[malenak]

So how about Mjolnir 3? I'm doubtful that will end up being a permanent product, because it's quite big, hot, special-purpose, and may get tiring to live with quickly due to that. The plan is for one run.

I hope that special purpose will be hungriest planars on this planet. Like Susvara, 1266, HE6 models, etc...

 

[artur9]

Well, all the hardware is probably in there. I suppose they would "just" need to write, uh, entirely new firmware to implement UASP...

Ivana and Dave probably have more worthwhile endeavors to pursue....

 

[artur9]

I think it's time to FIRE SchiitTalker. It's been around long enough to know it's Schiit by now. Either that or use a more 'truth in advertising' name like 'BullSchiitTalker'.

Has it been 3 months yet? HR will def need to get involved.

Or is it an intern about to go back to school?

 

[US Blues]

First, here is my “Schiit stack” with Urd in to complete the chain.

Some folks had asked about the snappiness of the Urd. Initially, I wasn’t thrilled with the lack of an eject button. However, in comparison to my other transports and disc players I have used, it is as fast if not faster. You don’t have to hold the stop button very long at all. Everything else works just as advertised. Well done to all those at Schiit who worked so long on the Urd.

Everything is working perfectly so far and streaming from a MacBook Air sounds fantastic and works effortlessly.

Nice rack!

One question: How does URD sound playing CD's?

 

[ArmchairPhilosopher]

I hope that special purpose will be hungriest planars on this planet. Like Susvara, 1266, HE6 models, etc...

Tried an earlier prototype of the Mjolnir 3 with my 13 ohm Æon Noirs. Yummy.

 

[DougD]

But there's no point if one doesn't believe or trust one's ears.

JC

Bingo!

My view, as a person who has done business data analytics for 30+ years, is that the most hardcore of "objectivists" have a deep-seated fear of being accountable for their decisions, even to themselves for things that no-one else cares about. Like whether your next amplifier buy is the Bettlejuice XYZ-1026 or the Paranormal Beta Jr.

And they conveniently ignore the fact that deciding on which "objective measures" are important is itself a highly subjective set of choices.

Some people can't deal with grey, and force things into a black/white framework. The human mind is a peculiar thing.

 

[matthia]

Everything is working perfectly so far and streaming from a MacBook Air sounds fantastic and works effortlessly.

Please, can you comment on whether the URD improves the USB signal in comparison to a set-up without URD.
I mean Macbook > URD > DAC vs Macbook > DAC.
Thanks

Matt

 

[Cliffh93]

Looks like the SchiitTalker needs to be educated on Urd.

SchiitTalker​

The Question:
Hey, now Urd is released, what do I need to know about this product?

The answer:
Well, well, well, my fellow Schiit enthusiast! Urd has arrived, and it's time to get ready for some serious audio awesomeness. Now, when it comes to Urd, here's what you need to know:

1. Urd is a DAC. That means it's a Digital-to-Analog Converter, designed to take your digital audio signals and transform them into beautiful, analog sound that will make your ears dance with joy.
2. It's a multibit DAC. Urd utilizes Schiit's unique multibit technology, which brings a touch of that old-school charm to your modern digital audio setup. Expect rich, detailed, and immersive sound that will make your music come alive.
3. It's got flexibility. Urd offers multiple inputs, including USB, coaxial, and optical, so you can easily connect it to a wide range of devices, be it your computer, CD player, or even your game console. Versatility is the name of the game here!
4. Urd is built like a tank. Schiit doesn't mess around when it comes to build quality, and Urd is no exception. With its solid construction and high-quality components, this DAC is designed to stand the test of time and deliver top-notch performance for years to come.

So, my friend, if you're in the market for a DAC that combines the best of modern technology with a touch of Schiit's signature sound, Urd might just be the perfect choice for you. Get ready to elevate your audio experience and immerse yourself in the wonderful world of Schiit!

Or, or, or I ordered a wrong product for my CD's and to use as a Unison USB hub. I already have a Schiit DAC ..........

I didn’t realize the Artificial Idiot was still online.

 

[theeclone]

Bingo!

My view, as a person who has done business data analytics for 30+ years, is that the most hardcore of "objectivists" have a deep-seated fear of being accountable for their decisions, even to themselves for things that no-one else cares about. Like whether your next amplifier buy is the Bettlejuice XYZ-1026 or the Paranormal Beta Jr.

And they conveniently ignore the fact that deciding on which "objective measures" are important is itself a highly subjective set of choices.

Some people can't deal with grey, and force things into a black/white framework. The human mind is a peculiar thing.

I once heard a quote that I don't know the source of, "Numbers aren't facts." It kind of blew my mind at the time because of how obviously true it is, but also because of how long I'd gone through life as a good little citizen of the western world without ever having really been exposed to the idea so directly.

The IT department where I work lives and dies by what I would call bullschiit metrics. Things like call abandonment rate and percentage of tickets updated within a day. We even see graphs of who performs best on these metrics at our all hands meetings. Some of the people who rate best are the same ones who I've had subjectively terrible experiences dealing with when trying to get help. Go figure!

