[wout31]

And here is the new (yet to come) super audiophile Schiit audio product to mate with Urd.


Any ideas on naming it with Nors mythology?

 

[Les Strat]

And here is the new (yet to come) super audiophile Schiit audio product to mate with Urd.


Any ideas on naming it with Nors mythology?

No doubt Mike has been secretly using one of these CD Shavers for years

The glowing reviews of this product, in some of the so-called 'Hi-Fi' magazines, illustrate perfectly the amount of BS published by many of them.

I stopped reading any Hi-Fi magazines a long time ago!

 

[FLTWS]

Urd in the flesh at CanJam SoCal earlier today:

Work of art. I was committed from the first mention of this product to buy two for both my rigs. No need now.

 

[GearMe]

And here is the new (yet to come) super audiophile Schiit audio product to mate with Urd.


Any ideas on naming it with Nors mythology?

How about the Schiit Skadi (harm, damage, etc.)?

 

[Jason Stoddard]

And here is the new (yet to come) super audiophile Schiit audio product to mate with Urd.


Any ideas on naming it with Nors mythology?

Dave mentioned this product when we were doing the last bit of planning for Urd.

It quickly evolved/devolved:

"Of course, most CDs have significant wobble--you can see it in the focus servo," Dave said. "And shaving the edge won't fix that."

"So ideally it would grind the CD flat as well?" I asked.

Dave nodded. "And re-polish the surface, of course."

I frowned. "Going by the output of the optical control system, the focus servo? Seems like it'd take forever."

"Weeeeeelllllll," Dave grinned. "You'd have to measure and mark and grind and polish and remeasure to confirm, and then mark and grind and polish again, and confirm again, until you got it right."

"To make the focus servo's work easier. Something that shouldn't ever matter--"

Dave held up a hand. "And, of course, most CDs aren't stamped on-center either. That wouldn't be addressed by shaving the edge, or by grinding flat. You can see the harmonics in the tracking servo. So any good CD machining system should address that too."

I blinked. "How?"

"Oh, you could measure the tracking servo error, mark the CD, mill the center hole larger, and install a new aluminum center precisely in place."

"Or 3D-print a new center in place, with an integrated stereolithography 3D printer, using some of the new high-modulus resins, right?"

Dave laughed. "Sounds messy."

I acted offended. "Anything for perfect sound forever! What, are you unwilling to do whatever it takes?"

Dave looked thoughtful. "Of course, all of that assumes the mechanism is perfectly flat itself, and has no dust or dirt on the mating surface, and the CD itself is clean, and also you really should be taking into account differential warp of the stamped product, so really what you want is a machine that takes a CD, machines the label side flat, attaches it to something like a 1/4" aluminum puck, or, weeeeelllll, 3/8" stainless would be better, then machine in the corrections for center and focus, then maybe laser-etch the top stainless with the name of the CD--"

"Oh, no," I interrupted. "It should re-etch the stainless with an image of the original cover art, which was scanned when you first put the CD in."

Dave nodded and continued. "And then of course you end up with a 9/16" thick, mainly stainless, one-pound puck that can't be played in any commercial CD player, so we'd have to do our own transport using a giant laserdisc motor to spin it--"

"Or a washing machine motor," I corrected. "Like the original IBM disk drives."

"That would work too," Dave admitted.

For a few moments, we sat there, basking in the possibility of a whole new age of optimized disk playback...

...then broke out in loud guffaws.

"Yeah, that's stupid," we both said in unison.

 

[bcowen]

And here is the new (yet to come) super audiophile Schiit audio product to mate with Urd.

Any ideas on naming it with Nors mythology?

I'm fairly certain this isn't in the Norse dictionary, but in keeping with the product involved just call it the BullSchiit.

 

[Les Strat]

Work of art. I was committed from the first mention of this product to buy two for both my rigs. No need now.

+1.
Yes it looks fantastic. @FLTWS
I'll be really interested to hear what it sounds like, when it is finally launched.
I have no doubt that it will sound as good as it looks.
I was also very keen, from the first mention of a Schiit CD transport, but it has come too late for me, as I bought a Jay's Audio CDT2- Mk3 last year.

