bozak

[andrew]

does the the bozak really sound that much better than the urei?

i know from reading various sites and articles that the bozak is supposed to sound a lot better, due to the discreat circuitry. for those that have both, is there one unit that u prefer??

also i've noticed that there are various modifications that have been done to bozaks, from the effects loop, to the additional aux inputs and booth control. do any of these modifications degrade the sound quality at all??

i've noticed the bozak with the booth control in a pic on mick's site and one was up for auction on ebay this week. the lack of booth control was one reason for going for the urei over the bozak, for me a booth control is vital.

i'd be interested in hearing opinions on this

thanks

andy

[allen]

I have made a few of the mods mentioned to my bozak. I converted it from a 10dls to a 10dlb. My mixer used to have 3 phono inputs 2 aux and 1 mic. After the mods I have phono 1, 2, aux 1a & b wich is set up for phono, aux 2a & b, aux 3a & b, and a mic. Giving a total of 4 phono, 4 aux imputs and a mic. I also added a booth out. None of the mods changed the sound in any way. I was told that the booth out can reduce the main out buy about 4db but i have not noticed any changes. The lack of ouput can be compensated by changing a couple of resistors but I did not bother to change them yet becuase I didn't knotice a differance and the main out is already 24dbm wich is alot and probally why I didn't knowtice any loss since I never get my main output anywhere near max. All of those mods are pretty safe to make becuase all you are doing when you make them is converting the mixer to one of the last models that was produced, so the only real risk is if you make a mistake yourself. Another good mod to do to the bozak which I did was to add output transformers on the main outs. I did this becasue the stock xlr outs are not balanced. For that make sure to use good transformers I used Jenson's. With that mod I also noticed no change in sound. The man who helped me with the mods is a guy named Mario and he sells completly redone bozaks, and is a good contact for parts. You can reach him at Djmariog@aol.com. Hoped that hepled.

Allen

[clubman5]

Although the Bozak doesnt have as many inputs or a booth out this as stated in the previous post can be altered. However, the Bozak definitly has an even warmer sound than the Urei. It also has a stronger sounding more organic bottom end. and the top end is in fact sweeter than the urei. The urei is good, but the Bozak just gives the music something the Urei doesnt have. The midrange of the Bozak also has a meatier sound to it. This is due to the all discrete circuitry. In other words there are no chips in the Bozak. Chips are known to be a little edgy sounding and if you ever really listen to the Urei you can hear a little bit of hashiness particularly in the top end. Another thing to point out is that the Bozak was designed in the late 60,s when we were right in the middle of the transition from tubes to solid state and the Bozak was voiced to emulate the tube sound that was and is still favored by many. I use both Urei and Bozak and they are both good but my favorite is the Bozak!

[djmariog]

hello all

first of all i would like to thank allen for mentioning my name for the mods done to his mixer, but the real thanks goes to my dear friend buzzy beck who had sent me the schematic original from bozak, that were all stamped top secret notes (buzzy will get a kick out of this) again THANK YOU BUZZY BECK. if you need any mods or parts for both bozak and urei contact me
djmariog@aol.com

[DUNE493]

Why is it that the silver face BOZAK did not come with LOOP inputs like the black one?

[louped garou]

earlier model?

[DUNE493]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v247/Dune493/50665527-L.jpg

[louped garou]

yea if you notice on the inside pics it also has the AB pots... which, i think is also indicitive of an earlier unit...

[DUNE493]

So.The SILVER BOZAK was first into production then the BLACK BOZAK? Or did i mix it up?

[acidburn]

I am probably in the minority here when I say I think the Urei sounds better than the Bozak.

I have had a Bozak, Urei and an A&H 92 rotary in my setup. I had all three together for about a month while I did my testing. With all the EQ's flattened out on the mixers, the A&H 92 sounded like AM radio compared to the other two. While the A&H was perfectly quiet at the loudest volume, it had no personality. The A&H 92 rotaries had most of their curve in the last half of their turning radius. You hear nothing till about 4 or 5. All the blinking lights were cute at first, but annoying after about a week. Kaka. I sold the A&H 92 immediately. I realized am no fan of the "british eq".

