Schiit URD CD Transport SOON?

Coralkong I agree, there are plenty of transport under 1k, my Yamaha s1000 has sacd And the transport is excellent. my Cambridge transport is very good and reliable.Mike Moffat is also a big part of Theta digital Dacs and transport.He knows this stuff. 

There seem to be more and more transports (mostly Redbook playback) out there in the 3K and below level.  As far as the URD, it is the cheapest transport to use the Stream Unlimited drive and support electronics, which seem to have the best sonics.  Time will tell as to whether Moffat has produced something that approaches the sonics of more expensive transports (like the Project, or Jay's Audio CD2 Mk III).  If it does, it could be seen as a bit of a bargain.  Stay tuned....

It may be of note that there are a couple levels of StreamUnlimited drives. I’m not sure the URD has the top CD Pro 8 mechanism or the servo system. 

Here's a link to a podcast from Darko with Jason Stoddard on the Urd and the Syn.

All the best,
Nonoise

The URD actually uses the same basic drive as the CD Pro 8.  The Pro 8 is different in that the drive/sled assembly is housed in a CNC machined aluminum block, as opposed to molded composite frame.  The electronics/servo board in the URD is the CD88, while some use the CD84 (Project).  There is basically no difference between the boards, other than the form factor. For most practical purposes, the URD drive is more or less equal, and I note that the excellent Bryston BCD3 ($4500) uses the same Stream Unlimited drive and electronics board as the URD. For most high end manufactures, there are few drives and laser head assemblies to choose from.  Many (if not most) are using the Stream Unlimited drives.  Only with the few very expensive CD transports (like the Teac Esoteric) do you get what could be considered a true "high end" CD drive that is able to fully maximize data extraction from a spinning CD disc. Most CD drives and laser heads have gone the way of "cheap" compared to what once was the case.