Virtual Dynamics Genesis 1.1 Power Cable - first impressions

[pompon]

Ty Nalth. It's seem it's not blocking only a tiny range (my friend was telling me that ... I guess they was worng).

 

[Patrick82]

I summed up all my impressions in a thread at AVSforum but they locked the thread after only 2 minutes! Virtual Dynamics Genesis 1.1 Power Cable - best value in audio! - AVS Forum

 

[Patrick82]

They banned me for a month when I said how much I love Genesis power cable. It's that good!

Everytime I listen to Genesis power cable I fall in love. When I remove the Genesis I feel emptiness inside. I can't be without Genesis power cable.

I removed the 9feet Genesis between wall and Quintet power conditioner, I replaced it with 7cm Valhalla power cord with Oyaide 037 on both ends. I thought it would sound better but it sounded worse, it was bright and thin with lack of low-level detail, but it sounded very open. I let it warm-up for a few days and then I got used to the sound, it sounded ok but I didn't like to listen to music anymore.

Then I daisy chained the stumpy 7cm Valhalla together with 9feet Genesis, this should obviously make it worse since more cable + connectors + adapters are added into the path, but it made it better in every way! Genesis power cable makes the biggest difference between power conditioner and wall. I heard the same thing from my first impression as well.

Then I removed the stumpy Valhalla + Oyaide 037 and got more low-level detail but less whiteness. Oyaide 037 added fake whiteness/harshness into the sound. Without Oyaide 037 in the path it sounded very analog like.

Adding Genesis into the path gives heavier and faster sound with more low-level detail. There are bass transients in between bass transients. The highs are thin and clear. Everything is improved.

I also noticed that these cables need 2-3 weeks to burn-in after unplugging them, after 2 weeks the low-level detail becomes crazy.

I have owned the Genesis power cable for almost 2 months now and it's still the best value in audio. Adding it into the path of the AC signal improves the sound without changing the flavor like other power cables and connectors I have tried. I love Genesis power cable more than I ever loved Valhalla power cable.

 

[Ragonix]

How can the Genesis 1.1 PC possibly be the best value when it costs 6.7k. Did VD give Patrick a free cable so he would say all these things?

 

[Patrick82]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ragonix /img/forum/go_quote.gif How can the Genesis 1.1 PC possibly be the best value when it costs 6.7k. Did VD give Patrick a free cable so he would say all these things?

When I bought the 9feet Genesis 1.1 the retail price for it was $17 249. Comparing to other gear the same price, the Genesis is the best value because it is closer to perfection. I rather have computer + Genesis than a high-end transport + stock cable.

 

[pompon]

Regular price is 6k now ...
And it's easy to have a better price to that.

Just bargain them ...

The problem with VD ... it's hard to install. No one (or almost) want to have hard wire ... not possible to do clean installation with that.
No need to have the best of the best ...

stock to something better is a great improvement. More that that, you modify the coloration ... match will tell you who is the best in your system.

I tried those powercord: In order 1 = preferred the most

1- Master3 1600$
2- Nite 800$
3- Verastarr 125$ (normal price 250$)
4- Power 3 99$
5- Stock 1$

The best buy will probably the VeraStarr ... more dynamic, more bass, more details to the master3. But more colored, little less width of soundstage but little more depth. And do somes fine tuning with another powercord not too expansive for fine tuning the global sonority.

You will find stock powercord SLOW, muddy bass, not very detailled highs and limited soundstage width. If you want modify thoses aspects ... powercord will do for you.

I tried on tube amp, transistor amp, cd player, dac and computer (if you listen music with your soundcard) and the result is as good on all.

 

[Patrick82]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Patrick82 /img/forum/go_quote.gif I rather have computer + Genesis than a high-end transport + stock cable.

For my computer, I replaced my modified Valhalla power cord into a Genesis. At the same time I unplugged my CD transport. I was surprised that the improvement was way bigger than any component upgrade I have done.

