Cranborne Audio’s 500-series offerings tend to pave the way for their larger standalone units, with the circuitry employed in their EC1/EC2 preamps and Carnaby HE2 Harmonic EQ both evolving from 500-series modules. So when the Brick Lane PWM Modal Compressor was introduced ahead of NAMM 2025, we suspected the company’s next move would be a rackmount version with some extra bells and whistles. The arrival of the Brick Lane MC4 for this year’s NAMM show confirms that to be the case, and as with the Carnaby HE2, the new unit does far more than throw two channels into a bigger box.
As its name suggests, the latest arrival comes equipped with four channels of Cranborne’s clever PWM compression — if you’re unfamiliar with the concept, take a look at our in-depth review of the original Brick Lane — and offers a versatile selection of routing options. Each of the unit’s four channels delivers all-analogue PWM compression and gating, and are capable of operating independently or as part of several routing configurations: Dual-mono, stereo, Mid-Side, series, dual-band and de-esser; insert points are provided for all channels, allowing users to easily place additional gear into the signal path. Although the processing takes place entirely in the analogue domain, the MC4 features digital control and offers full remote plug-in control and recall via USB or Ethernet.
Like its 500-series counterpart, the MC4 offers a choice of six compression ‘flavours’:
- Velvet: Vintage Vari-Mu-style compression with tube-inspired harmonic warmth.
- Float: Opto-style transparency with smooth, wave-like dynamics.
- Smash: Aggressive FET-style compression for punch and impact.
- Tame: Ultra-fast, surgical transient control.
- Glue: Bus-style compression for cohesion and balance.
- Polish: Mastering-grade limiting with Analogue Lookahead for zero-attack response.
A Stress control then introduces mode-dependent analogue harmonic saturation that evolves dynamically with gain reduction, allowing the unit to blur the lines between a corrective processor and a creative sound-design tool.
If that’s not enough, the MC4 includes what Cranborne call Enigma, a control layer that provides users with control over compression parameters that are typically fixed in analogue designs. It’s possible to fine-tune the likes of knee behaviour, attack and release weighting, detector response, high-frequency emphasis and more, all without any A-D/D-A conversion in the signal path.
Each of the Brick Lane MC4's channels feature insert points that allow additional processors to be placed in their signal paths.
“Brick Lane MC4 is something we’re genuinely proud of. It’s the result of years of obsessing over what analogue dynamics could be if you stop accepting the usual limitations. Discovering Analogue Lookahead was thrilling in itself, then applying it to compression, and then realising that the same technology could create what is quite possibly the best analogue noise gate and expander ever made — that’s the kind of invention we live for. The Brick Lane MC4 isn’t just more channels or more features; it’s the most advanced analogue dynamics processor we’ve ever built, and one of the most advanced ever made.” - Sean Karpowicz, Managing Director, Cranborne Audio
Pricing & Availability
The Brick Lane MC4 will be available by the end of Q1 2026, priced at $2799£2699 including VAT / €3099.
