[cangle]

My Urd came in yesterday and while I really enjoy it's functionality mine also came with a crooked drive / the front piece was not aligned to the tray. I don't think this impacts how it plays CDs at all but I'd like to have a Urd that looks nice so I'll be sending it back for an RMA. Despite that I really liked using it over the past 24 hours. The CD playback is silent and having it as a digital hub between my PC and my main audio system is awesome. Plus I didn't hear any PC related noise through the Urd or through my main system when it was connected like that. I got to listen to a few CDs with my favorite being GoGo Penguins latest release and it sounded great. Not sure if I could tell a difference in comparison to streaming but using a CD helped me focus more on the music and not be distracted by my huge library on Roon. I also thought the CD playback sounded comparable to the network card on my MC1. I'm looking forward to having it back in my system as the convenience the Urd provides to combine my PC and audio system is great. Here are some pictures:

Tested it out on top of my audio rack first but later moved it onto my desk to interface between my PC and audio systems.

Everything is going to be ok, really like this album and I'm sure my Urd will be ok soon too

Crooked tray it's also pushed back slightly on the right side

 

[Ableza]

All I can say after looking at some of these photos is man, people are a lot more picky than I am about simple cosmetic stuff. But to each his own, make sure you are happy!

 

[DougD]

I think that statement applies to most of Schiit products. No-nonsense, great industrial design, form follow function. I love it!

That, in a nutshell, is why most of us are here.

Plus the transparency into how Schiit designs their products and operates their business is rare, and very interesting.

 

[adias]

All I can say after looking at some of these photos is man, people are a lot more picky than I am about simple cosmetic stuff. But to each his own, make sure you are happy!

I do not think Schiit Audio agrees with you. They aim for quality products and a misaligned tray is not acceptable, as @Jason Stoddard so stated.

It is surprising the number of misaligned units reported in this forum. Even though I did not have an issue, I noticed that in my package the heavy AC cable and remote, both wrapped in plastic film, were loose and banging inside the box. Could that cause the issue?

 

[Ableza]

I do not think Schiit Audio agrees with you. They aim for quality products and a misaligned tray is not acceptable, as @Jason Stoddard so stated.

It is surprising the number of misaligned units reported in this forum. Even though I did not an issue, I noticed that in my package the heavy AC cable and remote, both wrapped in plastic film, were loose and banging inside the box. Could that cause the issue?

All I'm saying is I would never have noticed what your photo shows, and if I did notice would not care unless the CD tray was malfunctioning. But like I said, to each his own!

 

[adias]

All I'm saying is I would never have noticed what your photo shows, and if I did notice would not care unless the CD tray was malfunctioning. But like I said, to each his own!

It’s not my photo. I do not care for VU meters either.

 

[Ableza]

It’s not my photo. I do not care for VU meters either.

Sorry, I meant the photo above.

 

[artur9]

Gungnir unison mb has great synergy with mjolnir 2

Are you also pushing the MJ3 like @ArmchairPhilosopher ?! 'Cause it sounds like you want me to get an MJ3 with the Unison upgrade ...

I'm glad I'm not the only one caught in this Catch-22 Upgrade Hell...!! Except my Gungnir is still D/S...!

Yeah, love me my spear-tipped MB-ness...!

Which Gungnir MB do you have? I'm guessing A serial number if before unison. That's what I have Gungnir A1 w/ Unison.

General impression is very different tone. Gumby A1 feels a little laid back to me. MM2 is very on it. Gumby A1 great for jazz, singer songwriter. Some rock ok.

Symphonic, jazz, old rock (pre-90s) so GMB A1 seems the keeper then. Has 2017 USB on it.

Pro tip for the community: This tread is best consumed while in the bathroom.

That seems more than appropriate and fair given the sponsor.

 

[Dr. Cube]

The Urd CD mechanism is definitely the quietest I've used in a stereo component. I can't say I've tried any of those car-priced transports with the milled billet chassis and all that, but the Urd mechanism is certainly an improvement over typical component CD players, and a huge leap up from the noise of a cheap blu-ray player or the optical drive in my PC.

I do miss having a display of time remaining a little bit, but the elapsed time counter and current track number are easy to read from far away, even without my glasses. I don't think I've ever used the shuffle feature on a CD player, and I'm not even sure what the point would be of shuffling one disc's worth of contents anyway, so I'm glad to lose the extraneous buttons and display space that would be wasted on that sort of thing. It's good to see that, starting with the tray open, pressing the play button will close the tray and start playback with a single button press.

The power switch/IEC inlet part is great, and I feel like it's easier to quickly find the power switch with my hand reaching over the top of the case from the front, compared to the usual metal toggle switches. I guess there was some consternation over the cost and availability of that part, but I really wouldn't say there's any compromise in usability from the space savings.

I haven't found anything reasonably normal yet that doesn't work as expected plugged into the USB ports. It will light up a Scarlett 2i2 3g on the USB output, but doesn't know what to do with it, which is understandable given the mic inputs and so on.

 

[dstrimbu]

Urd performed well. Controls are responsive and the tray mechanism is very smooth. The display works as intended in a very minimalist way.

+100, I can't state how lovely this thing is... it feels like it was hewn from a solid block of aluminum.

I had no trouble playing two of the three (old) discs I tried, sounded amazing, but the third had some strange static/metalic screeching sort of noise that started near the end of the first track. Could be that the disc has started to decay after almost 40 years, which would be a great pity.

OK, I thought it was me... the same "screeching" happened to me on two discs. I stopped playback immediately, as I was afraid for my tweeters. Thought that maybe it was a defect in my Urd, but... hmmm. Will try to play said discs again this evening.

First impression overall of the Urd are very positive. Good work everyone at Schiit!

Agreed, it was well worth the wait! Thanks to everyone at Schiit!

 

[HK_sends]

It looks like the Urd Black Finish is temporarily unavailable. B-Stock to the rescue! They're showing two left @ $1199 ea.
Looking forward to checking it out!
Cheers and All the Best!
-HK sends

 

[yonson]

All I'm saying is I would never have noticed what your photo shows, and if I did notice would not care unless the CD tray was malfunctioning. But like I said, to each his own!

That was the first thing I noticed and I wasn't even looking for it. I can see where people would care though, I know if I was dropping $1300 on something like this, that schiit better be damn near perfect...

 

[dstrimbu]

First disc: Hiroshima - East

Wow! That's a blast from the past! Thanks for mentioning, I need to go find mine for this evening...

 

[dstrimbu]

I am running an old Wireworld Ultraviolet USB audio cable with a plug adapter so I can use it with the USB 3 connector on the URD.

Hey US Blues, pretty sure that the Urd's USB electrical standard is USB 2; it's just that the plug is USB-C... FWIW.

URD and YGGY are having a deliriously fun time making music together.

+100, I am continuously blown away by the quality of 44.1/16 sources when using Yggy. Urd takes Redbook to another level in my system.

 

[White Noise]

. I don't think I've ever used the shuffle feature on a CD player, and I'm not even sure what the point would be of shuffling one disc's worth of contents anyway,

You haven't lived until you've crammed all the music you love onto a single CD in 96kbps MP3 and pressed shuffle on that. The music blends into a seamless (slightly sub-optimal) experience. Bonus points if half the metadata is just wrong.