My Urei got sent away to get modded and I have my friends Bozak running for the last 3 months on it's own. The sound of the Urei is what I prefer. I can't wait to get it back and drop kick this Bozak out of the setup (big BIG shout out to Vinman for letting me listen to it). My Urei is circa '82

I would say it depends on what music you listen to. Deep house, and anything pre-80's sounds wonderful on the Bozak. Better than the Urei. But all modern styles of dance music (IDM, Detroit 313 techno, breaks, etc..) sound better on the Urei. The Urei has this tight punchy bass that makes the music sound fantastic. The Bozak has a deeper bottom and a more organic sound.

Your mileage may vary. You can't go wrong with either one. Ultimately, I would pick based on what kind of music you will be playing on it mostly.

House & Disco only? Bozak
Everything Else? Urei

- sasha
pacifica, california

[clubman5]

Originally posted by acidburn


My Urei got sent away to get modded and I have my friends Bozak running for the last 3 months on it's own. The sound of the Urei is what I prefer. I can't wait to get it back and drop kick this Bozak out of the setup (big BIG shout out to Vinman for letting me listen to it). My Urei is circa '82

I would say it depends on what music you listen to. Deep house, and anything pre-80's sounds wonderful on the Bozak. Better than the Urei. But all modern styles of dance music (IDM, Detroit 313 techno, breaks, etc..) sound better on the Urei. The Urei has this tight punchy bass that makes the music sound fantastic. The Bozak has a deeper bottom and a more organic sound.

Your mileage may vary. You can't go wrong with either one. Ultimately, I would pick based on what kind of music you will be playing on it mostly.

House & Disco only? Bozak
Everything Else? Urei

- sasha
pacifica, california I agree with you! I love my old Bozak for disco and house, when music had more midrange, but my old urei is punchier sounding, although not as deep as the Bozak. But, with much of todays overly bottom heavy music, it seems to translate better through the Urei.

What mods did you have done to your urei? And why?

:D

[jnkarrik]

I find it interesting that the screened Bozak logo has worn off this mixer, but all the other lettering is in tact. Mine was the same way except worse. It looked like someone had intentionally sanded or scraped off the logo. In fact, I wondered if it originally even had a screened logo, or if it used to have a badge glued on. There used to be a picture on Mick's Music page (maybe its still there) showing a top view of a silver unit, and that one looked like it had a badge that stuck out.

Anyway, I searched ebay for about 18 months, and finally came across some plastic Bozak badges that came off some old speakers. I put the nicest one on my mixer, and still have a spare that looks pretty good. If anybody on this board wins this mixer and wants my extra badge, let me know. You can have it for free.

Here's a picture. The gold adds the pimp factor... :D

http://www.wavemusic.com/community/attachment.php?s=&postid=17854

[LuvLatins]

This looks cool but I dont like the fact that there are no additional pics

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=7383232531&ssPageName=ADME:B:SS:US:1

Mario is the person to get in touch with if you are going to do anything with a Bozak.

OK, I am old but I think as many know, that a BOZAK is the best mixer ever made. It is becoming harder and harder to find a good one. As my freinds have said on here, you need to be patient but I could not wait. After getting ripped off on a ebay purchase of a BOZAK, I purchased the new UREI LE version. For home mixing, I love it. Especially since it does not have, as someone on here said before 200,000 turns on the pots.

The old music in the late 70s and early 80s sounded amazing on a BOZAK, interesting that some would say today it is less important than before becasue of the current, TRASH, I mean music

LOL

[louped garou]

come on you cheap bastard -- just replace the pots on a vintage unit.... :D


Just kidding....

and acidburn -- please tell us what mods you are having done... maybe some pics when you get it back?

[Rotarymadness]

Originally posted by acidburn
I am probably in the minority here when I say I think the Urei sounds better than the Bozak.

