Cranborne Audio Camden EC1 - Preamp, Signal Processor & Headphone Amplifier

Here's What Cranborne Audio say About the Camden EC1: 

Camden EC1 combines the multi award winning Camden preamp technology with a reference-grade headphone amplifier to elevate your audio interface’s front-end to a professional level.

Award Winning Pedigree

Camden EC1 introduces one of the cleanest and most transparent preamps on the market into a standalone, desktop-friendly chassis that can integrate with any audio interface.

Designed to compete with the very best, the Camden preamp itself achieves unprecedented low-noise and low-distortion performance as well as frequency and phase linearity at all gain settings.

Capture your source with complete transparency; boost low-sensitivity microphones without adding noise and colouration; and capture instant and coherent transients without phase shift that cause summing abnormalities. Camden EC1 exhibits performance specifications that exceed the most revered ‘transparent’ preamps on the market.

It’s 12-way rotary Gain switch enables easy recallability of preamp gain whilst it’s dedicated mic, line, and hi-z input modes allows Camden EC1 to not only become your go-to mic preamp, but also a line-level saturator and instrument DI thanks to dedicated ¼” jack Link outputs for each channel.

Vintage Persona

Using it’s Mojo analogue saturation control, Camden EC1’s transforms from extraordinarily clean, natural, and precise sounding, into thick, gooey, and vintage-sounding at the turn of a dial.

With two discrete Mojo styles; Thump and Cream, Camden EC1 can perfectly imitate vintage transformer or valve-based preamps at the turn of a dial.

Mojo’s saturation is completely variable, allowing you to dial-in the amount of saturation you need for each source. Keep it at 3-4 for authentic preamp saturation or crank it up to 11 for a more exaggerated effect!

Perhaps most crucially and unlike transformer-based preamps, when you need something clean and transparent for a particular session/source, Mojo can be completely bypassed and removed from the signal using the pots’ built-in, true-bypass switch to reveal the true clarity of the Camden preamp design.

Record through Mojo to apply instant analogue colouration during tracking or send line-level sources through the Mojo to add vintage colouration to your DAW tracks or stereo bus during the mix phase.

Advanced Tracking And Reamping Tool

The Camden EC1’s reference-quality headphone amplifier and independent, 4ch line mixer allows for direct, zero-latency monitoring of the Camden preamp using headphones connected directly to Camden EC1’s front panel.  Monitor the preamp directly using headphones during mic placement to find the sweet spot of the instrument/source, or create a zero-latency, analogue headphone mix by mixing the preamp with external playback from dedicated Stereo Aux and Mono Ext Line Inputs.

Camden EC1 features an extraordinary Hi-Z instrument D.I. circuit with a dedicated ¼” jack Link output - the combination makes Camden EC1 the perfect tool for reamping bass and electric guitars on studio or stage. Simply connect your instrument to its Hi-Z input for unparalleled DI performance, and connect the ¼” Link output of the preamp to your amplifier/effects pedals for wet/dry recording and reamping.

C.A.S.T. Enabled 

Camden EC1 also utilises Cranborne Audio’s unique C.A.S.T. system for distributing audio around the studio or stage using affordable Cat 5e, Cat 6, or Cat 7 cabling whilst achieving the highest sonic results.

Connect Camden EC1’s C.A.S.T. OUT port to Cranborne Audio’s 500R8 or 500ADAT, and you can send Camden EC1’s preamp directly to the interface's input ready for further processing and recording. At the same time through the same cable, 500R8/500ADAT transmit their built-in monitor mix directly to Camden EC1’s headphone mixer for monitoring.

This allows 500R8/500ADAT users to relocate their Camden EC1’s preamp and headphone amplifier into the live room using a single Cat 5e, Cat 6, or Cat 7 cable whilst freeing-up 500 series slots in 500R8/500ADAT for more EQ and Compressor modules and extra processing before hitting 500R8/500ADAT’s converters.

Key Features

Discrete mic/line/hi-z preamp featuring the award-winning ‘Camden’ topology from the Camden 500 Preamp and Signal Processor for 500 series

Audio performance at the near-theoretical limits of noise, distortion, and phase/frequency linearity at all gain settings

• EIN: <-129.5dBu, 150 Ohm source, unweighted, <-135.5dBu, Inputs common, unweighted
• THD+N: <0.00025% (1kHz, 35dB gain, +24dBu out)
• Intermodulation Distortion: <0.0006% (50Hz and 7kHz, 35dB gain, +20dBu out)
• Phase Shift: <2.75° (20Hz to 20kHz, 40dB gain), <6° (20Hz to 20kHz, Max Gain)
• Freq. Response: ±0.7dB (<1 Hz to >1000 kHz, 35dB gain), ±1dB (<5 Hz to >200 kHz, Max Gain)
• Unique 48v status LED
• 48v LED Lights Orange to indicate voltage charging or dissipating to prevent damage to ribbon microphones and to ensure voltage is fully charged before use
• 48v LED lights RED when voltage is fully charged and ready to use

‘Mojo’ analogue saturation circuits with variable control, true bypass, and 2 discrete styles - Thump and Cream

• Thump excites low-end content by boosting lower odd/even harmonics from a range of 160Hz to 20Hz and below
• Cream boosts odd/even harmonics whilst also reducing the amplitude of the fundamental frequencies and applying typical transformer-style transient taming

Discrete headphone mixers with independant CH 1, Ext Input, and Aux Input level controls

• Monitor the Camden preamp directly with headphones during mic placement to find the sweet spot of the instrument/source
• Create zero-latency artist mixes by combining the Camden preamp with external playback from Aux Input 1/4” jacks on Camden EC1’s rear panel
• Use the reference grade headphone amplifier for critical listening by sending stereo mixes from the interface into the Aux input and monitoring directly using Camden EC1’s headphone output

Reference-quality, high-powered headphone amplifier

• Freq. Response: <±1dB, <1 Hz to >100 kHz
• Output Impedance: 0.33 Ohms
• THD: 0.0003%, 1kHz
• Output Wattage: 2x250mW @ 600 Ohm, 2x450mW @ 220 Ohm, 2x250mW @ 100 Ohm

Balanced XLR output and impedance balanced 1/4” jack outputs for maximum connectivity into audio interfaces and other downstream equipment

• -10dB PAD to attenuate preamp output for low headroom audio interfaces

Dedicated Impedance balanced 1/4" jack Link output for true instrument DI functionality and splitting instrument inputs to balanced or unbalanced amplifiers and effects

C.A.S.T. OUT port for connecting into 500R8/500ADAT

• Transmit Camden EC1’s preamp and Ext Input directly into 500R8 and 500ADAT’s 500 series modules inputs for recording/processing
• Receive a stereo mix generated from 500R8/500ADAT and monitor using Camden EC1’s headphone mixer
• All managed and distributed via a single shielded Cat 5e, Cat 6, or Cat 7 cable
• External high-current 24v, 1.25a power supply with latching connector