Valhalla veiled and stretched the brightness so it made it sound white and transparent over all the frequencies. But it was still edgy and fatiguing.
Genesis has more whiteness than Valhalla on the surface layer but more smoothness and warmth everywhere else, it's almost like Genesis converted the computer into a turntable! Everything is much tighter and a little bigger also, but the extra size doesn't come from boominess, it comes from more information in the music. I hear extra bass transients between bass transients, it is crazy. With Genesis the resolution is doubled!

I thought that Valhalla power cord for computer was a good value even when it costs 10 times more than the computer, but Genesis power cord which costs 50 times more than the computer is an even better value!

 

[Patrick82]

I'm using HD590 + EMU0404 soundcard now, no tweaks or anything. I have compared stock power cable against Genesis. The difference was HUGE! I didn't expect to hear a difference since the last time I tried amps and interconnects with HD590 I heard no difference at all. But this time with Genesis power cord, it's a night and day difference! Genesis already made a huge improvement when using it for a computer transport, but this time when using the computer with analog outputs the improvement is even bigger, even with HD590.


Stock: Empty, bright, lifeless. Bass is more in the background.

Genesis: More bass information and resolution. Fuller, warmer, smoother. More transparency and detail. Bass is emphasized which makes the synergy worse. The extra bass gives me fatigue within minutes.

Stock: No fatigue, I can listen for hours.

Genesis: Fatigue again, too much bass and fullness, it's just always full, it is fatiguing. Genesis requires faster/brighter headphones.

 

[Patrick82]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Patrick82 /img/forum/go_quote.gif I'm using HD590 + EMU0404 soundcard now, no tweaks or anything. I have compared stock power cable against Genesis. The difference was HUGE!

K1000 have rolled off frequency extremes and it took a couple days to get used to HD590. I'm not getting fatigue when using Genesis power cable with HD590 anymore. I'm still shocked how good HD590 sound when plugged into a computer driven by Genesis power cord! I don't miss my K1000 setup anymore!

Stock: Thin and veiled bass. Bass information is lacking. Highs are very sibilant and harsh, there is no high frequency information, it's just bright. There is no transparency because of too much brightness.
Everything is flat and 2 dimensional, there is no depth or ambient information. Everything is compressed and lifeless, there is no layering.

Genesis: HUGE bass that is very tight, there are more bass transients in deeper layers. The highs are smooth and transparent, there is no sibilance!! The brightness in the highs has transformed into detail! There is a lot of information there! There is more layering and ambient sounds which makes the soundstage sound bigger! It sounds very musical and I want to keep listening for hours!

Genesis power cord transformed HD590 into something very good. Normally HD590 are boomy and sibilant, but Genesis removed the sibilance and tightened up the boomy bass while making the bass even bigger! It also increased the resolution and everything else as well. I didn't think HD590 could sound this good.

 

[tourmaline]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Patrick82 /img/forum/go_quote.gif K1000 have rolled off frequency extremes and it took a couple days to get used to HD590. I'm not getting fatigue when using Genesis power cable with HD590 anymore. I'm still shocked how good HD590 sound when plugged into a computer driven by Genesis power cord! I don't miss my K1000 setup anymore! Stock: Thin and veiled bass. Bass information is lacking. Highs are very sibilant and harsh, there is no high frequency information, it's just bright. There is no transparency because of too much brightness. Everything is flat and 2 dimensional, there is no depth or ambient information. Everything is compressed and lifeless, there is no layering. Genesis: HUGE bass that is very tight, there are more bass transients in deeper layers. The highs are smooth and transparent, there is no sibilance!! The brightness in the highs has transformed into detail! There is a lot of information there! There is more layering and ambient sounds which makes the soundstage sound bigger! It sounds very musical and I want to keep listening for hours! Genesis power cord transformed HD590 into something very good. Normally HD590 are boomy and sibilant, but Genesis removed the sibilance and tightened up the boomy bass while making the bass even bigger! It also increased the resolution and everything else as well. I didn't think HD590 could sound this good.

Instead of buying such expensive cables, why don't you try different materials yourself?

