Azor is one of a multitude of Asia-based companies that have been giving some of the more established pedal companies a run for their money. At the beginning of this year, Azor released a whole line of mini pedals, and we got our hands on a few of them to see how they compare to some of their Western counterparts, as well as how they compare to offerings from the slightly more established Asian companies like Mooer and Joyo. Within Azor’s lineup for this year, the Pure Boost piqued our interest for a number of reasons. For one thing, Azor’s decision to include a clean boost in their inaugural run of pedals shows that the company wants to come out swinging. For years it was difficult to find a clean boost pedal, and most people relied on the low saturation settings of various Tubescreamer and Klon type pedals to get the job done. A few years ago things started to change as the boutique pedal market continued to bloom, and we were gifted some high performance offerings like the 33 pedal from Fortin, and the TC Electronic Spark Boost. Whether you happen to be looking for something to tighten up the low end of your high gain rig, or you just need to boost your overall signal for solos and don’t want to compromise your tone, a clean boost is likely to be the most efficient way of getting you the sound you want.
Features
One of the most compelling things about the Azor Pure Boost is that it has way more knobs than most of its competitors. Many clean boosts, and especially those that are housed in mini casings, feature one knob that controls the output signal. The Pure Boost has this knob as well, its the big translucent one smack dab in the middle of the pedal, but there are also three additional mini knobs. While the big knob controls the Gain, the other ones provide options for fine tuning Bass, Tone, and Level. These days it seems that every other pedal that comes out features some degree of EQ options, for better or for worse, but in the case of a clean boost, having the flexibility to manipulate your EQ actually makes a lot of sense. Think about it, one pedal may not sound the same with every instrument, which is something we have all come to anticipate, but this quirk has the potential to become a problem when you are dealing with an effect that is supposed to be timbrally unobtrusive and transparent. By including some EQ controls, Azor has insured that its boost pedal will not add or subtract anything to your tone. Too much bass? Roll back the Bass knob. Too shrill? Roll back the Tone knob. Simple as that. Additionally, some folks do want a little bit of EQ flexibility in their signal chain, but don’t necessarily need an exhaustive EQ pedal with tons of faders. Sometimes you just want to take a little off the top or plump up the bottom of your signal before it hits your amp, and we think that having these controls built into a pedal whose sole purpose is already to alter the dB level of your signal makes a lot of sense.
The Level knob is an interesting addition, and it raises some questions about what the purpose of the Gain knob is. Think of the pedal as an amp for a second: the Gain knob is basically a volume knob (preamp), while the Level knob is more of a master volume (postamp) knob. What this means is that the Azor Pure Boost not only enables you to add up to 20dB to your signal, but it also allows you to tweak the amount of compression and saturation that the signal gains as it passes through the pedal. We think this is an elegant way of putting a clean boost together, as it provides solutions for players who want a signal boost without sacrificing any of their squeaky clean tone.
Conclusion
True bypass, one bright LED, and a solid aluminum-alloy housing round out the Azor Pure Boost pedal. Oh yeah, and it is priced at about half the cost of options from TC Electronic and Mooer.
Specs
True Bypass: Yes
Battery Cavity: No
DC in: Yes (power supply sold separately)
Input(s): 1 x 1/4”
Output(s): 1 x 1/4”
20db+ clean boost
±15db 2 band EQ
True Bypass：True bypass for zero tone coloration.
Input impedance: 1M Ohms
Output impedance: 10k Ohms
Current Draw: 6 mA
