Nagra EMP User manual

Version Nagra EMP PC: V1.024
Version Recorder: V6.00
OPERATING INSTRUCTIONS
AND
REFERENCE MANUAL
NAGRA EMP

Page 2 of 15 Copyright © NAGRAVISION S.A. 2011 August 19, 2011
Guarantee / Warranty.......................................................................................................................................3
Introduction to the Nagra EMP.........................................................................................................................4
Power introduction........................................................................................................................................5
Fuses ........................................................................................................................................................5
Power indication........................................................................................................................................5
Front panel description.................................................................................................................................6
Headphone jack output & level adjustment (1).........................................................................................6
Input sensitivity pots and modulometers (2 & 3).......................................................................................6
Limiter activity led’s (4) .............................................................................................................................6
Limiter selection (5 & 6)............................................................................................................................6
Limiter ganging (7)....................................................................................................................................6
Input sensitivity selection (8 & 9)..............................................................................................................6
Headphone output selection (10)..............................................................................................................6
Phantom power selection (11 & 12)..........................................................................................................6
Led dimmer (13)........................................................................................................................................7
Filter selection (14 & 15)...........................................................................................................................7
Recorder control and indicator (16)..........................................................................................................7
Power on switch (17) ................................................................................................................................7
Rear panel description..................................................................................................................................8
USB connector..........................................................................................................................................8
Hirose DC connector. ...............................................................................................................................8
Line output XLR’s......................................................................................................................................8
“NagraEMP” software installation.................................................................................................................9
Recorder setup.............................................................................................................................................9
File type ................................................................................................................................................. 10
Date & Time........................................................................................................................................... 10
Player..................................................................................................................................................... 11
Copy / Burn panel.................................................................................................................................. 11
Specifications................................................................................................................................................ 13
CE norm........................................................................................................................................................ 14

Page 3 of 15 Copyright © NAGRAVISION S.A. 2011 August 19, 2011
Guarantee / Warranty
NAGRA/KUDELSKI certifies that this instrument was thoroughly inspected and tested prior to leaving our
factory and is in accordance with the data given in the accompanying test sheet.
We guarantee the Nagra EMP of our own manufacture against any defect arising from faulty manufacture
for a period of TWO years from the date of delivery.
This guarantee covers the repair of confirmed defects or, if necessary, the replacement of the faulty parts,
excluding all other indemnities.
All freight costs, as well as customs duty and other possible charges, are at the customer's expense.
Our guarantee remains valid in the event of emergency repairs or modification being made by the user.
However we reserve the right to invoice the customer for any damage caused by an unqualified person or a
false manoeuvre by the operator.
We decline any responsibility for any and all damages resulting, directly or indirectly, from the use of our
products.
Other products sold by NAGRAVISION / KUDELSKI S.A. are covered by the guarantee clauses of their
respective manufacturers. We decline any responsibility for damages resulting from the use of these
products.
We reserve the right to modify the product, and / or the specifications without notice.

Page 4 of 15 Copyright © NAGRAVISION S.A. 2011 August 19, 2011
Introduction to the Nagra EMP
The Nagra-EMP is a stereo / 2 channel portable preamplifier designed for classical music and film / TV
location recording. In addition a simple 2 channel 16 bit recorder is included. All controls as audio limiters,
filters, Phantom power, record are controlled from the front.
The front panel, chassis and features were all designed using the experience of previous NAGRA
recorders which render the Nagra-EMP to very user-friendly and comfortable to operate even in harsh
environmental conditions. It is powered by a 4 AA cells. The autonomy without recording is approximately 4
hours (No Phantom, no record). It is equipped with a Hirose connector allowing external power.
The Nagra EMP has two analogue inputs on XLR connectors, equipped with extremely high quality
microphone preamplifiers. They include, as one expects, +48 V phantom powering and in-house wound
NAGRA transformers offering an improvement of +6 dB in the noise floor when set to the 2 mV/Pa (for
dynamic microphones) position.
Connected to a Nagra VI, you obtain 6 high quality microphone inputs instead of 4.
Any questions you may have concerning the Nagra EMP can be sent to us through the “Contact us” form
on the professional side of our web site www.nagraaudio.com
KUDELSKI GROUP
NAGRAVISION
Route de Genève, 22
CH-1033 CHESEAUX
SWITZERLAND
Tel : [phone]
Fax : [phone]
[email protected]om
www.nagraaudio.com

