Schiit URD CD Transport SOON?


A non-working model of the long rumored Schiit URD CD Transport has started showing at hifi shows. The device was shown in the Schiit Booth at T.H.E Show in California a week or so ago.

Here’s the article:

https://www.ecoustics.com/news/schiit-audio-the-show-2023/

New photo from the T.H.E. Show display:

128x128Ag insider logo xs@2xcreativepart

mooglie:  Thanks for the cable input!  You mention the USB cable connection between the URD and Schiit DAC as being "picky".  Can you comment further on this?  I have a URD feeding a Pontus II 12th, and a cheap USB C cable I tried did nothing, although I learned (from Denafrips) that there needs to be a +5 vdc from the transport to trigger their USB receiver.  Have a pending question to Schiit on the +5 vdc availability.

fastcat95,
Perhaps "picky" is not the best word.  The user manual states to try non-audiophile cables, free of adapters, that meet the USB 2.0 specs.  I can't say what all that means as the USB 2.0 spec is 650 pages long.  However, the spec indicates a 4 wire connection and shield.  Contact 1 is VBUS - the power.  I think that some audiophile cables may not use the VBUS.  So, I take the Urd user manual to say the cable requires all the connections.  

I think the connection issues for some folks may have been where people have been using whatever cable they had lying around, and/or using adapters.   On SuperBest Audio Friends I see one fellow has been using an $8 Amazon cable successfully.

Another potential issue here is you state that you are using a Denafrips Pontus DAC.  The Urd user manual states the DAC must be UAC2 compliant.  Denafrips specs for your unit state use of a "Proprietary USB Audio Solution via STM32F446 Advanced AMR Based MCU."  It appears Denafrips wrote their own USB controller code.  Is their controller UAC2 compliant?  Are you using their latest driver?

The  final issue is that you say the Potus USB requires 5 V to trigger the reciever.  Does the Urd supply that?  That's a question I would ask Schiit.  I know they did extensive compatibility testing over an extended period of time.  Did you ask them if the Urd had been tested with your DAC?

On the Urd, do you get the broken USB icon on the Urd or an exclamation point?  

mooglie:  You have again brought up some good points!  The URD does output a +5vdc from the USC C output socket when the USB output is selected.  As to the Denafrips DAC; since they have created their own processing code for USB, there is a question of compatibility that needs to be investigated.  I suspect that the high end audio world is still in an uncertain place in regards to USB compatibility (fixed standards) as well as questions regarding the I squared S output (which I believe has no standard at all).  This is turning into another learning experience!

I was going to get the URD, but diverged and got a GeerFab Audio D.BOB ($799). I have a Oppo BDP-83 for the transport. I think I paid $250 for the used SACD/CD player.

I got the D.BOB today and have played SACDs and CD's via the Oppo into both my Benchmark DAC3B and Schitt Yggi+ Less is More DACs. My SACD frame of reference is a Sony SCD-1 modded by Vacuum State to Level 5+. That player was amazing but died months ago after 20+ years.

The setup I put together today is even better than the Sony one, especially with the Yggi+. I am going to write up some more about it on another thread about SACD transports.