Teac UD-503

Albert

Albert

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I have decided to try a new DAC with my Oppo BDP-95 instead of buying an Ayon CD-5. It was tempting but at 1/3 the price I decided to try the Teac. It is a USB DAC that can stream DSD files and can handle 32 bit 384 khz. It even has a headphone amp, though I don't have headphones.

I am going to mainly use it for redbook cd's, using the Oppo as a transport. They have drivers to use it with computers that have Windows but I use a Linnux OS so I am not sure what I will need to get that part up and running. I haven't ripped any cd's yet either, I really am a newbie at digital music.

Does anyone use the Teac UD-503 or UD-501? Any advice or impressions would be greatly appreciated. I just ordered the DAC today, hopefully it will be here by next weekend.
 
Albert.......I have followed the TEAC compact components for a few years and continue to be impressed with the performance capabilities and competitive prices. The new TEAC UD-503 replaces the UD-501 in the lineup. The UD-503 uses two AKM-4490 DAC's in place of the UD-501's Texas Instruments DAC's. The new UD-503 is fully balanced and employs independent power supplies using separate transformers for each channel. There is also an independent Class A/B headphone amplifier, and the UD-503 can be used as a preamplifier. There is a lot of trickle down technology in the TEAC components originally developed for the higher priced Esoteric line. I think the TEAC compact components represent an excellent price to performance ratio. It is available in silver and black. I feel confident you will be quite pleased with your new TEAC UD-503 DAC.


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Are Esoteric and TEAC related? I didn't realize this. My how times have changed since when I was last into high end audio :).
 
Thank you for the info Dan, I am looking forward to trying out my first DAC. I usually buy vintage gear and was considering a used Ayon CD-5 (at 3x the cost) but I thought it would be wise to upgrade to something new. A tube DAC would have been nice since a I like a more analog/warmer sound but I do have tube amps in the audio chain. Also, since I am using my Oppo as the transport I can try DVD, BluRay and even Netflix audio through the new DAC. It will be fun to experiment.
 
Randy Myers said:
Are Esoteric and TEAC related? I didn't realize this. My how times have changed since when I was last into high end audio :).
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Randy.......TEAC launched the Esoteric brand in 1988. This new brand exclusively engineered and manufactured high end audio products and has advanced to manufacturing ultra high-end audio components. Esoteric is widely renowned for building the worlds best transports. As I understand it, this past year has seen Esoteric separate from TEAC Corporation to become its own independent operation for the manufacturing of their newest Grandioso line. TEAC and Esoteric have along history together.
 
Albert said:
Thank you for the info Dan, I am looking forward to trying out my first DAC. I usually buy vintage gear and was considering a used Ayon CD-5 (at 3x the cost) but I thought it would be wise to upgrade to something new. A tube DAC would have been nice since a I like a more analog/warmer sound but I do have tube amps in the audio chain. Also, since I am using my Oppo as the transport I can try DVD, BluRay and even Netflix audio through the new DAC. It will be fun to experiment.
Click to expand...

Albert.......I will be looking forward to reading your impressions of the new TEAC UD-503. I find the entire line of TEAC Mini Audio Systems to be interesting and attractive.

http://www.teac-audio.eu/en/Mini-Audio-Systems-84509.html

 
Double-D said:
Randy.......TEAC launched the Esoteric brand in 1988. This new brand exclusively engineered and manufactured high end audio products and has advanced to manufacturing ultra high-end audio components. Esoteric is widely renowned for building the worlds best transports. As I understand it, this past year has seen Esoteric separate from TEAC Corporation to become its own independent operation for the manufacturing of their newest Grandioso line. TEAC and Esoteric have along history together.
Click to expand...

Thanks Dan. Nice to know. Since coming back into this world I have heard a ton about the brand and it's reputation. I didn't realize they were associated with TEAC.
 
Dan from what my dealer told me, Esoteric is still classified as a Principal Subsidiary of TEAC, pretty much like Fine Sounds Group which is the parent company of McIntosh.
 
CPP said:
Dan from what my dealer told me, Esoteric is still classified as a Principal Subsidiary of TEAC, pretty much like Fine Sounds Group which is the parent company of McIntosh.
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Chris.......You may be correct. I was merely repeating what I had heard from another source. Teac Corporation is now owned by Gibson Brands, Inc., who also recently purchased Philips Audio. There is a lot of corporate maneuvering happening. It's difficult to keep up.
 
Double-D said:
Chris.......You may be correct. I was merely repeating what I had heard from another source. Teac Corporation is now owned by Gibson Brands, Inc., who also recently purchased Philips Audio. There is a lot of corporate maneuvering happening. It's difficult to keep up.
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Forgot about the Gibson connection.
 
Albert.......Is your new TEAC UD-503 black or silver?


TEAC%20UD-503%20(11).jpg
 
These look like very nice units. I read up on them a little when Albert mentioned them earlier. They sounds like a great piece!
 
I ordered a black one as all of my components are black. The silver one in the picture looks nice as well. I am hopeful that it arrives on Friday as Bill at McCulloch Audio in Winnipeg said he would mail it today. It will be a nice early Christmas present to me.:celebrate008_2:
 
Albert said:
I ordered a black one as all of my components are black. The silver one in the picture looks nice as well. I am hopeful that it arrives on Friday as Bill at McCulloch Audio in Winnipeg said he would mail it today. It will be a nice early Christmas present to me.:celebrate008_2:
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Albert.......Gotta love early Christmas presents. :yahoo1:
 
Hey, I got the Teac today! That is amazingly fast shipping, mailed on Monday and delivered on Tuesday to a town 100 miles away. Canada Post rocks! I am listening to the system with the new DAC and I am liking what I hear. It is a clean and detailed sound but without the hardness of digital that I hate. It is not as warm as the Stax but better than the Oppo which sounds thin in comparison. It is a detailed, balanced sound with a wide soundstage. Perhaps not as deep (3D) as the Stax but it is hard to compare them since I am going by memory. The bass is deeper and louder with the Stax which can be over powering at times. Perhaps the Stax is rolling off the highs more which may account for it's warmer sound and deeper bass. There definitely seems to be more air in the highs, cymbals have more shimmer with the Teac.

But all of this is first impressions as I have just put the first disc on (dot com blues by Jimmy Smith)! I haven't tried any of the 4 filters or any upsampling. I don't have any high res files to try either. I do have a few SACD, I'm going to have to give them a try. I can even upsample Netflix and DVD audio now.
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Good times, good times...
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Congratulations! I think when I can next upgrade my system I may seriously consider this unit. Please let us know how it continues to work out for you.
 
Albert.......It will most likely take a couple hundred hours for the DAC to completely break-in so I expect it will sound better and better as the hour go on. The TEAC UD-502 is quite attractive and looks nice sitting on the Oppo player.

I smiled when I read you played Jimmy Smith - Dot Com Blues. I have that CD and it gets played often. I am a Jimmy Smith fan. Keep us posted as the UD-503 breaks in.
 
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