Page 5 of 15 Copyright © NAGRAVISION S.A. 2011 August 19, 2011
Power introduction
The Nagra-EMP can be powered by internal or external power.
Internal power is on 4 “AA” cells. To install the batteries, remove the bottom cover by sliding the pad. Install
the batteries in such away that the 2 plastic ribbons are below the cells. This makes it easier to extract
them later. Rechargeable cells may be used but they will not be recharged by the external power supply.
External power enters the preamplifier via the Hirose connector. The voltage must be between 9 to 13 V.
The minimum power needed is 3.5 W.
Optional Hirose cables
•2032 265 000 Hirose power cable Male-Male 50 cm
•2032 266 000 Hirose power cable Male-Male 1 m
Fuses
The power supply board is accessible in the bottom of the
preamplifier by removing the lower panel and is equipped
with 3 fuses to protect various elements. These fuses are of
the OMF 63 type and manufactured by Schulter and do not
require soldering. Replacement fuses are available through
your Nagra distributer .
F1: 1A Spare fuse
F2: 1A Internal batteries
F3: 1A Hirose connector
Power indication
The power indication only operates on the internal batteries. If the batteries are in place and the power
button is pulled to “TEST” 1 or 2 of the led’s above the channel 1 sensitivity adjustment will light up:
Green: Full power (6 V to 4.5 V)
Green & yellow:Power (4.5 V to 4.4 V)
Yellow & red: Power (4.4 V to 4.2 V)
Yellow: Power (4.2 V to 4.0 V)
Red: Low power (below 4 V)
Consumption on batteries:
•6 V, 240 mA or 1.44 W without Phantom use and not recording
•6 V, 360 mA or 2.16 W with Phantom use (charged, 2 x 4 mA) and not recording
•6 V, 310 mA or 1.86 W without Phantom use and recording
•6 V, 430 mA or 2.58 W with Phantom use (charged, 2 x 4 mA) and recording
Maximum consumption on external power:
•9V, 310 mA or 2.79 W with Phantom use (charged, 2 x 4 mA) and recording
•13V, 205 mA or 2.67 W with Phantom use (charged, 2 x 4 mA) and recording
Autonomy on batteries:
•Panasonic Alkaline Xtreme power, approximately 2 hours with Phantom use (charged, 2 x 4 mA)
and recording
•Panasonic Alkaline Xtreme power, approximately 4 hours without Phantom use and not recording
•Rechargeable Sanyo 2500 mA, approximately 2 hours with Phantom use (charged, 2 x 4 mA) and
recording
If the batteries are not present and an external supply is connected, the “TEST” position will turn on the red
led.