I have had a Bozak, Urei and an A&H 92 rotary in my setup. I had all three together for about a month while I did my testing. With all the EQ's flattened out on the mixers, the A&H 92 sounded like AM radio compared to the other two. While the A&H was perfectly quiet at the loudest volume, it had no personality. The A&H 92 rotaries had most of their curve in the last half of their turning radius. You hear nothing till about 4 or 5. All the blinking lights were cute at first, but annoying after about a week. Kaka. I sold the A&H 92 immediately. I realized am no fan of the "british eq".

My Urei got sent away to get modded and I have my friends Bozak running for the last 3 months on it's own. The sound of the Urei is what I prefer. I can't wait to get it back and drop kick this Bozak out of the setup (big BIG shout out to Vinman for letting me listen to it). My Urei is circa '82

I would say it depends on what music you listen to. Deep house, and anything pre-80's sounds wonderful on the Bozak. Better than the Urei. But all modern styles of dance music (IDM, Detroit 313 techno, breaks, etc..) sound better on the Urei. The Urei has this tight punchy bass that makes the music sound fantastic. The Bozak has a deeper bottom and a more organic sound.

Your mileage may vary. You can't go wrong with either one. Ultimately, I would pick based on what kind of music you will be playing on it mostly.

House & Disco only? Bozak
Everything Else? Urei

- sasha
pacifica, california

hi
I love using my Bozak with some old urei eq sometime
because i can get the punch!

peace

taisei

[LuvLatins]

Yea I am going to hack a brand new under warranty mixer to replace pots

NOT

[louped garou]

Originally posted by LuvLatins
Yea I am going to hack a brand new under warranty mixer to replace pots

NOT

I wouldn't do it either...

I read on teh UREIDJ forum that you got a bad 1620LE initially, like a bad channel or something... did soundcraft make it up to you with some free schwag or did they just put you whole?

[Rotarymadness]

Originally posted by LuvLatins
Yea I am going to hack a brand new under warranty mixer to replace pots

NOT

my le already not;)

[LuvLatins]

I have ALWAYS been a BOZAK person. NEVER ever liked the UREI.

Your correct, I purchased my first UREI mixer from DJDeals.com

Must say, they were FANTASTIC. The first uint came and one Channel did not work, they FEDX a new unit the NEXT day and it is perfect.

That is what I mean about the old BOZAK Units, sure they are better souding but one must consider WARRANTY, support etc.

Too me, an avid fan of BOZAK, the new UREI LE is HOT, sounds good and is NEW.

Sorry but that has to be worth someting. Would really love to see it go HEAD to HEAD in a BLIND comparison.

JVB

[louped garou]

I agree that there is something to be said abotu new under warranty...

unless you are a skilled mad scientist, in which case it doesn;t really matter so much....

so it was DJDeals...


I think they should have sent some freebies too -- kinda liek when a restaurant fucks up, they buy you dinner and give you congnac or port with some desert, to make sure you know how sorry they are for screwing up....


know what i mean?

[Rotarymadness]

Originally posted by louped garou
I wouldn't do it either...

I read on teh UREIDJ forum that you got a bad 1620LE initially, like a bad channel or something... did soundcraft make it up to you with some free schwag or did they just put you whole?

i guess they just changed ribbon cables. i just guessed.
if my friends bring thier urei with drop out channel
i check the inner cables first and then alps.

taisei

[LuvLatins]

Yes leouped

But when you drop over $1000 dollars on a peice of equipment your just happy it finally works. Especially after you and Scott warned me about that BOZAK.

Can you beleve I of course WON that dispute and got all of my money back but the son of a bitch put a negative comment in my ebay file ?

Its amazing. But I must say DJDeals was great and I LOVE my new mixer, cant beleive I would say that about a UREI

LOL

[LuvLatins]

Nope, I checked the serial Number. It was a totally new unit.

