Recording - March 2021 - 54

REVIEW

Cranborne Audio Camden EC1

Preamp, Signal Processor & Headphone Amplifier
The crystal clear mojo is back, and it brought a friend
REVIEW BY ALEX HAWLEY

ranborne Audio burst onto the scene two years ago with a lineup
of uncompromising products designed and assembled in the UK.
These include the affordable Camden 500 preamp (reviewed May
2019) and a pair of innovative 500 Series enclosures, the 500R8 and
500ADAT (reviewed February 2020). Its latest venture, the Camden EC1
and EC2, depart from the 500 Series format. Boasting slightly improved
specs over the original Camden 500 preamp, the EC series still features
the signature 'mojo' voicings, and now adds a reference-quality
headphone amp and expanded I/O capabilities. The Camden EC2 is a
two-channel, single rack-space unit, while the EC1 (on review here) is a
single-channel, half-rack device.

Overview

The Camden EC1 is designed as a desktop device with four removable rubber
feet; an optional rack mounting kit is available. It features an XLR input on the back
panel and a 1/4 " Hi-Z / line input on the
front. The 12-position gain knob moves in
5.5dB increments from 8 to 68.5dB. The
input section offers a phase switch, an 80
Hz (-3dB, 12dB/oct.) highpass filter, and
a 48v phantom power switch.
The back panel hosts a mono/stereo
aux input on two 1/4 " jacks which feed
the headphone amp. The main output
section on the back panel includes both
XLR and 1/4 " line-level outputs (which
can be used simultaneously), paired
with a -10dB pad-a handy inclusion if
54 RECORDING March 2021

you need a bit more headroom for your
interface downstream.

The back panel also includes some
connections that are atypical for a preamp. There's a 1/4 " link output, essentially a buffered thru path similar to a
standard DI box. It provides the ability
to feed an amplifier while capturing a
clean feed from the Hi-Z input.

C.A.S.T.

C.A.S.T. (Cat5 Analog Signal Transport) facilitates integration with other
Cranborne products such as the 500R8
interface. C.A.S.T. allows you to send
and receive two channels of audio over

a shielded CAT5e (or Cat6/Cat7) cable. This can be beneficial when placing the EC1 near the performer; with
a single cable, C.A.S.T. allows you to
send a headphone mix while receiving
the preamp output (and an additional
external input) in the control room. CAT5
also provides cleaner runs at greater distances, in the event that the booth or live
room isn't close to the mix position.

Clean as clean can be

Like the previous Camden 500, the
preamp sounds incredibly clean, with
impressively low noise and generous
headroom. The technical specifications
of the Camden EC1 reach well beyond
its class. The frequency response is
incredibly linear, with only a +/- 0.7dB
variance from 1 Hz to 1000 kHz. The
EIN is listed at -135.5 dBu (inputs common, unweighted), with a THD+N rating
of <0.00025%. There's plenty of gain
for lower sensitivity dynamic and ribbon
microphones. Even at its highest gain
setting, there isn't much noise to worry
about, and you shouldn't need an inline
signal booster. I was able to boost an
SM7B to appropriate levels for spoken
word without issue.

Recording - March 2021

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