-2 data transfer speed from the internal Hard disk. It is approximately 7.5 Mbytes/sec Add the Pick-up (Partial scene) selection to the Metadata menu: This will add -P to the scene name and the take number will increase as if it were a new take. This does not alter the ixml data as this flag is not currently attributed. If the scene name is already 8 characters, then the last two will be replaced by -P Time code frame rate has been added to the main display screen and the directory listing. Addition of the special characters!#$% ()+-,._ Increase the speed that the ESC function come out of the menu mode VERSION V1.30 (27/10/2008) Modification of the ATA disk driver concerning the time-outs to avoid missing files in the directory. Disk management in LBA48 mode allowing the use of parallel ATA disks of a capacity greater than 135GB. Correction of the USB disconnection. Turning off the recorder while USB is connected is now possible. This is especially important in the Low Battery situation, to avoid completely discharging the battery packs. The COPY menu has been moved from the tools menu to the first menu level so as to be more easily accessible. The backlight button for the display and leds is now progressive. The progression is triangular in that upon each press the direction of the variation is reversed. Correction of a bug which occasionally prevented the machine from turning OFF when external time code was fed to the LEMO connector. The characters : ; * /? have been added to the character list for the metadata entry. The Nagra VI will no longer display folders with either SYSTEM or HIDDEN file attributes. Addition of the modulometer level programming. The Meter programming menu has been added to the end of the settings menu. The Range can be set from -30 to -50 db in 10 db steps. The illumination of the yellow led (above pots) and the yellow part of the bar-graph can be selected from -24 to -9 db and the RED leds and indication can be set from -9 to 0dB. This indicated the actual level reached. Example: the pixel next to -12dB will light when a signal level of -12 is reached but not for a signal of -12.1 db. In the same manner, the 0dB will only light when a sample reaches the digital value of 0x7FFF (Saturation limit). VERSION V1.40 (19/12/2008) The internal time code generator can now be set from the Real Time Clock The MIXER has been moved to the output side, and is now located after the M/S decoders. It can now be used in both recording and playback. If not used for recording (not attributed to channels 5+6) it can be used to mix all six channels in playback onto the outputs. The output matrix has been added to allow the mix to be sent to the outputs. The Line / AES outputs can now be set to MIXER or OUTPUT MATRIX Improvement of the character editor. Possibility to insert / delete characters and delete to the end of the line. Display dimmer has been modified to stop at the minimum and maximum positions. Reference generator has a toggle function for recording long tones. Modification of the mixer gain can no longer be modified by the keyboard when attributed to a pot. An error message will indicate this. The headphone pot can be attributed to adjust the line output level. The range of the microphone input pots has been increased. The last third is a digital gain allowing fade-outs to be made. When working in this zone the indication in dbspl is no longer show, this corresponds to the black zone on the pots of the analogue NAGRAs. File name: Scene_Take_xxx_n.wav has been added to the file naming list menu. The scene may now contain up to 12 characters. The beep signal for an error has been modified so as to be more distinctive. The REMAINING TIME is no longer indicated while playing back a take at a sampling frequency other than the current settings of the machine as the indication was incorrect in this mode. The time and date now show HH:MM:SS and DD:MM:YY when setting. The modulometers of non-activated channels are now shown in a darker shade. The battery icon has been modified to show when external mains power is connected to the battery box. COPY is now shown on the main display when the autocopy function is active. Automatic update of the metadata on the copy. When the metadata is modified in the directory or by a false start command the copy is automatically updated. The update is made under the following conditions: Autocopy is active, the index is present with the same number of channels recorded and has an identical size on the destination drive.

