7/31/2019 Bo Zak Editorial

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Why are you bringing back the Bozak brand?By a turn of fate really. For me you have to care about sound and that wasreinforced during my time at Vestax. Mr Shino, the owner of Vestax, not alwaysright in my opinion but an inspiration never the less.

Ive been lucky enough to have worked with some top brands over time but whenit comes down to it they all make too many compromises. When I was responsiblefor the re-birth of the UREI brand at Soundcraft it didnt take me long to relies

they didnt understand or even wantto know the real value of the brand,

they just thought they could make afast buck in the DJ sector for thecorporate masters.

When I told Kevin Hedge (Blaze) I hadleft UREI he said so what we gonnado now. I considered various joboffers but it felt like jumping out ofthe frying pan into the fire. Kevinwasnt the only person telling me to goit alone, people much closer to me hadthat faith in me but for someone Ihadnt known for that long to havesuch confidence in me I relised I couldgo it alone and I started to assemble a

team and get the ball rolling andformed Analog Developments Ltd.

The Bozak CMA-10 was the originalmixer that started it all. Over time ithas been cloned by UREI, Rane,Vestax etc, the one thing they didntclone was its sound. Being a huge fanof the sound that the old schoolanalogue designs produce, I wanted togo back to the grass roots ofanalogue technology. What better wayto pay homage to those originaldesigns than by resurrecting the Bozakbrand. Being passionate about what I

do means everything to me, if youdont have passion you dont care asfar as Im concerned and thats wherethe new Bozak strap-line Audio forthe Soul ? comes from, its all aboutcaring and believing in what we do. Idont have corporate restraints withBozak as I own the brand. Its mycompany and we make the decisionsbased on good intel.

How important is the DJ to Bozak?Absolutely, without the DJs we

wouldnt have product. The producthas to suit the needs of the DJs tohelp them become more creative andenjoy using it. If you want to make asuccessful product you have to listenand watch the DJ in action. Far tooften the manufactures only pay lipservice to DJs and then wonder whythe product doesnt do well. Forexample, I was responsible for thePMC-CX from Vestax. I sat down withCarl Cox to design his signatory mixerand because the factory listened toour spec Vestax got themselves aquality mixer that DJs love to use. For

Carl it was a mixture of space aroundthe controls for a real hands on feel,ease of use so anyone could make itsound good within a moment of usingit and a feature set to make the DJmore creative.

What is important to you when makinga product?Everything, from the concept to thefinished product. Theres no point indesigning a good product but thenputting it in a poor quality box. Somany times Ive used products andsomething as basic as the feel of the

knobs let the product down. My pethate is cheap nasty button headscrews that as a DJ you catch yourfingers on. To increase profits, toomany manufacturers shave a fewdollars off its cost, by using cheapercomponents. By just spending a fewdollars more, its possible to make amuch better product that will last andmake the customer feel good aboutspending their money. We speceverything on our products from the

Paul Morrissey bringsBozakbackRudy Bozak was one of the all timegreat audio pioneers spanning the1930s to the 1970s. During the 50sand 60s the musical map was changingforever, from Rock n Roll to RnB andin the 70s, RnB then went up-tempoand Disco was born. The rest is pureclub land history. The Bozak CMA-10-2DL was the first commerciallyproduced DJ mixer, ground breaking bybeing larger than life in stereo, but thesingle fact that finally the DJ had amixer designed for their requirements.Engineers and DJs alike fell in love

with the mixers functionality and the

unique smoothness and warmth!Featured for so long in so many DJbooths and especially Larry Levans atThe Paradise Garage, the originalBozak mixer earned its unique place inDJ history. The legacy of the Bozaklives on today, in fact most of themodern manufacturers have copiedBozaks original mixer in some shape orform but have never quite matched itsunique sound. Now Paul Morrisey fromAnalog Developments has done what wehave all been waiting for... hes broughtBozak back!!!

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smallest screw to the finish of themetalwork and everything inbetween.

What have been the biggestchallenges in doing so?Getting everything done I guess. Iwas lucky enough to assemble acouple of good engineers aroundme, John was a lucky find and camehighly recommended while Steve isan old friend. He and I go back toour days at Vestax where we bothworked hard to make a differenceto the products even if it did get

watered down by the time it hit thestreets. Steve is very old schooland loves working in the analoguedomain. We are all very much ateam with the same goals, to makequality products.

How does the new mixer measure upto the original in terms of specs?We have upgraded everything tocurrent standards and specifications.