I am delighted with it; built like a tank and sounds amazing.
No Unison USB output, obviously, but I'll just have to live without that now, despite installing a Unison USB board in my Yggy OG....

 

[FLTWS]

I think it shouldn't have a sound of it's own, I think it's just supposed to retrieve info from the pits, convert it to digital bits and transmit it (precision clocked?) to the DAC.
I have/had owned 4 different transports and other than differences in ambient noise generated by the motor drives (which can vary a lot between different brands/models) I never detected any obvious differences. It was always up to the DAC to convert that digital info into analog before moving on in the chain and that's where I could detect variations between different DACs. And multi-bit was a revelation for me.

The more precise the clocks the more faithfully the conversion of the pits to digital signal?

Analog was much easier to understand, LP grooves to phono stylus and on. But there again, motor performance, the platter and the arm could make a difference in more than just noise.

 

[artur9]

Dave mentioned this product when we were doing the last bit of planning for Urd.

It quickly evolved/devolved:

....

"That would work too," Dave admitted.

For a few moments, we sat there, basking in the possibility of a whole new age of optimized disk playback...

...

This is what happens when one puts two or more engineers in a room.

Of course, if it were software, and not hardware, the marketing people would sign off on it (no offense, @Jason Stoddard) or some junior engineer would think the greybeards were serious.

 

[Ripper2860]

The CD shaver's raison d'etre is not to eliminate wobble. It's purpose is to reduce playback ECC errors and retries which affects sound by minimizing the amount of scattered laser light reflection. If we must poo-poo it, we must first understand its intended purpose and offer up our editorials within the context of that purpose -- parting the gullible from their money.

 

[KoshNaranek]

Dave mentioned this product when we were doing the last bit of planning for Urd.

It quickly evolved/devolved:

"Of course, most CDs have significant wobble--you can see it in the focus servo," Dave said. "And shaving the edge won't fix that."

"So ideally it would grind the CD flat as well?" I asked.

Dave nodded. "And re-polish the surface, of course."

I frowned. "Going by the output of the optical control system, the focus servo? Seems like it'd take forever."

"Weeeeeelllllll," Dave grinned. "You'd have to measure and mark and grind and polish and remeasure to confirm, and then mark and grind and polish again, and confirm again, until you got it right."

"To make the focus servo's work easier. Something that shouldn't ever matter--"

Dave held up a hand. "And, of course, most CDs aren't stamped on-center either. That wouldn't be addressed by shaving the edge, or by grinding flat. You can see the harmonics in the tracking servo. So any good CD machining system should address that too."

I blinked. "How?"

"Oh, you could measure the tracking servo error, mark the CD, mill the center hole larger, and install a new aluminum center precisely in place."

"Or 3D-print a new center in place, with an integrated stereolithography 3D printer, using some of the new high-modulus resins, right?"

Dave laughed. "Sounds messy."

I acted offended. "Anything for perfect sound forever! What, are you unwilling to do whatever it takes?"

Dave looked thoughtful. "Of course, all of that assumes the mechanism is perfectly flat itself, and has no dust or dirt on the mating surface, and the CD itself is clean, and also you really should be taking into account differential warp of the stamped product, so really what you want is a machine that takes a CD, machines the label side flat, attaches it to something like a 1/4" aluminum puck, or, weeeeelllll, 3/8" stainless would be better, then machine in the corrections for center and focus, then maybe laser-etch the top stainless with the name of the CD--"

"Oh, no," I interrupted. "It should re-etch the stainless with an image of the original cover art, which was scanned when you first put the CD in."

Dave nodded and continued. "And then of course you end up with a 9/16" thick, mainly stainless, one-pound puck that can't be played in any commercial CD player, so we'd have to do our own transport using a giant laserdisc motor to spin it--"

"Or a washing machine motor," I corrected. "Like the original IBM disk drives."

"That would work too," Dave admitted.

For a few moments, we sat there, basking in the possibility of a whole new age of optimized disk playback...

...then broke out in loud guffaws.

"Yeah, that's stupid," we both said in unison.

I want to drink with you guys!

 

[StimpyWan]

Dave mentioned this product when we were doing the last bit of planning for Urd.

