[Pietro Cozzi Tinin]

Urd is CD only, no possibility of loading a data CD with lots of songs on it to be played out the USB?

Let's hope not.

 

[artur9]

Let's hope not.

Can you elaborate on what supporting a data CD would adversely impact?

More importantly, I think, does the Urd stack better with Gungnir or Yggdrasil?

 

[bosiemoncrieff]

I am guessing gungnir. It’s around that price point.

 

[A Jedi]

IIRC Urd is in the Freya chassis. So it would be Gungnir.

 

[EricDH]

Let's hope not.

Fear not!

 

[Ableza]

Can you elaborate on what supporting a data CD would adversely impact?

More importantly, I think, does the Urd stack better with Gungnir or Yggdrasil?

Nothing, except it would no longer be a CD Transport, it would be a CD-ROM player.
IIRC Jason said Urd was a new chassis. Or was that the new EQ? In any case, if you need this info to decide which DAC to purchase, then wait.

 

[Pietro Cozzi Tinin]

Can you elaborate on what supporting a data CD would adversely impact?

More importantly, I think, does the Urd stack better with Gungnir or Yggdrasil?

The Yggdrasil is the best DAC so there's your answer.
Price point has nothing to do with it. Where te weakest link is, does.
Data reading would ask for another drive, less specialized, less well built and a higher spinnig speed with more noise.
Even if I made the data reading bit up, it sounds pretty audiophile.
Then again, Mike has stated it 10000000 times. It will be CD only.

 

[US Blues]

The Yggdrasil is the best DAC so there's your answer.
Price point has nothing to do with it. Where te weakest link is, does.
Data reading would ask for another drive, less specialized, less well built and a higher spinnig speed with more noise.
Even if I made the data reading bit up, it sounds pretty audiophile.
Then again, Mike has stated it 10000000 times. It will be CD only.

This. ^^^

Anyone who is planning on adding an Urd to their system, which @Baldr has promised will vacuum every last bit of musical information out of a redbook CD, must consider feeding that precious data-stream into the finest DAC made (which doesn't cost the same as a Porsche) as the only logical pathway.

Urd > Yggy > Bliss (please note, your downstream components may be subject to review with this front end).

 

[darkarn]

Yggdrasil or bust!

 

[Baldr]

On streamers vs. Physical media:

As I write I listen to the Handsome Family In the Air album HD (96K) streamed through an experimental DAC. It is not bad, after all. It defies all logic that a CD should sound better; all of the mechanical motion with resultant motion flutter/jitter as well as the bonus electronic circuitry through which the eventual music must pass. Not to mention the inherent 44.1K non HD mastering of a CD in glorious non-HD.

One of the advantages of an Urd is that it enables instant a/b comparison of a stream to a CD in play by switching back and forth between its native transport mode and its separate USB input.

OK, OK – I really wish I didn’t have to struggle with how to store and find my over 10,000 CDs. (I also have a huck ton of LPs which are even bigger and heavier.) Streaming is just so convenient, after all. Kinda like fast food.

Maybe one day I will figure this out and get rich.

Meanwhile I will keep streaming while I work and listen to CDs when I want to get really immersed in the music.

 

[Ableza]

I like listening to my library on my server. Yes, mainly for convenience, as well as for "shuffle play" which is something you just can't do across multiple CDs. But before the NorthStar transport croaked, it did seem to sound better than the same track on the server - or maybe it was just me, no idea. Streaming from the Internet, however, blows goats in my opinion. It does not hold a candle to locally stored media of any sort that I've discovered. It's a fine thing for background noise, or for discovering new music, or for filling in library holes while CDs are tracked down, but Internet streaming is not for primary listening.

 

[artur9]

OK, OK – I really wish I didn’t have to struggle with how to store and find my over 10,000 CDs. (I also have a huck ton of LPs which are even bigger and heavier.) Streaming is just so convenient, after all. Kinda like fast food.

You know that scene in 2001 where the astronaut lobotomizes the AI (hope that isn't a spoiler for anyone) by popping out the AI's memory chips?

They make tape library robots that kind of work like that. How about Schiit make an accessory for the Urd (the Urd Bot?) like that:
http://www.9to5computer.com/StorageTek/STORAGETEK-SL8500-STK-TAPE-SILO.htm

 

[judson_w]

As I write I listen to the Handsome Family In the Air album HD (96K) streamed through an experimental DAC.

Handsome Family is a delight. Good choice.

 

[Randolf711]

So far in my music listening, listening to a CD vs a rip of the of the same Cd, the CD sounds better. However, it is important to know I do not have a fancy ripping set up. External disc player attached to MacBook is it. But I’m also just using a Blu Ray player as a transport. When I am streaming identical masterings and compare those it is harder to differentiate. The Urd will be my first legit transport and I enjoy listening to my Cd collection. Bits aren’t always Bits to my ears and I feel the Cd adds more nuance and the correct timbre for instruments.

 

[jsiegel14072]

Baldr: I really wish I didn’t have to struggle with how to store and find my over 10,000 CDs.



That is what they invented interns for!