[ScottFW]

Just gonna drop this here in case anyone else has this happen in the future...
 
A couple of weeks ago I fired up the stereo to find I wasn't getting any audio out of the UD-301, neither the rear RCA jacks nor the headphone out. Computer could see it as a DAC and it would lock onto digital signals from either the USB or optical inputs with the LED showing the correct bitrate, but no sound from the outputs. Another giveaway was that I wasn't hearing the relay click.
 
I opened it up and probed around with my multimeter and found nothing obviously burned/charred, no voltage on the opamp supply pins. Fortunately the really obvious candidate turned out to be correct - the fuses for the analog section had blown. They are Littelfuse 372 series through-hole type, the little red parts by the two big 4700uF caps:


The third fuse over towards the left was still good, so I'm not sure what would have taken out the other two, but replacing them fixed the DAC and everything is good now.
 
I'll also mention that working on this thing is a pain in the butt. The factory must use newer soldering methods and/or a harder less- or no-Pb solder type because these joints take a LOT of heat to melt, and the stuff doesn't like to wick out of the joints without a little dab of flux on the braid. The extra heat is not a problem for removing already-blown fuses, but when installing the new ones you've got to be quick with the soldering iron or you'll blow them as you install them. Probably best to meter them to verify continuity after soldering and before you bother putting the board back in the chassis.

 

[DavidA]

@ScottFW, good info to keep down the line if I ever have this problem.

 

[MadMike]

@ScottFW Thanks for the in-depth info!! Loving the UD-301 with the Nuforce HA-200!

 

[Mink]

I am a proud owner of a UD-301 for over two weeks now.
I had bought this unit in the 1st place because I needed a solid one piece solution for head-fing: a headphones amp and DAC to replace my Muscial Fidelity V-DAC II and V-PSU II, connected to a Marantz amp, using the headphones-out of that amp. There was nothing wrong with the sound, but the Marantz headphones output has a slight hum and the amp gets pretty warm, not that nice in the summer, you don't want a unit that makes the room even hotter...
I had tried different dedicated headphones amps over the years and never felt they performed better or even on par with my Marantz amp, mostly the stereo width that was lacking.
After watching a video by Z reviews about the Fostex HP-A4 I ordered that unit and shortly after that I saw a good deal for the TEAC and ordered it as well.
I kept the UD301 because I felt the sound was slightly more stable and slightly smoother in the highs. But both units sounded at least on par with my old set up, same stero width.
 
After a few days I felt the sound of the UD-301 was maybe a bit too clean, the graininess I ocassionaly had with my Musical Fidelity V-DAC II and Marantz PM7200 was no longer there, but I felt everything sounded a bit too neutral and 'tight', not strained in any way, but from memory the Marantz (with the V-DAC II) played with less effort, everything seemed more fleshed out. The UD-301's bass, although nicely detailed had some hardness, the Marantz was softer.
I connected the UD-301 to my Marantz amp and tried the headphones out of the Marantz. Yep, the Marantz sounded better. Crap!
 
Does break-in exist? It really seems so, because after a week or so the amp section of the UD-301 has opened up. The sound is so fluid, musical, detailed (but not analytical) and the unit does prove to be warmer sounding than the initial neutral tone. Early 80's recordings that I've always perceived as cold and a bit harsh (digital hardness) now sounds better than a mere 'acceptable' and not because the UD-301 is less resolving, far from that. Star of the show is the bass: so powerfull, textured, but not overblown, tighter than Marantz's bass, but without the earlier perceived hardness. Switching back to the headphones out of the Marantz the tonality is equal, but the bass is less detailed and the sound is less fluid.
I am not sure though if it is the amp or the DAC that I like so much. I think it is the amp, because I never perceived any differences in sound between DACs. Case in point the comparisons I did between my Musical Fidelity V-DAC II and my Marantz CD5000, both connected to my PM7200 with the same coax cables (Wireworld OASIS 5). The CD5000 is a CD player from 2001/2002, the V-DAC II was introduced in 2013, if I am correct. In ten years the sound would have been improved? Nope.
 
So I may conclude that the TEAC-UD301 is an excellent headphones amp with a built-in DAC!

 

[DavidA]

FWIW I find the amp section of the UD-301 a good pairing with my EL8, HE-400 and most Grados, its not quite as good with high impedance headphones like my HD-650/700/800 and T1, all which sound better on a tube amp like a BH Crack or Ember IMO.

 

[buke9]

  FWIW I find the amp section of the UD-301 a good pairing with my EL8, HE-400 and most Grados, its not quite as good with high impedance headphones like my HD-650/700/800 and T1, all which sound better on a tube amp like a BH Crack or Ember IMO.

I found that it did not have the power to run the HE-400's very well for me and really was not very good with the Alpha Dogs either. It probably would be fine with Grados as i found it fairly dark as a amp. I didn't use it too much as a amp as I used it to feed a Cavalli Liquid Carbon at the time.

 

[DavidA]

 
I found that it did not have the power to run the HE-400's very well for me and really was not very good with the Alpha Dogs either. It probably would be fine with Grados as i found it fairly dark as a amp. I didn't use it too much as a amp as I used it to feed a Cavalli Liquid Carbon at the time.

I don't listen at a very high volume level so that may be a reason the UD-301 works for me, the HE-400 sounds about the same if I use my Lyr2 so power is not an issue for me due to the lower listening levels.

