CEntrance The English Channel

This compact, versatile channel strip boasts SD card recording, USB audio interfacing and mix‑minus phone integration.

Chicago‑based CEntrance have been building compact, high‑quality audio gear for many years now, but their latest offering is a little different from what’s come before. Called the English Channel, it’s described as a portable, analogue channel strip for recording on location. While that might lead you to guess from that we’re talking about ‘just another channel strip’, the modular nature of the English Channel really does set it apart from the crowd. There are three main elements in this strip. There’s the SoapBox, a combination of mic preamp and dynamics processor, the BlackCab parametric equaliser and, finally, the PortCaster, which is a USB audio interface and SD card recorder that also offers some online streaming capabilities. CEntrance also make MixerFace and Bouncer output modules, and these can be swapped into the channel strip.

Overview

Housed in rugged aluminium cases, the three modules are all of a similar size and can be housed together inside the included book‑sized desktop cradle, each module being secured to it by a single thumb screw. A lightweight yet robust plastic transit case is included, which makes this a very convenient system for location audio work. While this is intended as a channel strip, each module is also available as a standalone product (worth knowing if one of them in particular catches your attention while reading this review!) so it’s possible to use them separately in the studio if you wish to — for example, you could still make good use of the pre‑amp and EQ facilities even if not using the interface or recorder.

Each module is powered via a USB‑C connector, and another USB‑C socket allows power to be passed along the channel strip. A suitable compact power supply and USB cables are provided, along with USB‑C to USB‑A adapters should you need them. A small toggle switch is used for power on‑off.

All units are powered using USB, and the power can be daisy chained from one device to the next courtesy of dedicated USB ports on the front edge panel.

The first two modules have balanced XLR Combi input and XLR output connectors on their rear panel that allow them to be connected serially. The third module, the PortCaster, has two XLR inputs. All other audio and switch connectors on these modules are 3.5mm mini‑jacks, with connection points are located on the front edge of each case. The SoapBox, for example, has Smart Link in and out mini‑jacks here, along with a line out jack and local/remote switches for the dynamics processing (a gate, a compressor and a de‑esser). All the circuitry, other than the interface’s A‑D conversion, is analogue and conventional rotary controls are used — this means there’s no menu diving or squinting at tiny LCD screens in bright sunlight, and a further benefit is that, unlike some digital systems, analogue circuitry won’t suffer from crashes and time‑consuming reboots.

The mic preamp and EQ modules have Combi inputs, and the Soapbox can accept instrument signals, as well as mic and line ones.

Tiny Trio

The SoapBox preamp module includes a compressor, a noise gate, and a de‑esser that can be set from 5 to 8kHz. There are high‑impedance input options for recording instruments such as guitars, 48V phantom power, and switchable pad and 80Hz high‑pass filter controls. Large LED meters occupy the centre of the panel, while further LEDs show activity by any of the dynamic processors, for which there’s also a wet/dry mix control. All the top‑panel switches, as on all three modules, are recessed and require the included phone‑style tool (a toothpick or similar would also suffice) to change their settings, so as to guard against accidental changes when out ‘in the field’.

Next up is the BlackCab, a ‘British’ voiced three‑band parametric EQ, augmented by switches for high‑pass filter, Air (a spectral enhancer), Pad and Bypass. The EQ bands are LF (72‑480 Hz), MF (437Hz to 2.9kHz) and HF (2.4‑16 kHz), each with a boost/cut range of ±9dB and a Q range of 0.4 to eight for each band, so there’s plenty of scope here to shape a sound. There’s input and output LED metering too, .

Last in line is the PortCaster interface, and CEntrance tell us that the design incorporates their VelvetSound A‑D converters and low‑noise Jasmine mic preamps, which offer up to 65dB of gain (there’s up to 70dB in total on offer in the Soapbox module). This can obviously be used to record into laptops, phones or tablets in the usual way, but even without that it’s possible record audio at 24‑bit 48kHz directly to an SD card. What’s more, you can record to the SD card and send audio to a connected device simultaneously.

