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Initial thoughts - Teac UD-501 DAC


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I recently bought a Teac UD-501 after owning several DAC's over the years including CA DAC Magic, Lavry DA10, Audio GD DAC19 and Audio GD Reference 5.

My gear includes a mix of vintage Sansui and new stuff and for this session I used - MacMini running Audivarna plus, John Kenny modded hiFace, Black Cat Veloce Coax with -15 RF attenuation, Teac UD-501, WLM Semi Active Bass Control, Weston Acoustics Topaz KT120, WLM Diva Monitors. Interconnects are Aurealis, Speaker Cable is Morrow SP2.

I had a brief listen over about an hour and initial impressions are pleasing.

It is much more dynamic sounding than the Ref 5 with greater space around instruments and more depth to the soundstage. The Teac is more detailed overall but far from clinical, and paired with the John Kenny hiFace it sounds smooth with no digital glare or edginess. The biggest difference is in bass presentation, it is much tighter, with more texture and depth than the Ref 5 could do.

I did note the Ref 5 has better left/right channel separation, so when an instrument is mixed to fade across channels it is more discernible. The Audio GD does a better job of rendering the natural tone and timbre of instruments and vocals, however the UD-501 is exceptionally good in this area also.

I listened to a range of familiar tracks (Acoustic, Rock and Electronic) 16/44 to 24/192 however haven't had a chance to listen to any DSD, I can't wait though as by all reports they sound terrific with this DAC. The build quality is incredible for the price, OLED display looks very cool and operational interface is simple and easy to use. For the money, amazing value and a very good sounding DAC regardless of price.

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What are they like for timing and rhythm?

I owned and used a few of the Audio Gd DACs and found that tone and imaging were good but they also tripped up on timing.As the Linn devotees would say-they could not follow a tune very well. A disjointed sense of timing.Just like the Rolling Stones!

Edited by THOMO
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I have to say, I am enjoying my Teac.

Like Lebowski, my last standalone DAC was a Ref 5. There really is a "lifting of the veil" with the Teac v Ref 5. The bass is much more ..... Crisp .... Is the word that comes to mind.

I have been using JRiver to convert everything to 2DSD lately. It certainly produces a smoother sound and overall I prefer it to red book. 24/192 is still the best though (although I only have a few tracks to compare).

Overall the Teac is well built and performs faultlessly with every file type sent to it.

Highly recommended.

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What are they like for timing and rhythm?

I owned and used a few of the Audio Gd DACs and found that tone and imaging were good but they also tripped up on timing.As the Linn devotees would say-they could not follow a tune very well. A disjointed sense of timing.Just like the Rolling Stones!

Never really accepted that timing and rhythm are readily isolated from any other aspect of a DAC's performance.

 

Some players accentuate the mid to lower frequencies, which may give a more solid, seemingly rhythmic performance.

 

This player does not do that, but it does have good, even-handed reproduction of frequency response, and provides plenty of detail.

 

To me, it is just one of those players which sounds right.

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Have you had a chance to evaluate the head phone amp section? Can the volume control be used as a master volume control or is it only for the head phone circuit?

I don't have headphones unfortunately. Volume control is only on phones

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What are they like for timing and rhythm?

I owned and used a few of the Audio Gd DACs and found that tone and imaging were good but they also tripped up on timing.As the Linn devotees would say-they could not follow a tune very well. A disjointed sense of timing.Just like the Rolling Stones!

It sounds pretty right to me. Had me immediately smiling and tapping my foot so I guess that's a good sign

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It looks like a quality piece of kit. Purely as a matter of interest and to satisfy my curiousty, where is it made?

China, where all the best HiFi comes from these days : )

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finally got to listen to some DSD tracks and I'm completely hooked. Music is incredibly smooth and dynamic, so much texture and detail but without any hint whatsoever that it's a digital source. I'm extremely happy with this DAC, it does a terrific job on all music ... now I just need to find some more DSD to play with.

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Sounds like it's a keeper, nice one @@lebowski ! :thumb:

How does the internal USB input compare to the JK converter?

Thanks,

gav.

USB is actually better than I expected and I had considered just sticking with it and ditching Coax. But the JK converter does sound more musical overall and eliminates all hint of digital edge so the reproduction of instruments and vocal sounds much more natural and accurate.

I think once you've experienced a good quality converter it is hard to go back

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USB is actually better than I expected and I had considered just sticking with it and ditching Coax. But the JK converter does sound more musical overall and eliminates all hint of digital edge so the reproduction of instruments and vocal sounds much more natural and accurate.

I think once you've experienced a good quality converter it is hard to go back

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

Thanks for the info.  I went from an ap2 to a jkmk3, then a ciunas and finally a Sonic Weld diverter.. the diverter was a big step up from the others.

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Download Jriver and see if you like upsampling PCM to 2xDSD.

Have been experimenting with up sampling in Audivarna Plus and also up sampling in the DAC. I haven't changed my thoughts, I still prefer no up sampling.

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