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.

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