The PortCaster has a two‑channel Gain control arrangement for its dual XLR inputs plus an Aux 3/4 input. Dual optical limiters help avoid overloads. There’s also a TRRS input jack that, with a TRRS cable, allows you to connect a phone as an alternative source for Channel 2. The connected phone can be set to Mix Minus mode using one of the recessed switches, so that the phone ‘hears’ the monitor out but with the caller’s own voice removed from the mix, which is a welcome faciltiy for podcasts and streaming. The monitoring level can be adjusted from the front panel and there’s a control to balance the analogue inputs with a USB feed. A headphone Mix jack is located next to the two XLRs.

The tiny transport/record buttons are located on the front edge of the case, along with the SD card slot, USB C sockets, aux‑in and live‑out jacks, headphone jack and slide switches for 48V phantom power, Mono/Stereo monitoring and a Lo/Hi (mic/line level) output switch. That obviously makes this part of the system pretty crowded, but the transport buttons are at the top so they’re easy to reach. SD cards need to be formatted in the device before use, and should be Micro SD Class 10 or better, with a capacity up to 256GB. The unit is compatible with Android, iOS, MacOS and Windows.

The three modules can be mounted in the supplied lightweight‑yet‑robust cradle, so that they slope up from the desktop. The cradle is available in a range of brighter colours too...

All Together Now

To set up the system to handle three microphone inputs, the output jack of the BlackCab EQ needs to be connected to the PortCaster’s Aux input. That frees up both PortCaster XLR inputs for use with microphones so that you get one Mic input with access to the BlackCab EQ and all the Soapbox facilities, plus two going directly into the PortCaster. Alternatively the Aux input, which is stereo, can be used to add music to podcasts and so on. The line output is compatible with DSLR cameras and, for mobile use away from a power source, a suitable USB 5V battery power pack can be used. LED indicators monitor the input levels and limiter activity.

If the system is to be kept tidy, then depending on the configuration you choose you may need to source some short 3.5mm jack cables, but sensibly short XLR and USB C cables are already included. Once set up, connecting the English Channel to my Mac was straightforward, with the PortCaster being recognised straight away as a class‑compliant interface. Its headphone output was adequately loud and very clean, and formatting the SD card was a simple matter of powering up while holding down the record button, then pressing the stop button to confirm that I really meant it. The record LED changes colour during to process, ending up green when formatting is complete. One press of the record button then starts recording and each time you make a new recording the result is saved as a separate audio file. Given how much is going on in such a small space, getting the card back out of the unit is inevitably a bit fiddly when you have cables plugged in, so keeping a pair of tweezers handy may be advisable.

I have no negative observations regarding the performance of any of the three modules that make up the English Channel. The mic preamp is clean, and its compressor is well‑behaved and works particularly well in conjunction with the wet/dry mix control. Having a variable frequency de‑esser and gate on‑board is a big plus in situations where some remedial work on the source sound is required — if you’re streaming a show live, for example, or want to polish the sound for an online meeting, you can’t ‘fix it in the mix’. Likewise, the EQ section behaves much like any well‑designed three‑band parametric console EQ: in other words, it’s unremarkable but in a good way; a very useful facility for shaping things on the way in.

The phone‑friendly Mix Minus feature is a very practical addition, as is the ability to record the proceedings to the SD card at the same time as streaming.

Really, though, it’s in the PortCaster module that the really clever stuff happens. This works well as a two‑channel audio interface but having two good quality mic amps on board means it’s a big bonus for anyone who needs the system to mix three mic sources. The phone‑friendly Mix Minus feature is a very practical addition, as is the ability to record the proceedings to the SD card at the same time as streaming or recording over USB.

Verdict

So, what we have here is a well thought‑out, compact, high‑quality portable channel strip and interface/recorder. An inevitable trade‑off of this being a compact and portable solution is that recessed slide switches are used for many of the functions, and 3.5mm jacks are used rather than quarter‑inch jacks. I also found some of the text quite difficult to read in subdued light conditions, and had to resort to my LED torch on more than one occasion during the review. Some might not like that the desktop can become festooned with cables, but CEntrance’s inclusion of sensibly short XLR link cables and USB C cables does help mitigate this.

But those minor observations aside, CEntrance have clearly put a lot of thought and engineering expertise into the design of this little system, and they’ve managed to make it both portable and versatile — more so than might initially be imagined. Importantly, they’ve also achieved a high standard of audio performance. The included packing case, which also has space for some cables, keeps it safe during transportation, while its compact format makes it convenient for a number of portable audio recording or streaming applications. And while the modules are all available separately, there’s a worthwhile cost saving in buying them as a system.