Review of the new Schiit URD

[formdissolve]

The two USB inputs and USB>AES conversion is nice, but for $1300 it is a bit steep. Cool if you want to consolidate and streamline everything but as others have said, there are cheaper options that can have more functionality albeit that take up more space.

 

[Victor Martell]

Sorry, I don't mean to offend anyone, but Shiit seems like a strange company. Strange what they make. The CD player is part of this, imo.

I once wanted to buy their record player (seriously, I am not joking), but only because it has a totally weird look that reminds me of an artistic kinetic object - not a very good record player. It's a technical curiosity. But they couldn't deliver, despite several requests over the years. They always put me off.

I am a fan - I like that they piss off both opposing groups - ASR and audiophiles

That said, it is weird to me that they chose the CD transport product as a launchpad for their digital hub concept. Yes, I would get the transport just for the aesthetics and the uniformity of look, not to mention their products are well built... but just the transport...

IMHO the Urd should have been just a transport, cheaper than the hub thing... I would have paid up to $500 for that... at $1200 for a digital hub, I don't need it; this Schiit fan won't be getting the Urd. I know, STOP THE PRESSES! CALL JA-RULE! I understand my opinion is worthless ( as that of most people) but this is a roundabout way to agree that yes, it is a weird product that doesn't make a lot of sense to me.

That said, their weirdest product is that thing that were doing to pitch correct DIGITAL music... I didn't get AT ALL why there was a need for that.

v

 

[Snoopy]

Which is what most people seem to do nowadays anyway. Making it the ideal moment for that CD revival people keep talking about... all we need is the myth that playing CDs sounds better than ripping them to take hold?

There are already people that claim the same files sound different depending on what material is used to make the cd (smh, uhqCD, blu-spec), even if the file is exactly to the last bit the same.

 

[Ahmonge]

Which is what most people seem to do nowadays anyway. Making it the ideal moment for that CD revival people keep talking about... all we need is the myth that playing CDs sounds better than ripping them to take hold?

I think Schiit has taken too long to bring the product to market. The quality of streaming services has become established and many CD owners have either ripped the CDs or listen to the streaming versions or a mixture of both.

 

[Victor Martell]

I think Schiit has taken too long to bring the product to market. The quality of streaming services has become established and many CD owners have either ripped the CDs or listen to the streaming versions or a mixture of both.

Thinking they actually might be lucky on this - back when they started this there was not talk of "CD revival"; now ( independently of how accurate/real/viable) there is. It might work in their favour for this product...

v

 

[Victor Martell]

When I first saw the unit I guessed $499 tops. Brother was I way off. Best of luck to Schiit, definitely not in their target area on this one..

Guess I understand. They want to differentiate their product. My guess. But, If I am right and that is true, not sure if it was really needed. How many transports are on the market? Not THAT many and we the Schiitheads are pretty loyal. If it was the same price as the Audiolab I would go for it. At $1300, it is not only too expensive, between the Saga and the Bitfrost that I already own, personally don't need more switching...

The elephant in the room, and this where we neatly connect to ASR's ethos, is that I believe they reason they did it is that they think the Unison USB thing really sounds better. I think I read somewhere that Mike Moffat believes that "optical sounds like ass"... So the "output thru USB" to an external DAC is a big argument, as opposed to traditional transports that do only SPDIF (including for many, optical!). I may be a Schiithead, but ironically, cannot disconnect from thinking... in believing that, well, this Schiithead won't be buying that transport, which I would have at $600 tops - after all the build on Schiit gear is a huge plus.

v

 

[Sokel]

An entire thread without one picture for the superficial us:

 

[formdissolve]

Does that drive REALLY make a difference? I would assume that if a DVD drive from a PC had too much vibration for CD playback, you'd hear digital noise and dropouts. That has never happened to me.. I also have a pretty decent drive that I use EAC with and it has good error correction, so can anyone explain these super expensive drives?

 

[Galliardist]

I'd take a USB "B" (or A) over those "C" any day of the week. There is a reason why upper end DAC's use B (e,g, RME). Proven ultra-reliability.

Reliability as such isn't the problem with USB C as long as you avoid poor cables. The problem is that it is a family of standards, just like USB A, but it isn't regarded as such. The problem I have with USB C is that I've found myself with the wrong USB C cable on a few occasions - just a charging cable, or one that doesn't meet the right standard for the specific job. It's also the case of course that you can find yourself with a power issue with cable or socket, again just like USB A. The thing is that people just don't expect that, because, well, USB C is USB C, right?

I've had problems with USB A plug and socket wear on items I've used daily for a while, never with USB C on that score.

USB B has never been a problem for me, except that on the occasions where I've needed to connect something really urgently, the socket turns out to be a variant. I've never seen that in audio though: I'd take B on DACs for preference.

 

[ahofer]

I still haven’t recovered from this. Will this misery ever end?

 

[Victor Martell]

Does that drive REALLY make a difference? I would assume that if a DVD drive from a PC had too much vibration for CD playback, you'd hear digital noise and dropouts. That has never happened to me.. I also have a pretty decent drive that I use EAC with and it has good error correction, so can anyone explain these super expensive drives?

Personally, not really - I mean, as an ASRist that is also a Schiithead, I will tell you, nothing to explain, there is no reason that it would make a difference. OF COURSE NOT. I say this upfront because it has happened that in this forum, sometimes people don't read posts thru and start going at me like if I was a magical thinking subjectivist.