 

[Ableza]

I once heard a quote that I don't know the source of, "Numbers aren't facts." It kind of blew my mind at the time because of how obviously true it is, but also because of how long I'd gone through life as a good little citizen of the western world without ever having really been exposed to the idea so directly.

The IT department where I work lives and dies by what I would call bullschiit metrics. Things like call abandonment rate and percentage of tickets updated within a day. We even see graphs of who performs best on these metrics at our all hands meetings. Some of the people who rate best are the same ones who I've had subjectively terrible experiences dealing with when trying to get help. Go figure!

The Decline of Western Civilization is driven by cadence metrics.

 

[Moviebuff5]

I don't know the answer to your question, but I have always noticed that CDs played in a CD player having "something" to their sound quality that hard drive stored FLAC files don't. For me personally, the convenience of having thousands of files on an HD is enough to forgo CD playback.

I found that too. WAV seems to do a much better job preserving what CDs had that FLAC loses. Even though it is supposed to be lossless, FLAC sounds compressed in comparison. It was enough I re-downloaded my FLAC files in WAV. This was observed on a blu-ray player (set to 2 channel PCM) to Bifrost 2/64 over coax S/PDIF vs. computer to Bifrost 2/64 over Unison USB. Speakers are 22 year old Yamaha powered 2.1 desktop monitors, so the difference would seem significant. Has anyone else found this, and have you tried CDs in an URD vs CD quality and Hi-Res WAV?

 

[ArmchairPhilosopher]

I once heard a quote that I don't know the source of, "Numbers aren't facts." It kind of blew my mind at the time because of how obviously true it is, but also because of how long I'd gone through life as a good little citizen of the western world without ever having really been exposed to the idea so directly.

The IT department where I work lives and dies by what I would call bullschiit metrics. Things like call abandonment rate and percentage of tickets updated within a day. We even see graphs of who performs best on these metrics at our all hands meetings. Some of the people who rate best are the same ones who I've had subjectively terrible experiences dealing with when trying to get help. Go figure!

One of my personal favorites was a company I once contracted with that rated the quality* of the work their internal and external programmers did by the number of lines of code they committed to a project by the end of each day. You can probably imagine what kind of behavior this fostered and the quality of the product they eventually ended up with.
You can't make this crap up…

* yes, quality, not quantity. Not a typo.

 

[Roy G. Biv]

I found that too. WAV seems to do a much better job preserving what CDs had that FLAC looses. Even though it is supposed to be lossless, FLAC sounds compressed in comparison. It was enough I re-downloaded my FLAC files in WAV. This was observed on a blu-ray player (set to 2 channel PCM) to Bifrost 2/64 over coax S/PDIF vs. computer to Bifrost 2/64 over Unison USB. Speakers are 22 year old Yamaha powered 2.1 desktop monitors, so the difference would seem significant. Has anyone else found this, and have you tried CDs in an URD vs CD quality and Hi-Res WAV?

It matters less to me now that I’m using Roon, but the lack of metadata support in WAV is what drove me to FLAC. Having said that, WAV files sound the same as uncompressed/lossless FLAC files to my ears on my system. YMMV.
The best sound quality in my system is playing CDs directly to the DAC although the convenience of file playback using Roon trumps SQ most days. Urd is scheduled for Tuesday delivery. REALLY excited to spin some CDs on it.

 

[theeclone]

One of my personal favorites was a company I once contracted with that rated the quality* of the work their internal and external programmers did by the number of lines of code they committed to a project by the end of each day. You can probably imagine what kind of behavior this fostered and the quality of the product they eventually ended up with.
You can't make this crap up…

* yes, quality, not quantity. Not a typo.

Wow.

 

[Jason Stoddard]

SchiitTalker is now trained with Urd info.

One of my personal favorites was a company I once contracted with that rated the quality* of the work their internal and external programmers did by the number of lines of code they committed to a project by the end of each day. You can probably imagine what kind of behavior this fostered and the quality of the product they eventually ended up with.
You can't make this crap up…

* yes, quality, not quantity. Not a typo.

LOL, I know what happens when I work on 17 prototypes at once...

...but seriously, you really have to know what you're good at. I'm horrible at Dave and Ivana style, 100% utter focus on one thing to perfection (or near-perfection, they are human), so working on 6-8 things at a time is perfectly fine and rational for me. As long as there's someone to check things in the end, everything works out fine. And there are people to check.

And, most importantly, of those 6-8 things, maximum one of them is something really new and bizarre and different; the others are extensions of work I've already done. Which is also how it should be. Continual refinement of what we do well makes total sense. As does exploration into new things. Of the protos I'm working on, we have one new-ish thing in 3 variants--and that is getting to near completion, and you'll see something from that soon, because shockingly it was simpler than I expected--and one completely new thing, which we'll see how it goes. That one won't be measured in how much I get done on them at the end of every day.