GeerFab Audio D.BOB (Digital BreakOut Box) Unlocks the Potential of Your Hi-Res Discs
US Patent No. 11,137,970
“Never-before have audiophiles and cinephiles had such an opportunity to hear so much from their previously locked-down physical media. You won’t believe the sound quality that has been buried in your collection of SACDs, Blu-rays, and DVD-based discs. We’re talking staggering improvements in clarity, dynamics, focus, presence, definition, soundstaging, and more. Practically any audiophile trait you can imagine gets elevated with the D.BOB in the chain.” MUSICDIRECT
The GeerFab Audio D.BOB (Digital BreakOut Box) extracts DSD64 from SACDs via the DoP protocol and PCM up to 24-bit/192Hz from Blu ray audio discs, both through S/PDIF coax to your external DAC. You will need a universal player with an HDMI output.
The D.BOB is fully HDCP and copy-protection compliant and comes with a mini-USB port for firmware updates. Its HDMI pass-through allows for player menu settings and other video uses.
This innovative black box ends the limitations of outdated universal players and releases the magic that has been hiding in your discs waiting to be heard.
Disc-player compatibility note: the D.BOB only works with universal disc players with an HDMI output and only accepts HDMI signals.
DAC compatibility note: the D.BOB works with most DACs. For DSD, the DAC must accept DoP via S/PDIF Coax and/or Toslink.
Recently, we’ve made a few discoveries that make the D.BOB even more versatile.
- Surround Sound: a surround system can be integrated into your existing hi-res D.BOB-based stereo setup. The FL-FR speakers would continue to receive DSD64 and PCM up to 24/192 from the D.BOB to an external DAC connected to preamp/amp and then…the HDMI Out on the D.BOB would route to an AVR for the other 2-5+ channels.
- Apple TV: connect the HDMI output of the Apple TV to the D.BOB. The D.BOB extracts the hi-res PCM and sends that to your DAC, then preamp/amp. The HDMI Out of the D.BOB connects to your TV.
- Hi-res YouTube concert footage off a computer through your main audio/TV system (as mentioned on p.3 of the March 2021 Stereophile): route the HDMI out of a laptop to the D.BOB and as usual, the D.BOB extracts the hi-res PCM and sends that to your DAC, then preamp/amp. The HDMI Out of the D.BOB connects to your TV.
Eric Geer, President of GeerFab Audio, talks about the company’s new D.BOB (Digital BreakOut Box). A diehard audiophile, Eric loves to enjoy music on SACDs and Blu-ray discs, but wanted to improve the sonics by sending the discs’ signal to external, higher-quality DSD-capable DACs. The D.BOB is the first product that makes that happen and will wow anyone looking to increase the performance of a universal player that supports DSD/SACD playback by way of DSD64 output (as well as 24-bit PCM with Blu-ray and DVD-based discs). Suffice it to say this is the box for listeners who love physical media! MUSICDIRECT