I always contacted TEAC through the contact form on their Japanese website. It was a bit tedious translating Japanese but it's doable. Always received prompt response, usually in a couple of days. I kept my queries short and to the point. The online spec states Max Output Power. In most cases...

Yes. According to a rather smart "guy" that was around a few years ago, high output impedance matters for 3 reasons: 1. The greater the output impedance, the greater the voltage drop with lower impedance loads. This drop can be large to enough to prevent driving low impedance headphones to...

One of these factors is output impedance. The HA-501 has a damping factor knob, which adjusts the amp's OI for use with a specific headphone. It could have been set really high when you tested it. Just guessing here...

That statement is contradictory. If volume is a function of power, it means power will drive volume. So technically you should get more volume from the HA-501 with most headphones. However the UD-503 amp has current matching which allows it to be more efficient with your DT 250 (i.e. driving...

That's almost impossible to answer. Depends on the headphone, your amp's output impedance, etc. BTW the output impedance on the UD-503 is about 12 ohms. The 500mW is the maximum power handling on the HD 650. That spec tells you how much power the headphone can handle without sustaining physical...

The 700mW per channel at 32ohm spec is in Balanced mode. Unbalanced is 500mW. And you're right, at 300ohm it's significantly less, about 100mW.

No experience with planars unfortunately, only my HD 650. Using regular unbalanced connection and I'm not getting anywhere near max volume. I've emailed TEAC Japan about power output and here's the numbers they gave me: Headphone output (One headphone used) 32 ohm (MAX): Unbalanced 632mW 300...

The amp section on the UD-505 is identical to that of the 503, plus the addition of a 5-pole Pentaconn connector that I bet you'll have no use for. Max power output on both units is 500mW into 32Ω unbalanced, 700mW into 32Ω balanced - not bad but maybe a bit less than expected for a device this...

I'd say it largely depends on the impedance of your headphone. Specs list 500mW max power at 32 ohms, 700mW in balanced mode. Note that this is max peak power, not max continuous power. It's good with most headphones but anything over 300 ohms and I'm looking for a dedicated amp. Interestingly...

del

Hmm, I'd do it the other way around :)

And are you referring to the latest Conductor with the ES9018S DAC module, i.e. the Conductor V2+? Either way if you like the Burson house sound I'd stay with Burson. Give the Play a shot if you can demo it. It still has decent power, 0.32W at 100 ohms which is close to the impedance of your...

While powering up 30 mins prior to listening can't be bad, I think this concerns more tube amps than solid state, generally speaking.

Yup, obsessing about perfection, which of course doesn't exist, except in one's head. Also known as OCD. Remember releasing separate tracks for TFS? How about feeling the need to remaster an album from 2012?

Yes he does have some baggage. IMO he shouldn't have said TFS was an in-between album. That had him put on notice by the entire metal community. And I agree when you take in that much money from fan funding, you owe something decent in return. Whether TFS qualifies as decent is up for debate. I...

I'm not saying they do. Even if you're signed to a major label (major by metal standards, no one is talking about mainstream record labels), there are no guarantees. What I said is that you at least get a shot. You are given decent promotion and an advance to record a couple of albums, then...

That's true. But when they were known as Covenant they were signed to Nuclear Blast. At least my first pressing of Nexus Polaris is from NB. Being signed to a major label is not bad, at least you have a chance. Not sure. I do hear a strong Dimmu Borgir influence though, which makes sense as...

I'm afraid that's OCD in full force. Hints of good ideas that never go anywhere because the person is going around in circles. I'm talking about the last 2 albums. I think Jari was in a different headspace when he was in Ensiferum.

Exactly. The other demotivating factor is that there's no money in making music anymore. Especially with older bands that have the bottom line figured out, unlike young up-and-coming bands with ambition and fire to burn. PS: I just fired up Nexus Polaris and man, that's a long way from...

I wouldn't hold my breath. From past experience when a band takes 10+ years to put out new music it's usually not a good sign. I think it's pressure on the artist to come out with something really monumental after a long layoff, knowing full well that anything less gets flushed down the toilet...

Are you looking for portability or transportability? They're two different things depending on what you want. The Conductor is a power beast so you might want to be careful with smaller devices expecting similar power output / sound signature for your LCD-3s.

Are you looking for portability or transportability? There is a big difference. Please clarify.

Can I ask where you got info to confirm this?

Burson says there is no need to leave the unit on 24/7. The power caps are filled with chemicals which will dry up over time. Leaving the amp on 24/7 will shorten its life.

Thanks mate.