Running the NAGRA VI without an internal disk is now possible if necessary. Erasing a folder containing sub-folders will no longer erase the sub-folders. Previously this was not the case and created lost clusters on the disk. VERSION V1.41 (7/01/2009) Inhibition of the operation of the limiter LED when using the reference generator or the slate microphone. VERSION V1.42 (30/01/2009) Improved compatibility with different CF cards. User bits displayed in capital letters in the directory. Improved compatibility with external WAV files. VERSION V1.50 (02/03/2009) (Installation of this version will NOT erase the template settings of the version V 1.4x of the NAGRA VI) Activation of the HOST USB port allowing connection of a generic external USB storage device (USB key, external HDD, DVD-RAM burner) as well as the connection of a USB keyboard. QWERTY, AZERTY and QWERTZ are all accepted. IMPORTANT NOTE: On machines delivered before March 2009 a modification MUST be applied to the USB host port before it is active. The modification is explained on the technical information sheet TIE 32-02. Non-implementation of this modification will not affect the operation of the software version V 1.5, simply the USB host port will not operate. Removal of the word REC from the recording format on the default display screen. The time code frame rate has been moved to the same line as the USER BITS display, to make the display easier to read. Correction of a bug in the pre-record function to limit the buffer length of 10 seconds when at 88.2 or 96 khz. Implementation of the US date format. On the Time and Date menu the US format of MM:DD:YY can be selected and will henceforth show all directory entries in the US format. When the internal hard disk is formatted the name NAGRA_VI will be saved as the default volume label. This allows for easy recognition of the internal hard drive and the compact flash slot when connected to a computer via USB. The size of the disk is no longer displayed in the Folder screen, because when connected to USB it can indicate incorrectly as it is not refreshed. The project name has been added to the information in the directory display. Copy Destination Full message introduced to the error messages of the copy manager in place of the message copy error displayed previously. Correction of the refreshing of the metadata display during record when modified in the directory display. Introduction of the Media speed test mode in the tools menu allowing external media devices to be tested for their read and write speed prior to implementation for recording. Improvement in the disk driver software by separating the cache of each disk. VERSION V2.00 (10/06/2009) (Installation of this version WILL erase the template settings of the version V 1.5x of the NAGRA VI) Automatic folder menu, in the Tools menu. This feature allows the automatic creation of a new working folder each day. When activated, on power up (and only up on power up) the machine will create a new working folder with the current date as the folder name in the YYYYMMDD format. If the NAGRA is switched on before 06:00h then the question will be asked to the operator whether a new folder is to be created or not. If a transport function (i.e. RECORD) is selected while the question is being asked, the NAGRA assumes that ESC has been pressed and will continue as before without creating a new folder. The new day is calculated based on the internal Real Time Clock of the machine (Not the TC) and if the internal clock is not correct then the setting of the clock will be requested prior to creating the new folder which will be created if necessary. Create report function in the directory menu. Activating this feature will create a report of the working directory using the same name as the directory with the.rpt file extension. This is a simple ASCII text file, with tab delimitations between the various fields, which allows simple importation into Excel (or other).

Mix of inputs 1-5 to a MONO MIX on to channel 6 is now possible by setting only channel 6 to the mix position in the inputs menu. If this mode is selected then the pan of the 5 inputs are deactivated as no pan is possible into a mono mix. Management of level offsets between the pots on a new screen to the right of the pot assign screen. An offset can be assigned to each pot for each input. This allows inputs with different gains to be controlled with a single pot. If an input has an offset stored then a * is shown after the channel number on the fuel gauge when the pot is adjusted. The offset is programmed using the UP/DN keys. Pressing the two keys simultaneously will instantly reset the value to zero for the selected offset. On a USB keyboard the R key will reset the value and Ctrl+R will reset all the values to zero for the selected pot. Saving templates to either Compact Flash or USB drive is now possible. There are now two types of templates: the internal templates, as before stored in the internal memory of the recorder, and the external templates stored in the form of a text file. The file templates have the.tpl extension and can be edited with a simple text editor. Only items saved in the file will be loaded during the Restore command allowing partial templates to be created. An example of a full template has been added to the instruction manual in the Annex. Addition of the transport control features for the USB keyboard the following are now implemented: Ctrl+F1= Skip backwards, Ctrl+F2= search backwards 4x nominal, Ctrl+F3=Search forwards 4x nominal, Ctrl+F4=Skip forwards, Ctrl+F5=Play, Ctrl+F6 and Ctrl+space bar=stop, Ctrl+F10=TC Gen out (in test), Ctrl+F11=Prerecord, Ctrl+F12=Record, Alt+F12=Record False Start, Alt+F2=Rewind, Alt+F3=Fast forward, Alt+F5=Chase (synchronizer). While the NAGRA VI is in record mode ONLY the Stop, Record, Pre-record and record false start are accepted. Ctrl+F12 and Alt+F12 will create a new index if the machine is already recording and the automatic repetition of the keys is ignored to avoid accidental multiple new takes. Automatic Skip menu has been implemented allowing the automatic skip between tracks with the same settings in playback to be overridden. Max file size menu has been implemented to allow the maximum size of a recorded file to be preset. A new index will be created automatically when this file size is achieved. We have also authorized the use of 4GB (Maximum authorized by FAT 32) but BEWARE: Many editors and other applications will not accept files larger than 2 GB. Monitoring menu allowing monitoring of the mixer when all the monitoring switches above the main selector switch are set to the OFF position (Mix if Mon. off). Indication of the type of Compact Flash card in the Media Speed