Nagra III

The Nagra III is a legendary portable monaural reel-to-reel tape recorder from 1959-1962, using 1/4-inch full-track tape for professional field recording in film, broadcast, and journalism, renowned for its neopilot speed control innovation. It was a massive leap from the clockwork Nagra II, thanks to its completely redesigned electronics and motor.

The Nagra III was the first model to feature two critical innovations that made it the first truly professional recorder for sync-sound film work:

1. Fully Transistorized (Solid-State) Electronics: It abandoned the fragile, power-hungry vacuum tubes of the Nagra I and II in favor of transistors. This vastly improved reliability, reduced power consumption, and allowed for more complex, stable circuitry in a compact chassis.

2. Closed-Loop Servo-Controlled DC Motor: It replaced the spring-wound clockwork motor with an electronically controlled direct-drive DC motor. This proprietary system used a rotating 'phonic wheel' to generate a reference frequency, which was then compared to a fixed reference by a servo circuit. This allowed for unprecedented, rock-solid speed stability (0.1%) that was essential for synchronous recording.

Synchronization: The Neopilot System

The Nagra III was the first Nagra to incorporate the Pilot Tone synchronization system, which was later refined into the proprietary Neopilot system. This feature made it the foundation of modern film sound recording. The Neopilot system recorded the sync signal down the center of the tape using a separate head wound in a push-pull, out-of-polarity configuration. This ensured the sync tone was canceled out during playback on a mono head, preventing it from bleeding into the audio program, but still allowed a dedicated sync head to retrieve the signal for speed-locking the magnetic film transport during transfer.

4 permalloy heads (record, playback, neopilot, erase); max 7" reels (up to 4 hours at 3.75 ips).​ Neopilot system uses dedicated head reading magnetic stripes on tape for precise servo speed control (±0.1%); constant tension pulley, pinch wheel (1 kg pressure), belt-driven capstan. Dimensions 356×242×109 mm, weight 6.3 kg with batteries; XLR mic input, balanced line out.​

The Nagra III's performance specifications—especially its remarkably low wow and flutter and wide frequency response for a portable unit—were the reason it was described as bringing "studio quality, outdoors." It truly defined the benchmark for professional portable audio until the introduction of the even more advanced Nagra 4.2.

Defined modern sync-sound recording (neopilot precursor to timecode); tube/transistor hybrid electronics. Maintenance requires head alignment, pinch wheel adjustment, neopilot calibration; highly collectible despite age-related wear.