Endless Analog’s CLASP hardware interface Nashville-based Endless Analog, which manufactures the CLASP (Closed Loop Analog Signal Processor) system, announces that Digidesign has granted the company a full developer license. Endless Analog can now develop and release a certified Pro Tools version of CLASP, heralded by many as a product able to preserve the future of analog recording.

“CLASP is very cool,” says Jeff Matulich, head of Digidesign Developer Partnerships. “We think it will add value to Pro Tools.”

Producer/engineer Chris Estes, the president of Endless Analog, is excited to begin demonstrating how to use CLASP with Pro Tools. “We have performed all of our demos of the product with Nuendo and Logic because we were waiting for full access to the Pro Tools SDK,” Estes says. “Now that we are developing a certified Pro Tools version of CLASP, I hope that audio pros will be assured it does work with all formats.” Estes says he looks forward to working closely with Digidesign as the company rolls out CLASP during this quarter. CLASP is designed to successfully bridge the gap between analog tape and digital recording. Alvin Speights, a Grammy Award-winning mix engineer for artists such as India Arie, Outkast, TLC, Madonna, and Michael Jackson, attended a demonstration of the product. “CLASP is hot,” Speights says. “It makes me want go back to tape. The function of the CLASP makes the tape experience as easy as Pro Tools. I love it!”

Jim “Z” Zumpano, a producer and mixer who owns Zac Recording and Rentals in Atlanta agrees. “CLASP has given my lonely tape decks new ‘reason to live.’ As a studio and equipment owner, I am thrilled that I have regained my $100,000-plus dollar investments in analog.”

Endless Analog states that “with the use of CLASP, analog tape recording can once again become the norm but now can be experienced easily and effortlessly with the use of any Digital Audio Workstation (DAW). Endless Analog’s product allows you to achieve the warm and expressive sound of real analog tape while recording and editing with the speed of your DAW.” For more information, visit www.endlessanalog.com.   LINK TO MIX MAGAZINE ARTICLE >

by Mike Rivers

Many of us dream of vintage consoles and recorders in our studios, but reality takes over when we realize that we don’t have a place to put them or can’t even get one through the door. Studios used to be large: not just the recording space, but the control room as well. Consoles of that era were all hand-wired, built to order one at a time, and few were made in any significant quantity. A recent tally of the Trident A Range consoles from the mid 1970s—much revered for their EQ—shows that about 13, in total, were ever built. Many of these consoles were constructed on-site with chassis wiring often done by studio engineers in between sessions and were truly one-of-a-kind. Few of these consoles survive intact today; those that escaped cannibalization or the wrecking ball generally reside in the few remaining high-dollar studios or in personal studios of wealthy artists.

The cost? Initially $60,000 to $100,000, which, in today’s dollars ($250k-450k), is in the ballpark of the cost of a new large-frame SSL or API console, so there isn’t a big change there. And, like in the heyday of large studios, only a handful of these large-format consoles are being sold and installed today. Such consoles were originally mated with 16- and 24-track analog recorders from Ampex, 3M, Studer, and later MCI and Otari. Today’s studios sporting a large console usually have an analog recorder the size of washing machine to go along with it. A two-inch analog recorder typically cost in the range of $1,000 to $1,500 per track—comparable to a modern Pro Tools system with high grade A/D and D/A converters.

What Has Changed

So have things really changed very much? Of course they have. The majority of today’s studios are built on a totally different scale. Now $20,000 can equip a reasonably highly capable DAW-based system, and minimalist personal studios—which represent the largest market segment—can be productive with an investment of 1/10 that amount.

The console and recorder of the 1980s control room were accessorized with little more than a reverb plate and a few compressors. A studio chose its console based on its designed-in characteristic sound. If you were a Neve-based studio, you attracted clients who preferred that sound over the sound of the studio across town with the API or Harrison console.

Downsizing, personalization, and changes in the way most studios operate today contributed to the manner in which “basic” studio equipment has evolved and how it is accessorized. With few studios physically equipped to track a full band or orchestra playing together in a room, the demand for a recording console with a large number of inputs has greatly diminished.

A taste of “the warm analog sound,” even when working with just a few inputs, resulted in clever engineers and entrepreneurs packaging input channel modules from decommissioned large-format consoles into convenient rack-mounted signal processors, bringing characteristic sound of a vintage console to the modern digital control room. Most of the available genuine console modules have been racked up and sold, so a plethora of new and fairly accurate replications of the older console modules appeared in rack-mount format.

Compressors and limiters used in studios of the 1980s were borrowed from related industries. The limiter was a staple in the broadcast studio, primarily to prevent overmodulation of the transmitter. As a standard component in a disk mastering system, the limiter was used to prevent the cutting stylus from jumping out of the groove, ruining the master and perhaps damaging the cutter head while allowing a higher average level to be cut on the disk. As multitrack recording became the norm in the studio, the desire to compress individual tracks to fit them into a complex mix as well as to keep the signal as far above the tape noise floor as possible sent new customers into the broadcast market for their UREI LA2 limiters (as well as dumpster-diving for the hard-to-maintain Fairchild 670 limiter that was being replaced in mastering labs). There’s still a demand for the many new analog compressors in the marketplace—some re-creations of the classics of the ’70s and ’80s, and some new designs.

One problem that has flummoxed a lot of digital studio owners who crave the traditional analog compressor or a classic equalizer in line when tracking is this: Where the heck should you plug the darned thing in? The configuration of a mic preamp integrated with a digital-toanalog converter—often incorporating a FireWire or USB computer interface—leaves no opening in the line level signal path for an analog processor. Manufacturers of these front-end boxes have finally caught on, and today we’re seeing devices such as the Mackie 1200F (recently reviewed in PAR) or the Focusrite Saffire Pro26 with normalled insert send and return jacks immediately following the preamp, at least on selected channels.

