upgrade player or use modified oppo bdp 105 as transport

I'm going to try a Schiit Urd (arriving today) into a Benchmark DAC3 (arrived yesterday) to replace my heavily modified 105D going into a Primaluna Dialogue Premium integrated driving rebuilt ML SL3s in my 'house' system. With the 105D this system is rather fussy about recordings; sounds amazing with early Fourplay recordings but Pat Metheny recordings of the same era, eh, not so much. I'm hoping the new front end will provide more 'space' between instruments. I'll report back.

trn

Hope you post your impressions on the Urd here. I've been looking into it as a replacement and also the Schiiit dacs.   Like the idea the urd has usb output. My musetec dac is supposedly optimized for usb input. Not a lot of transports have usb interface. Currently using rca/coax transport to dac.  Have not tried AES/EBU as I don't have a good cable or any suitable cable.

Look forward to your input.

Thanks

First, the Schiit is very well-built. The tray is solid, more like my Wadia, not the plastic-y feel of the Oppo 105. The relief for CD placement is a little shallow so you have to feel around a bit to make sure the CD is properly placed - this will take some getting used to. Nice remote (with icons that can only be seen with the help of optical devices) but a nice size and heft otherwise: a solid, brushed aluminum bar (no idea how you replace the battery or batteries in it - no visible openings). The transport itself is a no brainer to operate. Select your input and press play.

So, the set up is the Urd connected to the Benchmark dac3 b via coax (.5m Wireworld Starlight 8), to Primaluna Dialog Premium integrated, to ML SL3s with a Rythmik L12 sub.

My immediate impressions are the soundstage is noticeably bigger and the highs have a lot more space and sparkle compared to the 105D. These are not a subtle differences (and I have very bad hearing from too many years in front of amplifiers). The mid-bass though seems a bit muddled or undefined. For example, with Nathan East signing along with his playing on solos its a little hard to pick up the string attack of the bass from his voice. The 105 presented this better I think. 

Now having said that, I adjusted my sub volume down a bit and cranked up the Primaluna integrated (the wife isn't home at the moment) and, wow, yeah, I can do this! I think I just needed to fill the space; it's a big room, 17x28x10. The sound is concert-like. You can pick who you want to concentrate your listening on in the performance, puts you right their shoes, and you can feel/hear everything they're doing. At lower volume the system sounds small, if you know what I mean.

I can't tell you which component did what to the sound because, in a very poor example of scientific method, a changed multiple variables at the same time. I can only say that the Benchmark and the Schiit play well together in my system- better than Oppo with it's internal dac. It was worth the upgrade.