Cranborne Audio Camden EC1

Camden EC1 - Preamp and Headphone Amp

Award-winning pedigree. Camden EC1 features one of the cleanest and most transparent preamplifiers on the market, in a standalone, desktop-friendly chassis that can integrate with any audio interface. Designed to compete with the best, the Camden preamp achieves unprecedented performance for both very low noise and distortion, as well as frequency and phase response linearity, at any gain setting. The new Cranborne product captures sound sources with the utmost transparency; it amplifies low-sensitivity microphones without adding noise and coloration; it captures transients instantly and consistently, without adding phase distortion, which often causes anomalies during summing. Camden EC1 boasts performance and technical specifications that surpass the most revered "transparent" preamplifiers on the market. The 12-step gain potentiometer allows for easy recall of settings, while the dedicated mic, line, and hi-z input selector makes Camden EC1 not only your favorite preamp for many sources, but also a saturator for line signals or a convenient high-level DI Box, thanks to the handy ¼” jack Link output connector. By using the analog saturation control "Mojo", Camden EC1 transforms from a transparent, natural, and crystal-clear sounding preamp into a machine with a vintage, fat, dirty, and harmonically rich feel, as you adjust the dedicated potentiometer. With two different Mojo styles, named Thump and Cream, Camden EC1 perfectly recreates the feel of both transformers and tubes used in the most classic vintage preamps. The Mojo circuit is fully adjustable, allowing you to easily find the right amount of harmonic saturation for every type of source. Use it around 3-4 to recreate the authentic saturation of a vintage preamp, or push it up to 11 for truly exaggerated effects! A big advantage (which we cannot have on vintage machines...) is that, when that characteristic sound is not needed for a particular project and perhaps we want an absolutely transparent and detailed response, with EC1 it is enough to deactivate the Mojo circuit (by making the potentiometer click slightly at the minimum travel) and eliminate it (true-bypass) from the signal path, to reveal the purity of the Camden preamplifier circuit design. Record with Mojo active to instantly get the desired harmonic coloration during recording or route a line signal from tracks or stems of your DAW to the Mojo circuit, to enrich them with the typical saturation of vintage analog machines during mixing. The high-quality headphone amplifier of the Camden EC1 and the independent 4-channel line mixer allow for zero-latency direct monitoring of the Camden preamp, by connecting headphones to the front panel. You can monitor the preamp in headphones while positioning the microphone to find the sweet spot of the sound source, or create a zero-latency analog headphone mix using the preamp with external playback from a dedicated Stereo Aux and external Mono Line Inputs. The Camden EC1 also has a Hi-Z D.I. circuit for instruments with a dedicated jack Link output, which makes this product perfect for reamping basses and electric guitars in the studio or on stage. Simply connect instruments to its Hi-Z inputs and connect the preamp's 1/4” Link output to amplifiers/effect pedals for wet/dry recording and reamping. C.A.S.T. Enabled. The Camden EC1 uses Cranborne Audio's C.A.S.T. system to distribute audio in the studio or on stage using Cat 5e, Cat 6, or Cat 7 cables, while maintaining the highest sound performance. By connecting the C.A.S.T. OUT to Cranborne Audio's 500R8 or 500ADAT, you can send the Camden EC1 preamp directly to the interface's input for recording or processing the sound. At the same time, with the same cable, 500R8 and 500ADAT can transmit their monitor mix directly to the EC1's headphone mixer for listening. This allows 500R8/500ADAT users to place the EC1 preamp with its headphone amp in the live room using a single network cable, thus freeing up the 500 slots of the 500R8/500ADAT and having more space for EQs, Compressors, and processing modules before reaching the converters. Meticulously Designed and Engineered in the UK. With the remarkable amount of I/O available, Camden EC1 ensures maximum flexibility with all audio interfaces and third-party recorders, including dedicated XLR outputs, impedance-balanced 1/4” jack outputs with a 10dB PAD, and a Link output when Camden EC1 is used as a DI. Camden EC1 is another Cranborne Audio product engineered and designed by an attentive and vigilant team. Camden EC1 features high-level audio characteristics related to the type of application, challenging every price range and being available for professional sound engineers, project studios, and home studios.

Specifications

• Discrete mic/line/hi-z preamp with the award-winning 'Camden' design derived from Camden 500 series preamps and the Signal Processor produced for the 500 series
• Freq. Response: ±0.7dB (<1 Hz to >1000 kHz, 35dB gain), ±1dB (<5 Hz to >200 kHz, Max Gain)
• Phase Shift: <2.75° (20Hz to 20kHz, 40dB gain), <6° (20Hz to 20kHz, Max Gain)
• Intermodulation Distortion: <0.0006% (50Hz and 7kHz, 35dB gain, +20dBu output)
• THD+N: <0.00025% (1kHz, 35dB gain, +24dBu output)
• EIN: <-129.5dBu, 150 Ohm source, unweighted, <-135.5dBu, Common input, unweighted
• Audio performance close to the theoretical limits of noise, distortion, and phase/frequency linearity at all gain settings.
• Headphone mixer with separate level control for Ch1, Ext, and Aux inputs
• Monitor Camden preamps directly with headphones while positioning microphones to find the sweet spot of instruments or sources
• Create zero-latency mixes for recording by combining the Camden preamp with external playback from the Aux Inputs, 1/4” jacks, on the rear panel of the Camden EC1
• Use the headphone amplifier as a reference for critical listening, sending mixes from the interface to the Aux inputs and monitoring directly from the Camden EC1's headphone outputs
• High-power, reference-quality 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