Schiit Urd Impressions

Jason posted the Schiit Happened chapter, of course, at the other place. It's a good one:

https://www.head-fi.org/threads/sch...bable-start-up.701900/page-8077#post-17642459

 

I'm really interested in hearing impressions of coax out vs Unison out.

This part confuses me in the FAQ. I have both a Multibit Bifrost 1 (which would be pre-2017) and an A1 Yggdrasil that had Gen 5 USB added to it (I think from Gen 3). What happens if I connect Urd via USB to these? First time hearing about UAC2.

"There’s gotta be a catch.
Only one: your source and your DAC will need to be UAC2. This is the worldwide standard for USB audio, and most DACs these days are UAC2 compliant. All of our DACs since the $99 Modi 3 from 2017 have been UAC2 compliant, for example. Some dongles aren’t, and some older DACs aren’t. If you’re unsure, ask your DAC manufacturer if they are UAC2 compliant."

 

Yeah, that is a bit confusing. Jason mentions that the Urd output works fine with C-Media in the Schiit Happened chapter, which was Schiit’s USB receiver chip solution prior to Unison, so the Gen 5 USB should be fine in the Yggdrasil, I’m pretty confident. For the Bifrost Multibit, it might depend on which USB board it has, but they were all also C-Media (I would know, I had Gen 1, then 2, then 5 USB in BF1 before buying BF2). If it was super old, like Gen 1 boards, those had some funky stuff going on depending on OS (e.g. Windows at the time would say that there was a C-Media optical out or line out on top of USB, stuff like that), so you should check with Schiit if the BF1 boards are ancient. I’d imagine Gen 2 would probably be okay… @schiit ?

 

All of our stuff, from USB Gen 2, has always been UAC2.

Edit: With the exception of early Fullas.

 

Can you make the silver tray on the black variant black as well please?

 

Can the USB input convert the USB and/or AES outputs into multi-channel or is it a stereo only product. Thought of it as a hub for a home theater PC.

Late Edit : I'm pretty sure I'm having an idiot moment and it is only a 2-channel device. Was just hopeful thinking that my PC could go Unison -> Digital in on my A/V Processor.

 

I am afraid to post this here because it may spark a cable debate but any recommended USB-C cables to go to URD to Yggdrasil-GS and Windows computer to Urd (I upgraded to USB unison and installed it myself wasn't hard just a lot of little screws). I was thinking of the entry level-ish Audioquest ones since in general they are made well.

 

Yeah entry level Audioquest or Wireworld is not insane money, relative to other "audiophile" USB cables at least, and they offer USB C.

 

So USB2.0-C ? so many variants of USB-C There are 2.0, 3.0 and 3.1 versions.

 

Wireworld has excellent "not to expensive" USB-C cables, well isolated, with separated power and data paths made from high grade copper up to OCC silver.
Bought a Chroma for 65€ and it nicely elevated the sound of the somewhat basic Chronos DAC in my Violectric V226. It cleaned up the mud, made everything clearer and better defined.
That cable actually made ma an "USB-cable-belieber".

 

I have nothing against a cable discussion. However, perhaps this space should be used for actual discussion of the Urd. I am assuming a good "sounding" USB cable should be able to handle all devices.

 

Respectfully I disagree with you lithium due to fact that the Urd does not include any connection cables. It is like buying a new truck with no included tires. Unfortunately cables are needed and should be discussed if only to clarify what will work well and what will not. USB cables have many types there are 2.0 , 3.0 , 3.1 shielded and non shielded. For Example I purchased 3 USB cables for my portable hard drive and only 1 of the 3 actually allowed the drive to operate at full speed. So I very well appreciate everyone's well meaning constructive advice.

 

I am not engaging further in this discussion. We should move on, sounds like you have already received constructive advice.

 

Urd and Unison USB in general are UAC2, as in USB 2.0, so that is all you need for spec re: Wireworld (or any other USB C connector cable of any kind - nothing else matters, if it is rated for USB 2.0 spec and has a USB C connector, it should function with Urd short of it being broken, whether the cable is “audiophile” or not). Skip the 3.0/3.1 stuff.

 

I need to get my hands on a production unit before I write impressions

 

If you're still near us, we can probably loan you one. Let me know.

Edit: for context, Clemmaster had an early Urd, from before we addressed many compatibility and responsiveness issues.

 

Loaner at some point, maybe? I've got an Audiolab 6000T I could compare with, but would love to read some impressions against something like the Jays Audio CDT2 or 3.

 

Also would be interested. wonder how StreamUnlimited compares to the Phillips mechs of yore, CDM 1, 2, 4, 9, etc.

 

I'd love a loaner.