Cranborne Audio Camden 500 Microphone Preamplifier

Cranborne Audio Camden 500 delivers outstanding clarity and detail with a custom preamp topology that achieves exceptionally low noise and distortion figures, including –129.8 dB EIN (150 ohm, unweighted) and THD+N as low as 0.0002%. Its frequency and phase response is equally impressive, maintaining ±0.7 dB from 5 Hz to 200 kHz at maximum gain with less than 2° of phase shift between 50 Hz and 20 kHz. The result is one of the most natural and transparent preamps available.

Alongside its pristine performance, Cranborne Audio Camden 500 includes Mojo, a custom analogue saturation circuit designed to introduce harmonics and colour inspired by classic vintage gear. Mojo can add subtle warmth, thick and fat character, or heavy saturation when pushed, and it can be bypassed entirely when a clean signal is required.

Built as a versatile front end for modern studios, Cranborne Audio Camden 500 was engineered by Edward Holmes to provide class-leading transparency across all sources, whether microphones, instruments, or line-level inputs. It offers up to 68.5 dB of clean gain through a premium 12-way stepped control for precise recall and easy stereo matching, with any two Camden units matched to within 0.1 dB. Each preamp undergoes strict factory testing to guarantee consistent performance.

Additional features include a progressive-slope high-pass filter that rolls off at 6 dB/octave before increasing to 12 dB/octave at the lowest frequencies, preserving musical low end while removing rumble. A three-way input switch optimises impedance and headroom for mic, line, and Hi-Z sources, with up to +26.5 dBu of line-level headroom and a 1.5 MΩ input impedance for natural-sounding DI instruments.

For clean, modern transparency or vintage-inspired colour on demand, Cranborne Audio Camden 500 adapts to any workflow and remains one of the most versatile and musically inspiring preamps in the 500 series format.

Features

• Fully discrete, transformerless design featuring the custom Camden preamp topology by Edward Holmes
• Optimised for and fully compliant with the 500-series format
• Engineered from the ground up for 500-series power rails and current limits while delivering groundbreaking performance
• Operates at near-theoretical limits of noise, distortion, and phase/frequency linearity across all gain settings
• EIN: < -129.5 dBu (150 ohm source, unweighted), < -135.5 dBu (inputs common, unweighted)
• THD+N: < 0.0004% at 1 kHz, 35 dB gain, 24 dBu out
• Intermodulation distortion: < 0.0008% at 50 Hz and 7 kHz, 35 dB gain, 20 dBu out
• Phase shift: < 2.25° at 40 dB gain (20 Hz–20 kHz), < 4° at max gain (20 Hz–20 kHz)
• Frequency response: ±1 dB from below 5 Hz to above 200 kHz at all gain settings
• CMRR: > 70 dB, typically > 85 dB (35 dB gain, 10–20 kHz, 100 mV common mode)
• Optimised input impedance and headroom for mic, line, and Hi-Z sources
• Functions as mic preamp, instrument DI, and line-level analogue saturator via Mojo
• Custom Mojo analogue saturation circuit with variable control, true bypass, and two styles: Thump and Cream
• Reamp DAW tracks through Mojo for analogue saturation on stems, instruments, or stereo mixes
• Thump excites low-end harmonics from 160 Hz down to below 20 Hz for weight and depth
• Cream generates harmonics, reduces fundamental amplitude, and applies transformer-like transient control
• Gold-flashed backplane contacts for enhanced conductivity and durability
• Designed and engineered in the United Kingdom