 

[buke9]

  I don't listen at a very high volume level so that may be a reason the UD-301 works for me, the HE-400 sounds about the same if I use my Lyr2 so power is not an issue for me due to the lower listening levels.

I don't listen at ear bleed levels either . I think the HE-400's just needed more power to sound better. If you like them from the UD-301 great I just don't . I think they sound much better from my Liquid Carbon than they did from the Teac thats all. Not trying to start something just my opinion.

 

[Mink]

I know nobody gives a *****, because reason no. 1. the TEAC is a budget device from a big consumer brand, 2. Doesn't have Schiit as brand name and 3. it is not a multibit or NOS machine, but I will post it anyways, just for my own amusement
This DAC/amp is in my opnion pretty transparant, it will distinguish good recording from bad recordings in a way I've never heard. 
I found out that recordings I've always regarderd as lush and warm sounding to be pretty 'digital' and 'hard' and vice versa. Bach's orchestral suites as an example, my two oldest recordings are the one by Reinhard Goebel (Archiv, 1987) and the one by Jordi Savall (Auvidis Astree, 1990). The one by Savall I always felt was the complete opposite of the Goebel: big, warm, lush and very analogue sounding, whereas the Goebel was the digital 80's Bach: bright, cold, and rather digital.
None of this applies with my Teac UD-301: the Goebel sounds very very smooth, without any glare, and yes it is clearer sounding, but not bright by any means. The Savall recording is darkly colored, but that is just the hue, underneath the sound is rougher, harder and the highs, while less clear are brittle and not without 'glare'.
Further noted: the lows are excellent with this TEAC, so detailed and textured and the overall neutrality is very welcom: my Sony MDR-Z7s sound better than before, they have not brightend up, but more or less cleaned up.
Detail, resolution and soundstage wise I don't need anything better this. But that said, I will keep myself informed about multibit DACs for one reason only: listening fatigue. Classical recordings, mainly high pitched violins always can cause listening fatigue, due to a hardness or glare. I don't have this often, but could it really be that a multibit DAC gets rid of this nasties I hear on some classical recordings completey, all the time? Or are some recording just that bad? Or is it because my ears are captured in two earcups? Or maybe because violins are very difficult to record.... and is listening fatigue just unavoidable?

 

[DavidA]

@Mink, you might want to try a MHDT Pagoda or Stockholm V2, I've heard the Pagoda and its my next DAC, I also have a Bimby and I don't think its as good as many say it is.

 

[Csokis]

I really enjoy the music with HiFiMAN HE400S headphone.  I don't listen at a very high volume level, but the volume control position is at 11:30, sometimes at 12:00.

 

[Xyrium]

I haven't used this with my Beyer 880/600s, but from a preamp perspective, it's doing an amazing job with a pair of Focal Solo 6bes, Dynaudio Emit M10s (attached to a Parasound A23), and my current vocals champion, the inexpensive JBL LSR305s. None of which sound bright or edgy on stringed instruments, including good recordings such as the Telarc Beethoven string quartets, Opus 18, Nos 1, 4, 5, and 6. In fact, I'd suggest that the combo of the JBLs and the Teac sound best, and are amazingly insightful. So much so, that my Focals might be on the chopping block. The JBL/Teac combo might be the best desktop system I've ever encountered for under $600 USD!

 

[Andrew Rieger]

I currently have the Teac UD301 DAC and I'm pretty happy with it. I'll be honest though, all this hype around the new Modi Multibit is giving me a serious case of gear envy even though my current DAC cost me more. Has anyone heard both of these DAC's? Is the Modi Multibit better than the Teac? Should I try to sell the Teac off cheap and join the multbit revolution? Ugh, I hate it when new awesome stuff comes out. 

 

[DavidA]

  I currently have the Teac UD301 DAC and I'm pretty happy with it. I'll be honest though, all this hype around the new Modi Multibit is giving me a serious case of gear envy even though my current DAC cost me more. Has anyone heard both of these DAC's? Is the Modi Multibit better than the Teac? Should I try to sell the Teac off cheap and join the multbit revolution? Ugh, I hate it when new awesome stuff comes out. 

I have a Bimby (MB Bifrost) and I like the UD-301 better and having the headphone amp within is a nice bonus.  I think there is too much hype with the MB gear at this time and after hearing quite a few other DACs the ones that impressed me are MHDT Pagoda (R2R), Metrum Musette (R2R), and Red Wine Isabellina (R2R, no longer made), notice the trend..

 

[buke9]

I currently have the Teac UD301 DAC and I'm pretty happy with it. I'll be honest though, all this hype around the new Modi Multibit is giving me a serious case of gear envy even though my current DAC cost me more. Has anyone heard both of these DAC's? Is the Modi Multibit better than the Teac? Should I try to sell the Teac off cheap and join the multbit revolution? Ugh, I hate it when new awesome stuff comes out. 

New awesome stuff comes out all the time. I had the UD-301 and a Cavalli Liquid Carbon and it did not sound as good as my Questyle QP1R . So I wanted something that would sound as good after hearing it . It took a Schiit Yggdrasil with the Cavalli to get there . If Questyle had a DAC out option from the dap I might have been satisfied but they didn't and I'm so glad I got a Yggy .They do have one now and it is awesome. It doesn't come close to the Yggy but better to me than the UD-301. Yes it is more than twice the price the QP1R as a dap left the UD-301 well in its wake as a DAC and amp to me. I haven't heard the other Schiit next to it but would think most of the Multibit would be close. This is just my opion as I have not heard them all. YMMV