By the way i do know that good powercables make quite a difference! I experimented myself extensively with all kinds of cables. More then 6000 dollars is alot.

 

[Patrick82]

Quote:

Originally Posted by tourmaline /img/forum/go_quote.gif Instead of buying such expensive cables, why don't you try different materials yourself? By the way i do know that good powercables make quite a difference! I experimented myself extensively with all kinds of cables. More then 6000 dollars is alot.

I have discovered that different materials only change the flavor of the sound, I got the most neutral sound from a stock cable. It had more low-level detail than Nordost Valhalla but it was harsh and fatiguing. Valhalla veiled everything which made it sound smooth, thin, open and musical. I think the reason Valhalla sounded so veiled was because of the threads wrapped around the conductor which made the conductor vibrate more easily. More vibration of the conductor results in less low-level detail.

Genesis has crappy copper wiring inside but loads of vibration dampening around the conductor. The improvement in low-level detail is huge, and it's easy to hear even with HD590. I'm still shocked that HD590 + EMU0404 can show the difference!

I get the best sound when I don't have any pre-amps, amps or interconnects. Plugging the headphones directly into the soundcard or DAC gives the best sound, as long as the measured performance is good. When I plugged my K1000 into the default 2vrms XLR output it was worse than all amps I have tried, but when I used the 6vrms XLR output it was better than all amps even with loads of tweaks for the amps! Running headphones directly from the source with no external pre-amp and amp is the way to go, even without Genesis power cable. I noticed that external pre-amp and amp combinations only changed the flavor of the sound, it either made it appear more detailed because the bass was gone, or it made it more bassy because the highs and mids were toned down. I don't see the point of reducing the volume with the pre-amp only to boost it back up with the amp. Plugging the headphones to XLR or RCA outputs gives me more neutral sound and higher performance.

I think Genesis power cable makes all dedicated headphone components obsolete. A single box system with a vibration dampened power cable is the future. It's simple and cheap. But the only "problem" is that you can't get any flavors from it, it will just be neutral. But you could just switch to different headphones to get different flavors instead. I have realized that the headphones aren't really that important, they are all almost equal overall but with different colorations.

What really matters is AC power vibrations, ground vibrations, and vibrations of the component itself. In a single box setup vibration control is 99% of the sound.

 

[tourmaline]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Patrick82 /img/forum/go_quote.gif I have discovered that different materials only change the flavor of the sound, I got the most neutral sound from a stock cable. It had more low-level detail than Nordost Valhalla but it was harsh and fatiguing. Valhalla veiled everything which made it sound smooth, thin, open and musical. I think the reason Valhalla sounded so veiled was because of the threads wrapped around the conductor which made the conductor vibrate more easily. More vibration of the conductor results in less low-level detail. Genesis has crappy copper wiring inside but loads of vibration dampening around the conductor. The improvement in low-level detail is huge, and it's easy to hear even with HD590. I'm still shocked that HD590 + EMU0404 can show the difference! I get the best sound when I don't have any pre-amps, amps or interconnects. Plugging the headphones directly into the soundcard or DAC gives the best sound, as long as the measured performance is good. When I plugged my K1000 into the default 2vrms XLR output it was worse than all amps I have tried, but when I used the 6vrms XLR output it was better than all amps even with loads of tweaks for the amps! Running headphones directly from the source with no external pre-amp and amp is the way to go, even without Genesis power cable. I noticed that external pre-amp and amp combinations only changed the flavor of the sound, it either made it appear more detailed because the bass was gone, or it made it more bassy because the highs and mids were toned down. I don't see the point of reducing the volume with the pre-amp only to boost it back up with the amp. Plugging the headphones to XLR or RCA outputs gives me more neutral sound and higher performance. I think Genesis power cable makes all dedicated headphone components obsolete. A single box system with a vibration dampened power cable is the future. It's simple and cheap. But the only "problem" is that you can't get any flavors from it, it will just be neutral. But you could just switch to different headphones to get different flavors instead. I have realized that the headphones aren't really that important, they are all almost equal overall but with different colorations. What really matters is AC power vibrations, ground vibrations, and vibrations of the component itself. In a single box setup vibration control is 99% of the sound.

