“Geek” Kickstarter Campaign Approaches $200,000
Sacramento, California-- Light Harmonic, manufacturer of state-of-the-art digital audio products, is proud to announce higher-powered versions of the “Geek” mass-market portable DAC/ headphone amp, as the “Geek” campaign on crowdfunding site Kickstarter approaches 700% of the campaign’s goal.
“We’re utterly blown away by the public’s response to our campaign,” said Gavin Fish, Light Harmonic’s VP of Sales. “We thought there was a market for a mainstream product with high-end performance and credibility, and the Kickstarter community’s support
“Geek” is a thumb-drive-sized portable USB DAC (digital-to-analog converter) which plugs into a laptop’s USB port and processes digital music files in all available formats,combined with a state-of-the-art headphone amplifier and spatialization software which creates a 3-D soundfield around the listener’s head. “Geek” will sell in stores for $299, but Kickstarter backers were able to reserve the product at pre-launch prices as low as $99.
GEEK’s Kickstarter campaign has exceeded expectations, hitting 700% of their funding goal.
Backers of the campaign have also helped tweak “Geek” by suggesting changes and refinements to the design. “ ‘Geek’ already has much more power output than any laptop’s headphone jack, and several times the power of any other portable DAC/ amp,” said designer/ CEO Larry Ho. “ Some purists wanted even more, so we will offer ‘Super Geek’ and ‘ Super Duper Geek’ with 1.6 and 2.2 times the power of ‘Geek”.”
In addition, output impedance of all “Geek” models has been lowered to 0.47 ohm to ensure universal compatibility. “We really wanted to make sure this thing will THUMP,” said Fish. “We’ve used it line-out into our $100,000 audio system with Ayre, Pass, and Wilson Audio components, and it sounds awesome.”
The Kickstarter campaign has focused on the increased level of enjoyment and involvement “Geek” can bring to users, rather than specs and technobabble. “We wanted to bring good sound to a non- audiophile market, so that travelers, gamers, and music lovers can better enjoy the stuff they love,” said Fish. “We want folks to have fun, like we do. That’s why we call GEEK’s USB extension ‘Slacker’ (every geek has a slacker friend, right?), and use words like ‘Awesomifier’ and ‘Shareulator’ instead of digital-to-analog-converter and multiple-output amplifier. We don’t think you have to speak geek to enjoy GEEK.”
Light Harmonic “Super Geek” and “Super Duper Geek” Add More Power to Portable DAC / Headphone Amp
“We all love the audio business,” said Fish, “but the old-school industry is dying. We’re trying to put a defibrillator on it, and help other companies in the business while we’re at it. We work with small music labels that provide hi-res music downloads, and we hope to bring music to the people the industry has left out: women, students, anybody who wants to enjoy music, minus all the audiophile crap.”
Crowdfunding site Kickstarter was founded in 2009, and has funded nearly 50,000 art and technology projects to date, with backers pledging over $750 million. The “Geek” Kickstarter campaign will run until September 12, 2013.
“We’ve got two weeks left in the campaign, and can’t wait to see what happens,” said Fish.
Suggested Retail Price,“Geek”: $299.00 Availability: January, 2014
Pricing, availability and final nomenclature for “Super Geek” and “Super Duper Geek”: TBD
About Light Harmonic
Light Harmonic was founded in Sacramento, California in 2010 with the goal of producing the finest- sounding digital audio products in the world. The company produces the industry-leading Da Vinci DAC ($20,000) and Da Vinci Dual DAC ($31,000) and the LightSpeed USB cable ($999-$1999). All three products have received rave reviews and are sold worldwide through a network of dealers and distributors. “Geek” is the company’s first mass-market product.
Geek Kickstarter campaign: http://bit.ly/mustgeekout
Geek Kickstarter campaign blog: http://mustgeekout.blogspot.com
Geek vs. the others: http://mustgeekout.blogspot.com/2013/08/geek-vs-others.html Geek website: www.mustgeekout.com
Matej Isak. Mono and Stereo ultra high end audio magazine. All rights reserved. 2006-2013. www.monoandstereo.com. ..:: None of the original text, pictures, that were taken by me, links or my original files can be re-printed or used in any way without prior permission! ::..