Mastersounds ISO4 Isolator Review | Beatsource Tech

Gary Stewart, whose full name was Gary Stewart Robowski, was my best friend. I gave him his very first Bozak and Urei mixers. I even helped him get his first client, which was a club called, Maxims in Manhattan. Richard Long never made an isolator. He only used 3 way crossovers. They were made for him by RANE. Gary started GSA Audio with Austin Derek, who was a light man at Studio 54. I was a DJ at Studio 54 from 1982 to 1984, and I used one of those 3 way crossovers there.

The Vestax isolators are based from US designs as they sent various japanse DJs to research them. Among those, Ko Kimura, who was also part of the R series of rotary mixers. The R3 is such a hidden gem. And those were among the first in Japan, later Dope Real and others poped up from what was relayed to me. Dope Real is sadly closed but an icon still present at many booths across Japan and worldwide.

Been a long time watcher and I really appreciate you using the same songs for every gear test for comparison. I understand it’s mainly a copyright thing but it’s great for reference

I would suspect the isolator would like a lot of late sixties early seventies sound and products firstly showed itself in the reggae sound systems of Jamaica…. There was a direct line from there to the early mobile sound systems in New York and so the use and sounds of Jamaica transported itself to New York and London etc quite easily

I think this is ideal for what I need. I have one turntable, a phono stage that goes into my studio monitors . I'm looking for the cleanest sound and I think this will do the trick without getting into mixers, amps etc .High end sound without complications . This little device will give me the sound control i desire . Brilliant

This is a class product… another glowing report for Ryan at Mastersounds. They continue to absolutely knock it out the park. 👏🏼

I'm a fan of a bypass switch on an iso, it's very handy for getting everything back to 0 on the 1!

Amazing as always. Been waiting for you to review the new Mastersounds v2 mixers before I pull the trigger and buy one. Looking forward to it.

What the world needs right now is a small transformer/tube warmer to go after the mixer to give that little bit of warmth to digital sources. Seems like a no brainer to me... Kinda like the Neve transformer on the new Alpha Theta mixer's output.

First of all thank you for the review. I am a rotary mixer geek! Do you still have that Bozak isolator? Buzzy Beck is the engineer for Bozak. Buzzy and Gary were partners a short time. Buzzy who is still with us, lives in Pennsylvania. Buzzy & Gary Stewart designed the first isolator for the Bozak Stereo Mixer Pre-Amplifier. I believe they were two different designs. Also I have in my possession one of the last CMA10-2 DLBozak Mixer, that Larry Levan performed on in New York City. On a Richard Long Soundsystem. I had the good fortune of playing on a Richard Long Soundsystem......Amazing!

I've had the Bozure ISO201 for a few years but I really hate the side mounted connections on a horizontally aligned unit; as well as only offering RCA connections. MC Solutions went down the same tired route with their isolator, which was a shame as the anodised finish and colours made them beautiful units. I think Mastersounds have done a great job here, putting the connections at the top, which allows the potential to hide the cables away behind your booth AND you've got balanced connections for mixers which have 1/4 jack insert paths; like my Xone 96. I think I'll be grabbing one soon!

Ps I used to use the Rane AC 23 3, 4 and 5 way crossway in the Nineties to shape and cut frequencies when playing my sound systems

make a review of teile elektronik TEIL3 B& 3 Band isolator

You should have a look at the Amp Freqq software. Software version of a reggae soundsystem pre amp, with 4 band kill switches, parametric and graphic eq, reverb, tape echo, dub siren and sampler. Its an amazing bit of software.

I wished Ryan & Co included that on the Valve MK2 as they did with the radius.

Is this video master out?i was wondering how it would work on a rotary rane empath flex loop

This like a go rack?

The question I have is how to route this properly... If you route from the dj mixer master outs, it doesn't include the booth outs (and understandably, you need to hear what you're doing in the booth..). So with something like a Px5 or Xone 96, should the Iso be routed like an effect (on the master), perhaps using a splitter (if using another effect)? And to complicate things, if using the Insert for the Iso, how can one route this to include the Mastersounds FX? Can you put it in an Insert chain with the Mastersounds FX? Anyone done this? (I asked Mastersounds this, via email and their Youtube channel vid for the Iso, but never received a reply...)

very similar to the sort of controls reggae soundsystem pre amps have

I just cant get my head round this what is it for exactly, as in why would you use one?