Music House Data Products are in the business of building, amongst other things, PowerMaster SCSI drive systems, but unlike most off‑the‑shelf products, the Genesis comes as a 1U, two‑bay system into which can be fitted two different hard drives, removable media drives or DAT data drives. The system is specifically designed with musical applications in mind, has a relatively quiet cooling fan, and a generously rated power supply capable of running up to two 4Gb drives simultaneously.
What you see on the front panel depends on what drives are installed. Fixed hard drives require no front panel controls, so all you see is a HD blanking panel with a disk activity LED. In the case of removable media, the facia of the unit is framed by the front panel cutout. Rear panel switches with safely recessed actuating buttons are used to set the SCSI IDs, and both SCSI Ins and Thrus are fitted to both bays. Internally, the two bays are SCSI‑linked by a ribbon cable, and a simple plug and socket arrangement allows this link to be broken if you need to use the two internal drives in different systems — for example, one on your computer and the other on your sampler.
The review system came fitted with a 1Gb fixed hard drive, plus a Mezzo data DAT backup system. Although DAT systems are quite slow compared to hard drives, the very low cost of the media makes them very worthwhile and practical for backing up data‑intensive work such as Pro Tools sessions. The archiving software included creates a library on your internal hard drive, so that you know what's on all your backup tapes. Each tape also has its own directory, so you can see what files are backed up. A special backup mode is provided for Pro Tools sessions.
The PowerMaster Genesis system can be ordered empty or with a variety of drive types ready‑fitted, including Syquest, magneto optical, fixed hard drive and DAT. Tests confirmed it to be quieter than most external hard drives, and the internal drives fitted for the purpose of review ran with no problem. You should keep in mind, though, that if the Genesis is to be used at the end of a SCSI chain, a terminator must be plugged into the unused SCSI thru socket.
Genesis is distributed in the UK by Syco, although the makers are on the lookout for a foreign distributor. It is a simple, well‑engineered solution to housing your hard drives that makes effective use of limited rack space and doesn't cost a fortune. A great improvement over a shelf full of plastic bricks and connector cables! Paul White