I would say, power supply, power sections, power cable, vibration control and fuses. I just rolled fuses, one of the last things and boy, did one fuse make a difference!

Also good IC's make quite a difference.

Headphones have all to a degree some colouration, but detail/staging is what makes some better then others.

No wonder, 6vmrs is very loud and you can hear everything much louder, perceived detail.

Depends on the source, my dedicated headphone rig is miles ahead of the PC system. And i use a good souncard and good expensive drives.

Good power cables make a lot of difference but i don't think it is the answer to everything.

 

[Patrick82]

Quote:

Originally Posted by tourmaline /img/forum/go_quote.gif I would say, power supply, power sections, power cable, vibration control and fuses. I just rolled fuses, one of the last things and boy, did one fuse make a difference!

I have found that AC noise is vibrations.

Quote:

Originally Posted by tourmaline /img/forum/go_quote.gif Also good IC's make quite a difference.

I got the best sound with a 7cm Valkyrja. The shorter the better!

Quote:

Originally Posted by tourmaline /img/forum/go_quote.gif Headphones have all to a degree some colouration, but detail/staging is what makes some better then others.

Some people like to trade detail for boomy sound.

Quote:

Originally Posted by tourmaline /img/forum/go_quote.gif No wonder, 6vmrs is very loud and you can hear everything much louder, perceived detail.

I digitally reduced the volume with about 10 dB when I made the comparison. 6vrms was warmer with more bass and low-level detail. 2vrms was edgy, empty and compressed, the low-level details weren't there.

Quote:

Originally Posted by tourmaline /img/forum/go_quote.gif Depends on the source, my dedicated headphone rig is miles ahead of the PC system. And i use a good souncard and good expensive drives. Good power cables make a lot of difference but i don't think it is the answer to everything.

I put Magix levitation feet under the computer case and PSU, I could still hear the difference with HD590 but it wasn't as huge as with K1000 because normal headphones have reflections inside the pads which mess up the midrange resolution. K1000 has flat and neutral sound, and Magix keeps everything flat while increasing the resolution from top to bottom. Magix + K1000 is a perfect match.

When I was untweaking my K1000 system, I removed the Genesis power cables first, then I removed the Magix levitation feet. The tweak that gave me the most for the money was Magix. But when I tweak my HD590 system, Genesis power cable gives me the most for the money. For HD590, the improvement from Genesis is 10+ times bigger than Magix. I believe that Genesis is a component upgrade that even non-audiophiles can hear. It makes the bass bigger and tighter, how can people not hear it? I'm really considering selling my entire K1000 setup to buy a custom Judge power cable ($25k) to plug into my computer and use HD590 from EMU0404 soundcard. That's how good Genesis is.

 

[tourmaline]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Patrick82 /img/forum/go_quote.gif I have found that AC noise is vibrations. I got the best sound with a 7cm Valkyrja. The shorter the better! Some people like to trade detail for boomy sound.

dubbel post.

why is there no delete button on this forum?!

 

[tourmaline]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Patrick82 /img/forum/go_quote.gif I have found that AC noise is vibrations. I got the best sound with a 7cm Valkyrja. The shorter the better! Some people like to trade detail for boomy sound.

Good to know, i use the same IC, but 7 cm is not very good in terms of resell issues. minimum is about 60cm.

By the way, are you using the standard configuration r did you alter the amount of cores used?!

Also, replacing the copper plugs for some other plugs might yield another improvement over the stock cables.

Another guy that also experimented extensively with cables, still recognizes that Nordost has one of the best concepts.

I will never trade off low level detail for boomy sound, I've done everything to tighten the bass and it is wonderfull now.

If any, bass control is nec. since most mid-bass will effect detail in the mid sections. And yes, good powercables, made a few myself, will tighten the bass considderably. I'll never use any stock cables again.