New Genesis Products for 2015

garylkoh · Jan 7, 2015

Today only - Wed 7 Jan.

If you are at CES2015, this is a very rare opportunity. Hear Lyn Stanley sing LIVE together with her Studio Master Tape. Some systems may make the music sound richer, or warmer, or with a "golden" midrange, or with better imaging, but what I strive for as the designer of Genesis is to make it sound real, with all the emotion and feeling intact. That's what I call Absolute Fidelity. #30-332, The Venetian.

garylkoh · Jan 9, 2015

Lyn was only in town for one day - as she had to be in New York the next day. Nevertheless, we did get quite a number of performances out of her. But I only managed to grab a short video.

garylkoh · Jan 14, 2015

Even though Amir didn't make it to the Genesis room (we were in the wing that he didn't seem to have visited), Larry Greenhill of Stereophile did. He even came back the next day to take better pictures.

I didn't have any Patricia Barber with me...... so I had to rip his CD to get "Too Rich for My Blood" into my server. This track

proved the system's resolving capabilities for micro detail, subtle timbral qualities, and open highs. This system proved to be one of the better-sounding rooms I visited at CES 2015.

http://www.stereophile.com/content/genesis-ces

It's interesting - whenever I told anyone told that my amps were Class D, they always respond with "Wow, good tonal colours/timbral qualities/texture/etc." Does this mean that Class D amps are expected not to have this? I got into an argument with one visitor who started talking about how great the system sounded with the tape and how bad Class D and digital was. When I told him that my amps are Class D, he went into how demo-ing with tape will make any system sound good. It gives color and texture to the singer's voice........ only wrinkle in that story being that it wasn't Lyn Stanley singing. I don't have Marta Gomez's Cielito Lindo on tape. It was a digital track. The tape reels were spinning only because it was the end of the tape and I was letting it run out. I didn't bother telling him that. There were other people to talk to.

Sauerball · Jan 14, 2015

garylkoh said:
. . . it wasn't Lyn Stanley singing. I don't have Marta Gomez's Cielito Lindo on tape. It was a digital track. The tape reels were spinning only because it was the end of the tape and I was letting it run out. I didn't bother telling him that. There were other people to talk to.

Ha! You're too kind! Congrats on the great reception for your room.

garylkoh · Jan 14, 2015

Thanks, Sauerball.

rblnr · Jan 15, 2015

The system sounded terrific -- music was very 'present' and energetic in a way that seems to elude most speakers.

garylkoh · Jan 15, 2015

rblnr said:
The system sounded terrific -- music was very 'present' and energetic in a way that seems to elude most speakers.

Thanks, Bob. It was great to meet you!

JackD201 · Jan 31, 2015

garylkoh said:
I've been demo-ing with a music server since CES 2006 when people laughed at me. Over the past 8 years, everytime I've been asked if I will sell my music server, the response has always been No, but here's the recipe and you can roll your own. Unfortunately, too many people take the recipe, decide that they can take short cuts and substitute ingredients and get the same result. Not! There have been quite a number of successful implementations, including the members of the local audio club who were guided to build one during a workshop.

http://www.whatsbestforum.com/showthread.php?1201-Music-Server-Project&p=20972&viewfull=1#post20972

Still, there are things that are just unexplainable. We can hear the difference, yet with nearly 30 years of computer science and IT experience under my belt, I can't come up with a good technical explanation for it. I've published a new recipe every year up to 2012, each one sounding better, but because the ingredients change over so fast, I can't keep up.

This CES, I will finally have a music server that someone could buy if they really wanted one. Sonically, it is a leap forward by moving away from the $%&@ Windows and Apple operating systems, firewalls and anti-virus programs. It is a dedicated, stand-alone stereo digital music source with a remote control. Don't expect it to also act as a music server for the ceiling speakers in your kitchen. It is purpose built and purpose designed for one thing only - Absolute Fidelity in your main stereo system.

View attachment 18361

Hi Gary,

Any more info on GaBBy ( Gary's Black Box

) ?

garylkoh · Feb 2, 2015

Jack, your name for it is perfect. It is indeed a ‘black box’ plug-and-play digital device for a high-end music playback system. It is as simple to use as we can make it to deliver music with all the clarity, nuance, emotion, detail and dynamics (and if you believe it; micro-dynamics and musicality) that I crave.

Unlike commonly-available music servers, it does not attempt to do all things for all people. It is a dedicated music source designed to serve music to a single high-end Stereo system via an isolated transformer-coupled balanced analog output. While it contains a highly-specified computer, but it does nothing other than play digital music files. It is truly format agnostic and plays any music file from low bit-rate mp3 to high sample-rate PCM and DSD. Internal music storage is 1 Terabyte using enterprise-class solid-state drive.

It comes pre-loaded with a small selection of music to get you started (I'm working on licensing and etc.) and an Android™ tablet as a remote control for music selection. Since it has an analog output, there is no indication of the format of the digital file - so that you can focus on the music instead of the bit-rate. If the album (or track) doesn't sound good, don't play it. It shouldn't matter that it's 32/384 if you don't enjoy it.