So again, no, NO REASON for any differences in performance and/or operating specs to cause audible differences. IF it was less expensive, I would get it for the build and yes, the IDEA of a best in class CD drive in the unit. That is all... in fact, love the build and the form factor of the Schiit stuff... let's say contrary to the RME stuff, which is super modern and hi-techy... all subjective in a sense - BUT NOT ABOUT SOUND, of course... I assure you I couldn't pick between the RME or the Schiit Bitfrost or a $10K Denafrips (or whatever the name) if my life depended on it; all things equal, volume matched, there is no reason for audible differences...

I said it... But, the TLDR... No reason for differences, would prefer it JUST FOR YUCKS!

v

 

[Galliardist]

Does that drive REALLY make a difference? I would assume that if a DVD drive from a PC had too much vibration for CD playback, you'd hear digital noise and dropouts. That has never happened to me.. I also have a pretty decent drive that I use EAC with and it has good error correction, so can anyone explain these super expensive drives?

Partly, it's a carry over from the early days of CD when you would hear discs skip, repeat, and make a sound like a machine gun being fired if you were really unlucky. These days such problems happen a lot less. Some players had difficulty with discs made in different plants, as well: not all early CDs are the same.

The thing with CD, though, is that it has an interpolation/error concealment function. That means that a bad drive or disc can be masked by concealing some uncorrectable errors at a cost to sound quality. It's, well, kind of audible, but not obviously so. A better drive means that is less likely to happen, so there is a case for them when playing CDs. Ripping is a different case. That's why you will find devices out there that rip discs rather than playing them: the drive gets less use over a long time, and a bad disc will be spotted rather than errors just being concealed.

 

[Sharpi31]

I wouldn’t buy this, but I don’t object to the product in principle. I guess the 2x USB inputs would be helpful for some people - it’s a user friendly way of connecting two PCs to a system.

But I don’t see much value in the USB output. If I was short on DAC inputs I’d want my CD transport to connect via SPDIF, so the DAC USB input was available for other PC/streamer sources.

I think there would be more demand for a DAC with 2-3x USB inputs, with remote control for input selection and volume.

My raspberry pi running Volumio with USB DVD transport works well for me, and has additional capabilities including CD ripping, EQ etc.

 

[Victor Martell]

I wouldn’t buy this, but I don’t object to the product in principle. I guess the 2x USB inputs would be helpful for some people - it’s a user friendly way of connecting two PCs to a system.

But I don’t see much value in the USB output. If I was short on DAC inputs I’d want my CD transport to connect via SPDIF, so the DAC USB input was available for other PC/streamer sources.

I think there would be more demand for a DAC with 2-3x USB inputs, with remote control for input selection and volume.

My raspberry pi running Volumio with USB DVD transport works well for me, and has additional capabilities including CD ripping, EQ etc.

1.- Re: USB inputs - guess if you are short on DAC inputs they want you to use the Urd inputs then from there to the single Urd USB output, so 2 PCs possible. But again, you are right and kind of confirms that indeed they see a lot of the value in Unison supposed "good sound".

2.- You are probably gonna see both opinions, those of us that only wanted a transport and those that only want a switch. As above, IMHO to combine the CD transport and a digital switch was a strange decision, guaranteed to please very few.

v

 

[Angsty]

Will like to hear the value prop from people who actually buy this. Not for me.

 

[kemmler3D]

Which is what most people seem to do nowadays anyway. Making it the ideal moment for that CD revival people keep talking about... all we need is the myth that playing CDs sounds better than ripping them to take hold?

Shush! Don't give them ideas!

But as far as it goes, this looks like a nice CD player. If someone gave me one, I'd keep it around. But hell if I'm going to spend $1299 on anything like this.

 

[Ahmonge]

I think there would be more demand for a DAC with 2-3x USB inputs, with remote control for input selection and volume.

Absolutely!

 

[abdo123]

What we need more IMO is a simple, basic CD transport with great styling, small form factor and remote that sells for about $250. Like the Audiolab 6000 but half the price.

Denon offers solutions like these.

 

[Anthony T]

yeh... that quote struck me as trying to come up with a nice "GOTCHA" comment but comes off as being nonsensical on a 2nd read...

how the F' do you listen to a transport?

This whole thing is a confluence of "not useful idiots"... as opposed to that common phrase "useful idiots"

Here is Schitt trying to be funny again... with their "Schitt-Turd".... and its $1,299... and its a CD transport only... in 2023 when the CD is well and truly... a item from another age... and then you have Johnny Darko and that sort hyping it up...

Its USP is that it can act as a type-c hub so you can pass a streamer or phone or whatever THRU this to your DAC.

Why would you pay $1,299 to do this???

The Transports drive has a decent dedicated CD based mech rather than the generic DVD drives contained in most modern CDPs and Transports so that would effect the pricing somewhat I’d imagine.

The built-in flexibility compared to other similar products is an interesting concept and you’ll likely be paying for that as well. CD is a niche product now but it’s interesting to note that the market is expanding with several new products entering the fray, it’s reminiscent of what happened with record players in the late 80s-early 90s.

CD is far from dead, new and better drives are being developed so as long as the format remains viable in the sense of the physical media being available and spare drives there‘ll be supporters like me.

Oh, I rip all my CDs and listen to them as flac or WAV. files more often than not purely because of convenience but I often simply prefer to put on a CD. All through the same DAC.

 

[rogu3]

I'm just baffled there's still a market for this. I guess CDs are nice if you really need a specific master or some obscure recording, but pretty much everything else is available on Tidal/Qobuz.