Endless Analog - CLASP

http://www.endlessanalog.com/

Very cool unit.  Interfaces multitrack R2R with ProTools.... in real time.  You can even punch seamlessly.  The thang bends time and space.  I am beyond impressed.  The studio I've been working on has one and it's too cool.  I guess you can have your cake and eat it too.

yeah, imo this is the most inovative products lately. what a great idea...

Isn't that what an assistants for?

Looks great tho.
Audio wise when recording does the audio go

mic pre> into daw >out daw > clasp> Tape - then - clasp > daw
or
mic pre > clasp > Tape > daw

suppose what i'm asking is does it act like a hardware insert in your daw?

you´ll find a signal flow diagram on endlessanalog.com -> support -> downloads -> pdf manual.
the trick is the plugin which handles your sync/repro head latency.

A lot of folks have been tracking analog, dumping into protools, then mixing.  That's a whole extra step + if you find a mistake you can't live with, what dew ewe dew?  Live with PTools and replace the track, or go back to the tape and start over?  With the Clasp in place, that's not even a concern + you can keep rolling on a single reel of tape until you "can't smell it anymore."  I think the only down side is potentially additional wear and tear on your tape machine.  W/O concerns for conserving precious expensive tape, it's very easy just to let a session roll on just like normal with protools.  Edit out the dead time later. 

does the sound degrade over time from multiple passes across the same tape? What head does it monitor from sync? playback? Plus do you still have to align and do basic maintenance on the tape machine you are using? I have no experience with the clasp other then I saw it at AES when it came out... they are somewhat vague on their website and have more videos of people talking about how it's a magic box then explaining what the box really does...

When tracking, it splits the signal and you monitor the source.  Protools get's it's signal from the repro head.  When over dubbing, you monitor from protools.  Protools still gets it's signal from the repro head but the Clasp puts it in the right place.  Therein lies the magic.  I think they're being vague because they don't want their idea hijacked.  Of course at some point you gotta get fresh tape.  That's at the discretion of the engineer.  Back in the day, I did many a session on used tape. 

Seems cool.  About time. 

Still, so many people think the sound of tape is in letting it sit around for awhile; reorientation of high frequency particles.    No way to pull that one off, I guess.   

So it's exactly what one's always done, except you don't have to time align the repro take by hand?

OK, so I'll be the naysayer.
You can do the same thing with a sync box (a la lynx) and offsets without the $7500 price tag.
Do engineers no longer understand timecode and synchronization ???

Ethan said:

You can do the same thing with a sync box (a la lynx) and offsets without the $7500 price tag.

Click to expand...

go ahead and post your results.
cheers, alex

Post results of what?
We're talking about keeping a tape machine and pro tools in sync, with the ability to overdub in realtime and still keep sync.
That's what a sync box is for.  Keeping in sync with the repro head for overdubbing is a matter of finding the delay time gap for your tape machine's record-repro head and setting a pre-roll offset.  It's more work but it can and is being done.  I'm sure the CLASP simplifies this, I'm just saying engineers have been doing this.

ethan, we´re are talking about running tape totally out of the "usual" sync in background, just as front end.
regarding the results... tell me your setup of recording analog to tape and instantly to a daw without using the sync head?
i´ll hope you get my point. sorry for my bad english btw...

No Problem Alex.
it was not my intent to be brash, just fueling discussion.

Assuming one knows how to sync between their DAW and their tape machine.
Most DAWs (Pro Tools is the most familiar to me) allow you to offset your recorded track by "x" milliseconds.
The next step is to find the delay for your tape machine.  This is dependent on the actual spacing between your record and repro heads and tape speed.  Once you know that delay, having your DAW automatically offset your track by "x" amount, your recorded track in the DAW will stay time-aligned with your tape machine's recorded track, as if you punched in on the tape machine.
CLASP has a few more convenient features for monitoring and such, but I hope the above gives you an idea.

if i wanted tape sound i would record to tape.

if i was already in pro tools, i would bounce to tape.

if i had a tape machine, i would just use it.

if i wanted to go back and forth, the sync i/o will keep shit locked
with or without additional sync (like a lynx)

wait... i DO have a tape machine

and i DO use it.

two rooms here, it's been a while since both rooms used 2" at the same time
...like about four days.

one question though  -  with the clasp system, does the machine chase the the DAW
or does the DAW chase the deck?

ya know what i'm askin' here?

the lynx or an adam smith in necessary if pro tools is the master machine and you are trying to sync the analog machine to it. Unless the machine is something like a sony apr24 that had a built in sync unit in it. Having pro tools  slave is easier as long as your analog  tape has a time code track and you have a sync I/O on your pro tools hd or back in the old days SSD and VSD boxes.  


yeah I am a little cornfused on how the clasp is really working more over how do over dub with that thing.... I would imagine with in the clasp they have all that stuff pre programed so there is no delay to speak off?

Sounds to me they are doing nothing new just having the math done for you... maybe I am wrong.


as for sync on my best day we had dual analog 24 tracks running in sync along side pro tools and a sony dash.... the pro tools and the dash were for digital back up and to a/b the 2 versions later. the 24 track Studers were there to capture a live date. 14" analog reels. Had 2 assistants per analog machine alone just to change the reels in a timely manor... Ah back in the days when you could budget for that sort of thing...

Ethan I am with you but then again most of the up and coming engineers most likely have never sent a real letter either so I doubt they would know how to program a lynx, micro lynx, lynxII or adam smith 2600.

I have recently used the CLASP and while it's pretty amazing what it can do, I found it a bit "too much" for me. I was just doing a one day drum session and trying to wrap my brain around the CLASP, engineering, AND producing was just way too much. In the end, I wish I had just tracked to tape and then printed to PT. Half of why I like tracking to tape is that I'm not looking at a monitor and the workflow is different.

I can see it being very cool for producer/musician types recording themselves and getting into the technology of it over time. I didn't have that opportunity. Unless a commercial studio is providing a very competent assistant engineer to run/setup the system and sessions, I don't see much sense in having it.

For example, I'm a quite competent engineer (if I may say so...) and by the end of the day, I still couldn't figure out how to just bring up a new track and hit record.

my 2c. I'm always open to being shown differently...

In regards to the CLASP system, nothing is chased. It doesn't work like a sync box. Its "synchronization" is getting a delay value of your tape machines sync to repro head.

CLASP is a non-linear system. You don't need all the usual steps of recording, rewinding, dumping, rewinding, and recording, again. Your sync the CLASP to your tape machine at its different speeds once. Then you record and record until you reach the end of the tape. Then you rewind and keep on recording wherever you want inside your DAW session. The audio doesn't stay on the tape longer than it needs to travel from the sync head to the repro head.

CLASP has a MIDI connection with the purpose of reporting sync values to your DAW and allowing the DAW to control the audio switching of the CLASP hardware.

I think we were just infiltrated... might as well liven up the party...


manley manley manley... oh and did I mention manley...

I was interested in buying one until...  they wouldn't show me the manual! 

I asked a dealer to address this and they said that they would talk to the manufacturer.  Never heard a word back.

The website is 99.8% hype.  Famous guys x,y,and z use it, so no need for you to see the manual, just buy it.

Well...  I'm not buying it.


I'll probably pick one up after they've gone out of business for $50 on eBay.