But we think alike LOL

[louped garou]

they (EBAY) should be able to take care of that negative dink....

glad you like the 1620LE, they weren't out when I was in the market... or I would have probably considered one as well



if you want to check out those DUO cards in you mixer, email me...

I can mail you one of mine -- but you would need to get the stock BB chip as I destroyed mine when I modded the cards -- they now have TL074s in em....

[Rotarymadness]

Originally posted by LuvLatins
Nope, I checked the serial Number. It was a totally new unit.

But we think alike LOL

Oh, so there will be many B-stock LEs around!
good for wanting customers!!:D

I love my LE's solid sound which others don't have!
and I need to check the bad channel!!

taisei

(wow it's like real time chat!! love it)

[LuvLatins]

you guys are so funny. I am not touching this mixer, I am saving my money for a vintage BOZAK.

And this time I am going to be a picky queen. I was interested in this one but NO WAY someting as usual is not right.

And this is what I mean

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=7383232531&ssPageName=ADME:B:SS:US:1

Looks nice but no additional pictures why not ? If I had a "Mint uint" I would post losts of questions. This is what I mean such bullshit

James

[LuvLatins]

Of course I meant lots of pictures

So sad, see got excited LOL

[louped garou]

they would never know if you swapped out cards, unless the mixer is sealed with factory tape or something, you would just pull out the stock card and put the duo in -- pretty simple really -- that switch they have is nice, you could even put it on channels 3/4/5 and switch the toggle to preamp from line -- totally reversable


make sure the bozak you buy has phono cards, seems to be a common thing to sell them without phono cards... there are tow on the bay right now that don't have phono cards in them

[LuvLatins]

OK im sold, how much ?

[louped garou]

"free trial"

when you send it back, just throw in a few of your favorite old school mixes that you are colecting....

here is that pic of the inside of the LE that shows the switches...

email me your address (louped DOT garou AT gmailDOTcom) and i'll mail it to you... but like I said, you will need to get a BB chip from David if you wanted to really hear the DUO card's sound.... or maybe i can look around here to get a replacement b4 i send the card to you

[louped garou]

Originally posted by Rotarymadness
hi
I love using my Bozak with some old urei eq sometime
because i can get the punch!

peace

taisei



so.... you mean UERI EQ card installed in Bozak?

have you tried the opposite too, Bozak EQ in UREI? Alot to do with the pots, right?

[Rotarymadness]

Originally posted by louped garou
so.... you mean UERI EQ card installed in Bozak?

have you tried the opposite too, Bozak EQ in UREI? Alot to do with the pots, right?

no sorry to complicate you
old urei eq unit
hook up after bozak

taisei

[louped garou]

Originally posted by Rotarymadness
no sorry to complicate you
old urei eq unit
hook up after bozak

taisei

Ahhh, OK -- how crazy can i think? :D

Have you ever used this unit, UREI 545?

[louped garou]

Originally posted by louped garou
Have you ever used this unit, UREI 545?

rear

the unit on ebay is really expensive, but for future reference....

[Rotarymadness]

Originally posted by louped garou
Ahhh, OK -- how crazy can i think? :D

Have you ever used this unit, UREI 545?

BIG Dipper!!
big one right?
i haven't have UREI's dipper before but i heard they are good sound!
it is mono unit and usually it helps to dip the frequency which you don't appriciate.
i hope it's good for you, but i recomend graphic type of eq.

and i don't think you are crazy.
if it's possible to fit using bozak's eq to urei mixer is very exciting.
they use ab mod pot so will be good sounding.
i use bozak mixer with full 10 eq(full CW) sometime.
pretty mad right? :D

[louped garou]

yep -- the big dipper...


ah, so 'cut only' EQ...
there are a pair of little dipper available at a shop in denver, I saw a month ago... also pretty expensive

for EQ I use White 4400, on Scott's advice. I really like them... best EQ I have ever used...

ALmost as if my big old boxes are covered in film before EQ, after EQ everything is sparkling in my ears...

mad is good in my book...

I have reverse switch in my 1200mKIIs , lots think that is mad too...