It quickly evolved/devolved

"Of course, most CDs have significant wobble--you can see it in the focus servo," Dave said. "And shaving the edge won't fix that."

"So ideally it would grind the CD flat as well?" I asked.

Dave nodded. "And re-polish the surface, of course."

I frowned. "Going by the output of the optical control system, the focus servo? Seems like it'd take forever."

"Weeeeeelllllll," Dave grinned. "You'd have to measure and mark and grind and polish and remeasure to confirm, and then mark and grind and polish again, and confirm again, until you got it right."

"To make the focus servo's work easier. Something that shouldn't ever matter--"

Dave held up a hand. "And, of course, most CDs aren't stamped on-center either. That wouldn't be addressed by shaving the edge, or by grinding flat. You can see the harmonics in the tracking servo. So any good CD machining system should address that too."

I blinked. "How?"

"Oh, you could measure the tracking servo error, mark the CD, mill the center hole larger, and install a new aluminum center precisely in place."

"Or 3D-print a new center in place, with an integrated stereolithography 3D printer, using some of the new high-modulus resins, right?"

Dave laughed. "Sounds messy."

I acted offended. "Anything for perfect sound forever! What, are you unwilling to do whatever it takes?"

Dave looked thoughtful. "Of course, all of that assumes the mechanism is perfectly flat itself, and has no dust or dirt on the mating surface, and the CD itself is clean, and also you really should be taking into account differential warp of the stamped product, so really what you want is a machine that takes a CD, machines the label side flat, attaches it to something like a 1/4" aluminum puck, or, weeeeelllll, 3/8" stainless would be better, then machine in the corrections for center and focus, then maybe laser-etch the top stainless with the name of the CD--"

"Oh, no," I interrupted. "It should re-etch the stainless with an image of the original cover art, which was scanned when you first put the CD in."

Dave nodded and continued. "And then of course you end up with a 9/16" thick, mainly stainless, one-pound puck that can't be played in any commercial CD player, so we'd have to do our own transport using a giant laserdisc motor to spin it--"

"Or a washing machine motor," I corrected. "Like the original IBM disk drives."

"That would work too," Dave admitted.

For a few moments, we sat there, basking in the possibility of a whole new age of optimized disk playback...

...then broke out in loud guffaws.

"Yeah, that's stupid," we both said in unison.

Many of the CD test press samples I QC'd, during my CD pressing plant tenure, had edge flashing, and electronics and Bler were fine. So, I've wondered about those edge shavers, and how they could make a difference?

Also, not sure about off-centered CD's? Was that a real issue? The CD center is formed during the injection molding process, from a press head machined with a precise center. The disc is molded and the center spru is removed in the same moulding step. If a CD is off-centered, it's due to a defective press head, and not the replication process itself.

Still, a good thing all of this CD defect discussion went into the design of the URD! Now, we won't need shavers, or weights, or magic markers, for perfect sound forever. Finally, thanks to Schiit.

 

[Ripper2860]

Don't be surprised if URD includes an integrated CD shaver with a small pull-out bin (at the back of the unit, of course) to collect the CD shavings. Schiit will stop at nothing to deliver the ultimate in sound for its Schiit fanatics!!

BTW -- while it is nice that Jason and Dave can have these types of discussions adding to Schiit's fun work culture while offering opportunities for intellectual stimulation -- please do keep in mind that the release of a new Gumby and a new analog product has now been delayed another 20 minutes by Dave and Jason participating in this non-productive CD shaving banter.

 

[GearMe]

Don't be surprised if URD includes an integrated CD shaver with a small pull-out bin (at the back of the unit, of course) to collect the CD shavings. Schiit will stop at nothing to deliver them ultimate in sound for its Schiit fanatics!!

Sounds reasonable!

Of course, you'll need new blades every week -- enter the Schiit Shaving Club!

YOU’RE ALWAYS IN CONTROL.​

• Flexible delivery dates
• No hidden fees
• 30-Day Money Back Guarantee
• Club Pros to answer your questions
• Cancel online anytime

 

[artur9]

Don't be surprised if URD includes an integrated CD shaver with a small pull-out bin (at the back of the unit, of course) to collect the CD shavings.

A new method for today's "artists" to "sample" superior works of the past