Page 6 of 15 Copyright © NAGRAVISION S.A. 2011 August 19, 2011
Front panel description
Headphone jack output & level adjustment (1)
The potentiometer adjusts the level of the headphone output only (not line output). The jack is a standard
6.3 mm (
1
/
4
”) type.
Input sensitivity pots and modulometers (2 & 3)
The potentiometer adjusts the input level in a range of 66 dB. The
modulometer above indicates the level:
The led’s above indicates the input level and can be preset inside the
preamp. To do this, turn off the preamplifier, remove the bottom cover and
adjust the selectors as required. Beware that new settings will be activated
only after a power off /on.
Factory default settings are: RED at -1 dBFS, YELLOW at -9 dBFS, GREEN at -30 dBFS.
Limiter activity led’s (4)
If the limiter(s) is turned on, the led’s are lighting up when the limiter activates.
Limiter selection (5 & 6)
Permits to set the limiter to “FAST” or “SLOW” reaction time or turns it “OFF”. The limiters start to activate
at a signal level of -9.5 dBFS and from the range of -8 dB to -2 dB they compress the audio by 36 dB (max
+ 36 dB for -2 dBFS).
Limiter ganging (7)
The upper position means ganged, the down position means independent. When ganged, if one channel
limiter is activated, then the other will activate automatically irrespective of its input level.
Input sensitivity selection (8 & 9)
The 2 microphone inputs can be selected to one of three different sensitivity settings, of 2.8 mV/Pa, 10
mV/Pa or 30 mV/Pa. The 2.8 mV/Pa sensitivity position goes trough a high quality Nagra input transformer
and is designed for use with dynamic microphones.
Headphone output selection (10)
Can be set to “MONO” or “STEREO”.
Phantom power selection (11 & 12)
Turns on or off, independently for each channel, the 48 V Phantom power.
RED: 0 = turns on at -1 dBFS
1 = turns on at -2 dBFS
2 = turns on at -3 dBFS
3 = turns on at -4 dBFS
4 = turns on at -6 dBFS
5 = turns on at -9 dBFS
YEL: 0 = turns on at -9 dBFS
1 = turns on at -12 dBFS
2 = turns on at -15 dBFS
3 = turns on at -18 dBFS
4 = turns on at -24 dBFS
GRE: 0 = turns on at -30 dBFS
1 = turns on at -39 dBFS
2 = turns on at -47 dBFS

Page 7 of 15 Copyright © NAGRAVISION S.A. 2011 August 19, 2011
Led dimmer (13)
Permits to reduce the led brightness (reduces power consumption)
Filter selection (14 & 15)
Unlike most other pieces of equipment, the Vortex filter as well as the low cut filter is embedded in the very
front-end of the microphone preamplifier. The Vortex filter specifically designed to give ultimate protection
against wind / boom microphone noise. This filter is designed to allow the Nagra EMP to be used in the
most difficult conditions on location.
The input filter on the Nagra EMP is a hardware filter and is therefore not software programmable. The
reason for this choice is simple. A software programmable filter is a digital filter in the heart of the digital
part of the audio chain. Wind noise coming into the preamplifier will already have done its distortion and
overloading directly in the preamplifier long before it gets to the digital filtering stage. The filters in the
Nagra EMP roll off -3 dB at 150 Hz and then at 12 dB per octave. If an alternative curve is required, then
provision is made on the input circuit board to add capacitors accordingly and the necessary values can be
supplied if necessary.
The low cut filter roll off -3 dB at approximately 60 Hz.
3 possibilities: “Flat”, “Low cut” or Vortex”.
Recorder control and indicator (16)
Turns on or off the built-in 16 bit recorder. This recorder has a built-in recording capacity of 2 GB of Flash
memory. The recordings can be made in a PCM BWF or WAV format as well as in MP2.The setup of the
recorder as well as the download of the files is made via a Nagra EMP software on PC through the mini
USB port.
Power on switch (17)
When set to “ON” the led above the switch will light up. When pulling the switch to ”TEST”, in the case of
the use of internal batteries, the left modulometer gives an indication of the battery status. At the moment
that the power switch is set to off, the power led starts blinking for 5 seconds before the power off takes
place. So during a little less than 5 seconds, the switch can be set to ON without switching OFF the unit.

Page 8 of 15 Copyright © NAGRAVISION S.A. 2011 August 19, 2011
Rear panel description
USB connector.
This is used for setting up the recorder via PC or for downloading the recorded files. No power from the
Nagra-EMP is required to setup or download the recorder files.
Hirose DC connector.
Beware that the maximum power draining reaches 3.5 W (recorder included) and that the voltage range
goes from minimum 9 V up to maximum 13 V. When using the external power, the internal batteries are
automatically disconnected.
Line output XLR’s.
The line output level can be preset inside the Nagra-EMP (jumpers S4,
S5, S6 for CH1and S7, S8, S9 for CH2). 3 levels are available. To set
the jumpers, switch the unit off and remove the bottom panel.
S4, S9 = 4.40 V, 15 dBu for FS
S5, S8 = 1.55 V, 6 dBu for FS
S6, S7 = 0.775 V, 0 dBu for FS