[allen]

One of the things I love about the bozak is the eq. It just sounds so right when you use it.


Allen

[clubman5]

Originally posted by allen
One of the things I love about the bozak is the eq. It just sounds so right when you use it.


Allen That I agree with, they do sound terrific, and are very usable. Whereas with the Urei, I just leave the tone controls at flat.

[Rotarymadness]

Originally posted by clubman5
That I agree with, they do sound terrific, and are very usable. Whereas with the Urei, I just leave the tone controls at flat.

my urei's eqs are flat, too.
they don't sound natural to me and too much gain. harsh harsh boom boom

How many of you do the tone control mod to urei mixer?

peace

taisei

[louped garou]

not me...

still there

[allen]

I did it once because I don't use them. I switched back because it didn't sound as good with them defeated. The sound just seamed to loose something with them not in the circuit.


Allen

[louped garou]

Originally posted by allen
I did it once because I don't use them. I switched back because it didn't sound as good with them defeated. The sound just seamed to loose something with them not in the circuit.


Allen

are the pots you put in factory spec, with respect to manufacturer, composition?

and how do you like those balance pots?

[allen]

I like the different pots in for the balance but cannot give a direct comparison. I removed my balance pots because they were scratchy. Than a few months later I put in the AB mods for balance. I don't have much for comparison since so much time elapsed. As far as the tone control mod. The pots were never changed. I did the mod for the defeating them listed in the urei manual, but than switched it back to stock.


Allen

[clubman5]

Originally posted by allen
I did it once because I don't use them. I switched back because it didn't sound as good with them defeated. The sound just seamed to loose something with them not in the circuit.


Allen Same for me. Even though I keep the tone controls at flat, the mixer just sounds best in stock configuration.

[Criscodisco]

The reason some are now jumping onto the Urei bandwagon is that its solid state sound might be considered better for music that is less musical, less soulful and more machine like-basically much of the techno, etc. is just drums and a few synth washes. Going with a Urei's an admission the material's musically very limited.

Instead of switching opinions with the wind and using a Urei like everyone else, if you know how to tweak what you have a Bozak will win out, sound better every time. Just takes a little individuality, an understanding that you don't have to sound just like everyone else. In return, you'll have something more unique.

As long as your mind is open, that is..

[clubman5]

What wind is that?

Some people have both Bozak and Urei, and find one mixer more suited for some music, and the other for another genre of music.

[Criscodisco]

The idea that a Bozak's only for certain types of music is absurd. That's limited thinking, in my book.

Just know how to work it.

[clubman5]

Originally posted by Criscodisco
The idea that a Bozak's only for certain types of music is absurd. That's limited thinking, in my book.

Just know how to work it. Actually, the Bozak is suited for any type of music. However, IMHO, I love older disco and music thru 80,s into the early 90,s using the Bozak, BUT, with todays music, I like the urei because it doesnt accentuate the bottom as much as the Bozak, considering todays music to be overly bottom heavy, and midrange lacking!

But, I love the way the highs sound through the Bozak, and sometimes the bit of midrange sharpness from the urei seems to fit the bill better for me.

It really is up to the user to define what he or she likes.

[Rotarymadness]

Originally posted by Criscodisco
The reason some are now jumping onto the Urei bandwagon is that its solid state sound might be considered better for music that is less musical, less soulful and more machine like-basically much of the techno, etc. is just drums and a few synth washes. Going with a Urei's an admission the material's musically very limited.

Instead of switching opinions with the wind and using a Urei like everyone else, if you know how to tweak what you have a Bozak will win out, sound better every time. Just takes a little individuality, an understanding that you don't have to sound just like everyone else. In return, you'll have something more unique.

As long as your mind is open, that is..

i love the sound of "fresh frako" bozak.
but many of them are better to replace capacitors and transistors
to make their sound to the best.
but even without refreshment it still sound best for someone who need the sound.

i know some sound system need to tweak but i don't know why you need to tweak the sound of bozak :confused:

peace
taisei