There are a plethora of handheld digital audio recorders available now, so when a new one is introduced, I want to know what sets it apart from other models. Each model seems to have its own unique feature set, so when I received a Nagra SD as a demo unit I had to check it over.

My first impression of this compact unit was its sturdy feel. The case is aluminum and some plastic, but it has some heft to it, unlike some other portable recorders I have looked at. All the buttons are laid out for one-hand operation, and it’s easy to access all the controls this way.

Getting connected

The unit has four connectors: 3.5mm stereo mic in, 3.5mm stereo line in, 3.5mm stereo headphone/line out and USB. The unit can be powered via the USB port. The audio input connectors are on the top of the unit, which is where most handheld recorders have their built-in microphones. The SD also has a mic, but what is unique about it are the four mic capsules available for the recorder. The mics all clip securely in place to provide on-board pickup, and they are color-coded by function as outlined in Table 1.

The red capsule is included with the unit. Nagra also offers mono and stereo mic cables that clip to the same audio input connector. These cables provide a secure mic connection. A mono mic cable is included. The mic capsules and cables are the same style used in the preceding model, the ARES-M, and are compatible with both models.

The SD memory card accepts any storage capacity CD card. A 2GB card was included with my unit. The unit can be set to record mono or stereo files saved as WAV, MP2 or MP3. The sampling rate can be set from 24 to 96kHz and the bit rate can be set from 32 to 384kb/s for MP2 and MP3 files. The unit is powered by two AA batteries, which during my field recordings lasted for several hours.

On either side of the bright display are the input recording level set and output playback level set buttons. The software keys make it easy to set and repeat a level, which when the function hold switch is set to on will stay where they will not be inadvertently changed.

On either side of the bright display are the input recording level set and output playback level set buttons. The software keys make it easy to set and repeat a level, which when the function hold switch is set to on will stay where they will not be inadvertently changed.

When held, the files/menu button shows the various system and recorder settings. The menu tree is accessed with round function buttons that act like a cursor. When the files/menu button is tapped, a list of recorded files is shown.

There are seven switches on the back panel to quickly access several functions rather than having to toggle through menus. These switches include mic gain (high/low), filter (on/off), AGC (on/off), file type (mono/stereo), mic power (on/off, for the Nagra electret mic capsules), quality (low/high) and hold (on/off). The quality setting allows two standard setups to be set. The low/high labeling is really for convenience. I have both quality settings on 16/44.1 WAV just in case the switch is accidentally changed. The speaker is also on the back.

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