We recommend that it not be connected to the Internet as we found that anti-virus software and a firewall detract from sound quality (and the Internet is a dangerous place where you do need a firewall and anti-virus software for safety). Hence, it creates its own "hotspot" to use the remote control and for loading more music in.

The connection to your high-end audio system is galvanically-isolated so you can be assured that adding the Muse to your analog system will not contaminate it with “digital noise”. A linear power supply is employed that is designed to isolate the all the computer bits inside so that they don’t contaminate your power line either.

While Gabby has balanced analog outputs, two additional USB 3.0 ports are available – just in case you want to use your existing high-end DAC. The two ports can also be used to attach additional storage. A high resolution digital volume control is also available so that Gabby can drive a power amplifier directly and be the musical heart of your high-end stereo digital music system.

ps. Since I came from "heavy machine" computer background, 'enterprise class' gear is commonly employed. I didn't realize that it was not a commonly understood term until this CES when none of the reviewers who came to the room knew what I was talking about and I had to explain myself. The key difference is the RBER - raw bit error rate. This is corrected using on-the-fly error correction code so that the byte that eventually comes out is corrected.

Here's a quick primer that distinguishes 'enterprise class' SSDs and 'client' SSDs.
http://www.kingston.com/us/ssd/enterprise/best_practices/enterprise_versus_client_ssd

LL21 · Feb 2, 2015

Awesome...

garylkoh said:
...it is indeed a ‘black box’ plug-and-play digital device for a high-end music playback system. It is as simple to use as we can make it to deliver music with all the clarity, nuance, emotion, detail and dynamics (and if you believe it; micro-dynamics and musicality) that i crave.

...a dedicated music source designed to serve music to a single high-end stereo system via an isolated transformer-coupled balanced analog output...a highly-specified computer...does nothing other than play...any music file from low bit-rate mp3 to high sample-rate pcm and dsd. Internal music storage is 1 terabyte using enterprise-class solid-state drive...

The connection to your high-end audio system is galvanically-isolated so you can be assured that adding the muse to your analog system will not contaminate it with “digital noise”. A linear power supply is employed that is designed to isolate the all the computer bits inside so that they don’t contaminate your power line either.

While gabby has balanced analog outputs, two additional usb 3.0 ports are available – just in case you want to use your existing high-end dac. The two ports can also be used to attach additional storage. A high resolution digital volume control is also available so that gabby can drive a power amplifier directly and be the musical heart of your high-end stereo digital music system...

carolkoh · Feb 2, 2015

JackD201 said:
Any more info on GaBBy ( Gary's Black Box ) ?

Ahhhh! I love it!

Dre_J · Feb 2, 2015

garylkoh said:
Jack, your name for it is perfect. ...Gabby

...ps. Since I came from "heavy machine" computer background, 'enterprise class' gear is commonly employed. I didn't realize that it was not a commonly understood term until this CES when none of the reviewers who came to the room knew what I was talking about and I had to explain myself. The key difference is the RBER - raw bit error rate. This is corrected using on-the-fly error correction code so that the byte that eventually comes out is corrected.

This is interesting since you told me the name was the Genesis Muse Music Source which is what the literature I received also states.

Regarding "enterprise class", You did not explain it to me because I didn't look perplexed. I didn't bother asking because I knew what you were tying to say. So, it was not every reviewer that came into the room didn't know what you were talking about. Just saying... (there should be a smiling face here)

Dre

wilson1 · Feb 2, 2015

JackD201 said:
Any more info on GaBBy ( Gary's Black Box ) ?

Is it upgradeable, Gary?

garylkoh · Feb 2, 2015

Dre_J said:
This is interesting since you told me the name was the Genesis Muse Music Source which is what the literature I received also states.

Regarding "enterprise class", You did not explain it to me because I didn't look perplexed. I didn't bother asking because I knew what you were tying to say. So, it was not every reviewer that came into the room didn't know what you were talking about. Just saying... (there should be a smiling face here)

Dre

Sorry, Dre. I keep forgetting you (and Kal) are reviewers and treat you like friends from WBF. Yes, the official name of the server is the Muse Music Source, but Jack's suggestion of GaBBy would make for a great nickname.

wilson1 said:
Is it upgradeable, Gary?

That's why I put TWO USB ports on it - plug in more storage, or plug in a high-end DAC.

Search

Search

New Genesis Products for 2015

garylkoh

WBF Technical Expert (Speakers & Audio Equipment)

garylkoh

WBF Technical Expert (Speakers & Audio Equipment)

garylkoh

WBF Technical Expert (Speakers & Audio Equipment)

Sauerball

Member Sponsor

garylkoh

WBF Technical Expert (Speakers & Audio Equipment)

rblnr

Member Sponsor & WBF Founding Member

garylkoh

WBF Technical Expert (Speakers & Audio Equipment)

JackD201

WBF Founding Member

garylkoh

WBF Technical Expert (Speakers & Audio Equipment)

LL21

Well-Known Member

carolkoh

[Industry Expert] Member Sponsor

Dre_J

Industry Expert

wilson1

Well-Known Member

garylkoh

WBF Technical Expert (Speakers & Audio Equipment)

Similar threads

Members online