Menu allowing fake or clone low quality CF cards, found on the internet, to be identified rapidly. Indication of the model of the installed Hard disk in the About menu. The electronic id of the disk indicates the size/type of the internal disk without opening the recorder. Modification of the output routing to the AES and standard XLR analogue outputs is now independent, and a separate menu for each has been added to the Audio settings menu. The Pot assign menu now handles all six channels of the mixer. In the Audio inputs menu, the terms Dyn. Mic. and Cond. Mic have been replaced by Mic 2.8 mv/pa and Mic 10 mv/pa respectively as this defines the sensitivity more clearly and does not imply a particular type of microphone. In the 2.8mV/Pa position the transformers are switched into the circuit. To simplify the Mic display Scale menu the choices have been altered to: Automatic : Uses the gain of the selected microphone input (2.8mV/Pa or 10mV/Pa), Attenuation : displays the attenuation with respect to the potentiometer in the fully open (CW) position, or a forced predefined value in mv/pa as before. Addition of the functions Ctrl+H and Ctrl+E for the home and end commands for USB keyboards not equipped with these keys. Addition of the Ctrl+C and Ctrl+V for Cut and Paste when editing characters. Ctrl+C will copy the entire line and Ctrl+V will erase and replace the entire line. Line input gain can now be assigned to a pot on the front panel in the pot assign menu, and the message Assigned to pot will be displayed if a line level modification by menu is attempted. The dynamic range has been digitally increased. The fuel gauge will display the level in dbu from +24 to -6 dbu followed by a 30dB zone beyond the +24dB to allow a total digital fade out. The setting of the backlight is now memorized and will not be reset when the machine is turned off. Restoration of the replay position (Index number and position within the index) when the machine is switched on. In the File Name menu we have added the naming possibility of YYMMDD_HHMMSS_XXX allowing the time and date of the day to be used in the file names.

VERSION 2.10 (04/12/2009) (Installation of this version WILL erase all the settings and internal templates of your machine) Addition of an output level adjustment fader for the internal audio mixer. It can be seen on the right side of each of the different mixer screens and can be modified using the arrow keys OR assigned to the headphone level potentiometer using the pot assign menu. Using an external USB keyboard the gain can also be altered with the UP/DN arrows. The gain can be adjusted from +12 to -48 db. Two shortcuts have been implemented: UP+DN simultaneously will toggle from OFF to +12dB and L+R simultaneously will jump to the 0 db position. Temporary re-assignment of the potentiometers to their analogue inputs by pressing the L and R arrows simultaneously has been implemented. This allows rapid access to trim an input sensitivity signal (When the pots are assigned as faders) without re-assigning the potentiometers. At the same time the headphone pot will also be temporarily returned to the headphone level if it has been assigned to another function. The +48V phantom powering selection for the microphone inputs will be turned off automatically when the 2.8 mv/pa sensitivity setting (Dynamic) is selected. It can subsequently be re-activated if required by simply reselecting it on the desired input in the input configuration screen. Three additional user programmable keys have been attributed for use with an external USB keyboard. F4, F5 and F6 are programmable in the same way as the standard user keys. (Note: U1, U2 and U3 are already attributed to F1, F2 and F3 on an external keyboard). The Take number will now be incremented automatically when recording wild tracks, which was not the case previously. Recordings in non-readable formats (192 khz) will now be displayed as entries in the directory even if they cannot be read by the Nagra VI. Direct access for metadata modification of a specific index. The Metadata menu has been split into Generic data which is recorded to all indexes and Current index data allowing modification of the metadata of the current index to be modified. This also creates a new screen that can be assigned to one of the user keys for rapid access if desired. The False Start flag can now be edited in the metadata modification mode. Addition of the NOTE field in the main metadata screen allowing notes to be added more easily. The file names are now updated in accordance with the metadata. Any change of metadata concerning the name will now be reflected in the file name. The -W and F for wild track and false start information has been moved to the Scene indication rather than behind the index number. The -W and F for wild track and false start information have been added to the file names. The indications Dyn and Cond have been restored to the microphone input type selection screen. It is now possible to arm / disarm tracks as well as change the file format when the main selector is in the TEST / Pre-record position. Improvement of the driver for Solid State Drives (SSD s) allowing better disk management and compatibility. The number of folders per disk that can be handled has been increased from 100 per disk to 1 000. The reference generator is now available on the line outputs and the AES output. This guarantees that the level of the generator is correct even when the internal mixer is being used. VERSION 3.00 (07/08/2010) (Installation of this version WILL erase all the settings and internal templates of your machine, and some previously saved templates made with version 2.xx may not be complete when using version 3.00) The channel count moves from 6 to 8. The internal mix is attributed to channels 7 + 8. Channels 5 + 6 have a mute position in the drop-down menu depending on the use of inputs 5 & 6 (AES). Monitoring of channels 7 & 8 can be selected in the monitoring menu by selecting the 7+8 if mon. OFF position and then setting all the monitoring selectors on the front panel to the OFF position. The mixer is now ALWAYS 6 channels. Mono selection is now made in the mixer menu by selecting MONO under the output level fader. This mode allows 6 to 1 mixing. Optimization of the formatting time for hard disks. This is particularly useful for external USB hard drives. (An external 500GB disk will now format in 20 seconds rather than the 20 minutes previously needed) A Playback screen selection has been added to the screen templates menu allowing the user to select the screen display mode during playback. The TC Out and display in STOP mode has been improved. Previously there was a 2 3 frame difference due to the dynamic compensation.