We have stayed true to the basicsof the original mixer so we couldreproduce the warmth and punch ofthe Bozak sound. What we did wantto improve was the functionality ofthe mixer. Kenny Carpenter told mehow the original NY DJs preferredthe Bozak sound but moved over tothe UREI because of itsfunctionality. I wanted to put thatright and thats how the AR-6 wasborn. We improved the spacingaround the pots, added balancedouts to both the booth and mainoutputs and added the Matrix

routing on all six inputs for moreflexibility. The stereo 3-band EQ onthe main is so you can EQ the roomand we added gold connectors oneverything. Danny Krivit once askedme why when he uses old DJ mixersno two ever sound the same. Withany of the old DJ mixers thetolerances were all over the placeand thats why no two sounded thesame. With modern engineering

Left: Larry Levan atParadise Garage NYCRight: David DePino andTee Scott at Studio 54

techniques and the closer tolerances of todays components we can achiverepeatability so all the new Bozaks sound the same making it easier to set up.

Tell us about the EQ expansion unit?The EQ-6 can be used with any mixer not just the AR-6. Each channel has its ownswitchable inputs with line level outputs to plug into the mixer via RCA cables, nonasty ribbon cable to break here. There is a 3-band Isolator on each channel sothe DJ can sculpture the sound and an effects loop control so the effects unitcan be applied across the mixer loop or the DJ can switch the effects across anyof the individual inputs with a rotary selector and weve added a wet and dry mixcontrol so the DJ can control the mix of the effect. If you hook up the EQ-6 withthe AR-6 you can patch the booth of the mixer to the 2-band booth EQ on theE-6. We even added two old school analogue VU meters to display the mainoutput of the mixer.

What DJs, clubs, and events have you demoed the products for? Their reactions?Louie Vega, Kevin Hedge, Danny Krivit and Bobby & Steve have all endorsed thenew Bozak products since trying them. Since we launched the ISO-X at WMC

2007, clubs such as Londons Fabric and Herbal have all bought and installed theISO-X as has Cielo in NYC to name a few. We have sold the ISO-X all over theworld to DJs and promoters who have installed them in their clubs and nights theresponse has been amazing.We took the prototypes of the AR-6 mixer and EQ-6 to this years WMC, whereDefected, King Street and the Roots/Blaze parties all used the prototypes togreat effect.

Tell us about the isolator and why you made it, the 4 bands?The idea of the ISO-X is to have fun with it and use it to personalize the tracksyou play and make your style your own.

The beauty of the ISO-X Isolator is you can switch it between 3 and 4 way. Wesculptured the EQ differently for 3 and 4 way operation. The 3 way operation isbest suited for playing old school disco jams as the EQ is more rounded while the

4 way mode is better suited to contemporary 4 to the floor house. We carefullyselected the crossover frequencies for the Isolator so whichever mode you usethe ISO-X in you can strip down the audio of the track you are playing. In 4-waymode you can also select 80 or 100 Hz as the cross over point for the Subcontrol. Its simple to use, making it easy to sculpture your tracks.

Youve said that the isolator unit can make some systems sound better. Can youexplain how?The frequency response of the ISO-X will take a flat or dull system and addpunch and brightness to it. If youve installed super tweeters from the roof tobrighten up the room, you may want to turn them down a bit.

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BOSAK ISO-X4 BAND ISOLAOR UNIT

The Bozak ISO-X uses high performance analogue tone control circuits usingindividually selected discrete components that isolate the signal into three or fourbands, selectable by the user. The level of each band is controlled independentlyand Bozaks frequency dividing technology provides superior dynamic responsemaking the control smooth, predictable and ultra controllable. The individual tonecontrol allows the user to isolate beats, vocals and high hats as well as adjusting theoverall tonal quality. The cross-over points have been carefully selected to yield avery natural sound and to emphasise the artistry in the musical production.

ISO-X is available now at www.bozak.com

Cross-Over Points 18dB/OctaveMid/Treble 4KHzBass/Mid 400HzSub/Bass 80Hz or 100HzGain Range:Full boost +6dBMid position 0dB/Unity

Full Cut InfinityBalanced In & Outputs Balanced 3 pinNeutrik XLRUn balanced In & Outputs Gold platedRCAPower Supply Selectable100-125vAC or200-250vAC 50-60Hz IECDimensions 1U x 19. 44mm (h) x 483mm(w) x 203mm (d)

Fully discrete analogue design topology.User selectable 3 or 4 Band Isolator.User selectable Sub cross over 80 or 100Hz.Unity gain.Boost +6dB.Large tactile control knobs.Gold RCA and Neutrik XLR connectors.Selectable mains input for worldwide usage.Anodic printed front panels.Lightweight chassis.Rack Ear bracing.