On Analog Recording And Tape

One retro area that’s been neglected is analog recorders. It’s not that nobody wants one, but nobody’s building them any more—though ATR Service’s Mike Spitz says he still has plans to do so. On one of the audio forums I frequent, hardly a week goes by when someone doesn’t ask about using an analog recorder to “warm up” a digital recording. What they often don’t realize is that the sound that they’re dreaming of isn’t as simple as using tape as a signal processor; it’s a product of the entire recording process of the era. There’s a sometimes desirable sound quality associated with tracking particularly drums and bass on an Ampex MM-1200 or Studer A-80, but you won’t reach analog Nirvana substituting a wellused but more accessible TASCAM 80-8 or your grandfather’s TEAC rescued from the attic. That approach will only serve to remind you of why people were happy to move away from analog tape.

Analog tape is still a viable recording medium. Spitz overhauls classic broadcast and studio recorders and is probably more committed to the preservation of analog recording than anyone else today—so much so that he built a factory in the USA to manufacture analog recording tape after 3M and Quantegy (Ampex) stopped production. Mike will tell you that, depending on the tape you choose and how the recorder is adjusted, tape is capable of providing a wide sound palette, not just “warmth.”

For those willing to take the plunge, there are still plenty of two-track Ampex AG 440s available. These are built to last a lifetime, can be had cheaply, and all but the worst of them (if not stripped for parts) can be put into good-as-new condition for under $1,000. In Europe, a Studer — because of the better parts availability over there — might be a smarter investment. Two-inch 16- and 24-track recorders are cheap as dirt these days. Unlike much of today’s digital gear, there’s more to using an analog recorder than simply buying it and plugging it in. You’ll need some basic test equipment, a calibration tape, and the willingness to learn to keep it in adjustment. With quarter-inch tape selling in the ballpark of $50 and two-inch tape at around $250 per reel, feeding these beasts is a serious commitment.

Lots of what was good in the ‘Good Old Days’ is still available as genuine vintage gear, modern vintage recreations, and newly designed analog gear designed to integrate nicely with today’s digital systems. You don’t have to be nostalgic for the old gear and the old ways — those options are still available.

Mike Rivers has a long list of engineering credits with the Smithsonian and is the author of the last Mackie HDR manual.

PAR Presents 2008 PAR Excellence Awards at AES

San Francisco, CA (October 17, 2008)–Pro Audio Review presented its 12th Annual PAR Excellence Award to professional audio companies who introduced significant new products at the AES Convention held October 2-5 at the Moscone Center.

Endless Analog’s CLASP (closed loop analog signal processor) were among the winning products chosen by a panel of audio engineers, professional end-users and reviewers who annually select the awards for Pro Audio Review. Products are chosen for the PAR Excellence Award based on their potential to enhance the quality of an audio professional’s work. “We are excited and full of gratitude to have been chosen for this award,” says Amy Becker Estes of Endless Analog. “AES was incredible this year and we are glad to see more and more professionals recording with Analog Tape.” The Criteria for the PAR Excellence Award includes innovation in design, performance/value ratio, enhanced features, and performance improvements over previous versions.

 

By Harold Dunn

Nashville TN – Germany

Nashville country music artist Derek Sholl is on his way. His current hit radio single “(I’ll be) Here” shot to #1 in Germany this week. The single was recorded and produced by Chris Estes. “We recorded Derek’s single using analog tape and CLASP”, says Estes. “Derek was on a tight schedule so we had to work very quickly and efficiently. CLASP allowed us to do just that. When we started the recording session, we did a shootout, we tried recording Derek’s’ vocals both to digital and analog. During the comparison, analog tape with CLAS P was the unanimous winner, hands down. “Using CLASP with our Studer 827 and Nuendo, allowed me to work with incredible speed recording Derek’s vocals and I was able to perform comping and editing on the fly while simultaneously recording to tape.”

Click here to visit the German Music Chart 

 

By the Mix Staff

Analog Comes Alive in a Digital World

Sweet Analog Outboard “Among the bright new ideas at AES was CLASP (Closed Loop Analog Signal Processor). The brainchild of Nashville producer/engineer Chris Estes, CLASP turns your 2-inch analog deck into a tape-flavored “plug-in” for your DAW. The system consists of a hardware interface, a VST plug-in (one for every channel), and a sync cable between the box and your recorder. Just run the session from your DAW as usual and CLASP performs real-time, synched transfers from the repro head of your deck. As the entire length of a reel of tape is used, there’s no waiting for rewind while quickly shuttling between session markers in your DAW.” Click here for the Mix Magazine Online Link

– Endless Analog debuts CLASP to clamoring analog fans –

AES Convention San Francisco
By Nicole Cochran
October 5, 2008

SAN FRANCISCO – One of the biggest buzzes from the AES floor came from “analog alley” where CLASP (Closed Loop Analog Signal Processor) shared a booth with ATR Magnetics.

The innovative new product from Endless Analog brought praise from analog lovers throughout the Moscone Center including Chuck Ainlay, Alan Parsons, and Chris Lord-Alge. “The thing we heard over and over was that people were excited that they could once again record on tape using their DAW and the ease that it provides,” said Chris Estes, president of Endless Analog and inventor of CLASP. “AES was a great experience for us because we were finally able to debut the product to a wider audience.”

Previously, CLASP had only been shown to a select group of AES members at Ocean Way Nashville. “We know we have a great product, it was good to have that affirmed by others in the industry and share their enthusiasm”.

“We expect to book several orders based on verbal committments from the show.” he enthused. “It just goes to show that ‘long live analog’ is not just a catch phrase….people thirst to make records on tape again.” According to booth visitors CLASP is going to provide that opportunity.