VERSION 3.01 / 3.02 (30/07/2010 02/09/2010) (Installation of this version WILL NOT erase the settings and internal templates of your machine) V 3.01: Bug correction: The internal hard drive or a high speed external flash card was incorrectly formatted if the command was performed following a PLAY or RECORD function. V 3.01: Bug correction: The machine could lock up if a recording was made with a long text chain in the Metadata. V 3.02: Bug correction: The Copy function did not work if channel 8 was not checked in the copy set-up. VERSION 3.03 (19/10/2010) (Installation of this version WILL NOT erase the settings and internal templates of your machine) Bug correction: Using the 2 USB ports simultaneously could result in a crash of the recorder. (If keys were pressed on the USB keyboard while the USB storage media was being accessed.) Bug correction: With the time code set to 23.976 fps the external time code was not correctly recognized (in the TC display menu, sometimes the External indication would blink). Bug correction: Illogical selection on the inputs 5 and 6. Input 5 could be set to AES B and input 6 to a line input. VERSION 3.10 (04/09/2012) (Installation of this version WILL erase the settings and internal templates of your machine) The Nagra VI can now operate at 176.4 and 192 khz. This implies new clock reference menus for external clocking for Ext and AES references. When running at 176.4 and 192 khz sampling frequencies, the recorder is restricted to 6 channels max. The slate microphone is not operational at these frequencies, and the prerecording buffer is limited to 1 second. At these sampling frequencies the digital filters are limited to a single slope of 12 db / octave. Internal digital filters have been implemented in the heart of the recorder. They can be activated for all 4 microphone inputs. They are low Cut filters and the frequency of each can be elected from 30 Hz to 300 Hz and the slope of the filter can be 12 or 24 db/octave. All the settings are made using the new Digital Filters Menu in the Audio settings tree. The analogue vortex filter remains as before and can be used as well as the digital filters if desired. Indication of the filters in use is shown on the main display ( A Analogue, D - Digital and B Both) A new Input Level menu has been added to the Audio settings tree. This allows the input levels to be adjusted using the arrow keys when the pots have been attributed to other functions. The original Line input level menu has been removed. Ambisonic monitoring has been implemented and a new menu introduced in the Audio settings tree. This allows monitoring of A or B format signals from a 4 channel Ambisonic microphone (such as the Soundfield SP200) as a L/R signal. The reference generator menu has an added position OFF allowing the reference generator to be deactivated to avoid accidental use. An additional MS decoder has been added for inputs 5 and 6, and all 3 decoders are now grouped in a new menu in the Audio settings tree. A new Slate mic menu for the internal microphone has been inserted in the Audio settings menu. It allows the destination of the slate mic to be chosen by the user. In addition, the operation of the slate mic toggle switch can be set in the same way as the reference generator. An Automatic Record on External TC function has been implemented in the settings menu. When activated the Nagra VI, when in the TEST position, will wait for a valid external time code to appear on the Lemo connector and if correct will pass into record mode. The message Waiting for external TC will be displayed on the message line of the main display. The machine will stop recording when the external signal stops or disappears for a period of 5 seconds.

Smaller changes: Software Bulletins for NAGRA VI When editing Metadata, it is now possible to move to the metadata of the next (or previous) index by highlighting the arrows on the main display. This avoids leaving the menu to change indexes. When an external keyboard is used then Ctrl + and Ctrl + will do the same thing. The metadata NOTE field is now displayed in the directory as well as on the main display below the Scene/take number position on the default and Cinema views of the display.. A new Directory nearly full warning has been added, and will appear when pre-record or record is started for the 295 th index of the working directory. A new Buffer overflow message has been introduced and will appear if the RAM is full and it indicates that samples are being lost. The recording will not necessarily stop unless this overflow is caused by disk problems.