Page 9 of 15 Copyright © NAGRAVISION S.A. 2011 August 19, 2011
“NagraEMP” software installation .
In order to operate the built-in recorder it needs to have the NAGRA EMP software installed on a PC to
enable to be “set-up”. The latest version of the NAGRA EMP software can be found on our web site
www.nagraaudio.com .
Connecting the Nagra EMP preamplifier to a PC on which the NAGRA EMP is NOT installed or not running
will have no effect and the recorder will be “invisible” for the user. Likewise, attempting to “run” the
NAGRAEMP software on a PC WITHOUT the Nagra preamp connected will immediately close the window
(a NagraEMP icon will be shown in the bottom right corner), until the Nagra EMP is connected via USB.
Before connecting the Nagra EMP to the PC or laptop. Insert the Nagra memory stick in the PC or laptop or
use the downloaded version. With Windows Explorer select in the memory stick EMP_Installer_Vx.xxx or
the downloaded version and double click to start the installation.
Important note
If a previous NAGRA EMP software was already installed on your PC or laptop, uninstall first, then power
down the PC or laptop and start again.
Once installed, via the “Start” button, “All Programs”, select “Nagra EMP” and run.
The program starts and immediately disappears (it runs in the background of the PC until a Nagra EMP is
connected to the USB port).
Connect the EMP (in power off mode) via the USB cable to the PC or laptop. The EMP will be powered via
the USB cable from the PC or laptop (No need to turn on the Nagra EMP). The first time it is connected, the
Nagra EMP will be recognised by the PC or laptop. Once this is done, the program starts.
Recorder setup
The top of the screen shows the current settings of the machine (status bar).
In this example:
•The remaining recording time is 3h01m38s.
•The file type is PCM stereo at 44.1 kHz and the recorded filenames will start with abcdxxxx.
•The date & time are August 18, 2011 & 07h09m49s.
•The memory status shows a free memory of 1833 MB and the software version is V6.xxx.

Page 10 of 15 Copyright © NAGRAVISION S.A. 2011 August 19, 2011
By selecting “View”, the following sub-windows become available:
•File type
•Date & Time
•Player
File type
From the “View”, select “File type”.
The file type window allows to select PCM (linear) or MPEG compression
recording, Mono / Stereo, sampling frequency, bit rate, file name (4
characters) and the file extension name to be selected.
•Type
This is the audio recording method selection. Two possibilities are
available: PCM (linear non-compressed) or MPEG 1 Layer II.
•Channels
Selection of Stereo or Mono recording. When selecting mono recording, both input channels will be
mixed to a single channel.
•Sampling frequency
Three selections are available: 32, 44.1 or 48 kHz.
•Bit rate
The bit rate can only be selected when recording in MPEG. Bit rates can be selected from 32 kb/s
up to 384 kb/s. Note that the full “Subjective” bandwidth is obtained if a single channel is recorded
with a minimum of 128 kb/s (stereo recording minimum 256 kb/s).
•File name
The first four characters can be personalised. To do this, use the mouse and the left mouse button,
to highlight the characters and replace them. Once changed, click the “OK” button to enter this new
information into Nagra EMP.
•File extension
As standard, all file extensions have the name xxx.WAV. In the case that some players, analysers
or editors are requesting a dedicated extension, apply the same rules as for the file name.
Once all the information is entered, press the “Apply” button to save those settings in the EMP recorder
(check the status bar).
Date & Time
From the “View”, select “Date & Time”.
•Using the left or right arrows, row by row, increment or decrement
the settings. Once the correct time and date is set, press “Apply”
and verify in the status bar that time & date is updated.
The recorder contains a built-in super capacitor keeping the real time clock
running, even without batteries or external power. It will maintain the clock for up to 90 hours. If the super
capacitor is totally empty (due to long storage without battery pack), it will need minimum one minute of
charge once the Nagra EMP receives batteries or external power.