Cranborne Audio Camden 500 Microphone Preamp and Mojo Signal Processor

Key Features

• Fully discrete, transformerless design, featuring custom �Camden� preamp topology
• Optimized for and fully compliant with the 500-series format, Camden 500 is not a 19� unit shoe-horned into a 500-series module, it has been designed from the ground-up to perform under the low-voltage power rails and supply current limitations of the 500-series format, whilst delivering groundbreaking performance
• Performs at the near-theoretical limits of noise, distortion, and phase/frequency linearity at all gain settings
• Optimized input impedance and input headroom for Mic, Line, and Hi-Z sources
• Mic preamp, instrument DI, and�thanks to Mojo�line-level analog saturator
• Custom �Mojo� analog saturation circuit with variable control, true bypass, and 2 discrete styles�Thump and Cream
• Reamp tracks from your DAW through Mojo to apply analog saturation to your stems, VST, and stereo mixes
• Thump excites low-end content by boosting lower odd/even harmonics from a range of 160 to 20 Hz and below
• Cream boosts odd/even harmonics, whilst also reducing the amplitude of the fundamental frequencies and applying typical transformer-style transient taming
• Gold flashing on backplane contacts for increased conductivity and durability
• Designed and engineered in the United Kingdom

Precise, Clean, and Natural

Camden 500 provides the utmost clarity and detail when it is most required. Its custom 'Camden' topology achieves stunning low-noise and low-distortion performance. It also sets a new standard for frequency and phase linearity. The sum result is the most natural sounding preamp you've ever heard.

Vintage, Warm, and Colored

Camden 500 features "Mojo", a custom analog saturation circuit that transforms Camden 500 into the fattest, warmest, and most colorful mic preamp in your arsenal. Designed to introduce harmonics and saturation effects that our favorite vintage gear produces, Mojo can be subtle, it can be exaggerated, but best of all, it can be bypassed.

Impeccable Modern Clean Performance

Designed from the ground up by the director of engineering, Edward Holmes, Camden 500 was created to be the ultimate recording front-end for the modern studios and withstand the rigors of modern workflow and production techniques. Designed to excel with any input source, Camden 500 features a completely original, custom-designed preamp topology that achieves stunning low-noise and low-distortion performance and frequency/phase linearity at any gain setting from unity to 68.5 dB.

• Stepped gain control
  • Camden 500 features a premium, 12-way switch gain control that applies up to 68.5 dB of clean, transparent preamp gain in 5.5 dB steps. This makes it easy to recall gain settings and easy to match the gain of two Camden 500's for stereo applications.
• Stereo matched
  • With carefully selected modern components, any two Camden preamps are completely stereo matched to within 0.1 dB. Every Camden preamp also passes through a rigorous frequency response test at the factory that ensures it performs the same as the last.
• Progressive-slope high-pass filter
  • Camden's high-pass filter features a progressive slope where low end is rolled off initially at around 6 dB/octave and then increases to 12 dB for the lowest octave, preserving the low end you want and cutting what you don't.
• 3-way input type switch
  • Tailored input impedance and headroom for Mic, Line, and Hi-Z sources means punchy and full-range line recording with +26.5 dBu of input headroom as well as alive and natural sounding DI'd instruments with its unique BJT design and 1.5-megohm input impedance.

Vintage Mojo on Tap

For moments when you want that gooey, vintage vibe on your recordings, Cranborne developed Mojo, their own custom analog saturation circuit that adds the familiar tone of transformers, valves, and vintage equipment onto your Camden's preamps for recording or mixing. Record through Mojo to add that vibe on the way into your DAW, or add the Mojo during the mix phase. Mojo adds tons of analog saturation to all audio signals.

Thump

• Excites low-end content by adding harmonics to the signal in the 20 to 100 Hz range, resulting in fuller low-end on smaller speakers. As Thump is not EQ-based, the additional harmonic content is shaped by the source and its existing low-end frequency content, resulting in a natural addition of extra �Thump�.

Cream

• Introduces a vintage smoothness and edge that is similar to how valves and tubes impact the sound of a preamp. Cream drastically increases harmonics and dynamically smooths-out the low mids for increased HF emphasis. Like Thump, Cream is completely dynamic and will vary its effect, based on the input level and source material.

Variable

• Unlike transformer or valve preamps, Mojo is variable and can be dialed in to taste. Transformers and valves are integral parts of certain preamp designs and so cannot be removed from the signal path or altered for different effects. Mojo on the other hand can be dialed in to taste or crucially bypassed when you need a clean and pristine recording.

Vintage vibe without compromise

• Transformers and valves sound great, but they have a flavor that can't be removed. The phase shift, noise, and THD added by these designs give them their sound, but that sound sometimes isn't always suited to a particular source. Camden gives you 3 discrete tonal flavors that allow it to excel on any source or instrument.

Packaging Info