[konoyaro]

  tried before but no luck

I just tried a MacBook Pro (11,4) running Sierra 10.12.1, 16GB RAM through the UD-301 with no stuttering noticed even with hi-res audio files.
I usually have it set up with a less powerful Mac Mini and it works fine there as well.

 

[jasonhk0225]

Thanks for your information. So maybe is my devices problem. Although it just got 1 second stutter in some songs randomly, it is very annoying.

 

[LinkPro]

Just got this plugged in. First impressions: really clean and neutral DAC which seems like the case with most Japanese DACs at this price point. Has no problems bringing out the best of my Denon AH-D̃7200. It is also capable of driving my HD800 to a good listening level, however the sound is rather bright and harsh, rendering half of my music collection unpleasant to listen to. But that is more of a HD800 thing. 
 
The amp is obviously not super powerful, which is OK considering the price (~$340 in my case). However most Japanese headphones have low impedance and high sensitivity, so this may be all you need. 

 

[adrockthewalrus]

I'm considering this as an upgrade for a scarlett 2i4 i use on my desktop PC; it replaces the headphone amp, i don't use the scarlett's inputs anymore, and i can run it's output to the amp powering my speakers (that i want to replace with active monitors down the line, after upgrading the speakers (and maybe amp) on my other hifi).
 
I'm sold on the 'listening to nice audio' angle for music, but wanted to check on anyone's experiences using it under Windows 10 with regards to general system usage. How well does it work/have you had any problems?
 
I previously ran into issues with a scarlett 6i6 as it didn't like being used by more than one application at a time; opening a browser or any app that used directsound caused a hard crash. If I leave the UD-301 connected will it be fine for general system sound output/occasional gaming, or would I need an additional 'default' device for those to use whenever i'm not listening to music?

 

[LinkPro]

^ No you will not need another sound card for anything, just set the TEAC as the default playback device in Windows, for some games you will have to go in settings and select it as your output, that's it. I've been using it for everything (foobar, WMP, youtube, games) and had no problems with device recognition.
 
The only problem I've had so far is that sometimes playback is a noisy static mess. Restarting the song fixes it. I'm guessing it's noise from the USB port. 

 

[adrockthewalrus]

excellent, thank you, just the sort of response i was looking for!  Doing that on the 6i6 was a hard crash the moment a second application was started. Once the 2i4 is replaced, i can hook the 6i6 back up solely for input purposes (they will not play nice hooked up together, windows struggles differentiating between 'Focusrite USB' and 'Focusrite USB' drivers).
 
would any kind of filter on the usb (schitt wyrd/dragonfly whatevertheirsiscalled) be likely to help? I had a similar issue with the 2i4 once (glitchy static during playback) and a change of ports (specifically giving it a usb 2.0 bus to itself) resolved the issue, and it never re-occurred with the 2i4 and 6i6 connected to the same bus despite all the other issues.

 

[Xyrium]

  excellent, thank you, just the sort of response i was looking for!  Doing that on the 6i6 was a hard crash the moment a second application was started. Once the 2i4 is replaced, i can hook the 6i6 back up solely for input purposes (they will not play nice hooked up together, windows struggles differentiating between 'Focusrite USB' and 'Focusrite USB' drivers).
 
would any kind of filter on the usb (schitt wyrd/dragonfly whatevertheirsiscalled) be likely to help? I had a similar issue with the 2i4 once (glitchy static during playback) and a change of ports (specifically giving it a usb 2.0 bus to itself) resolved the issue, and it never re-occurred with the 2i4 and 6i6 connected to the same bus despite all the other issues.

I would not put a filter on the USB port. If you have difficulties with USB, I would locate and remedy the source. That said, I have both the UD301 and a Scarlett 2i2 with absolutely no issues on Win 10. Keep in mind however, ASIO is not a multichannel connection AFAIK. Therefore, I do not believe more than one app will be able to access the device while using ASIO drivers. However, for low latency (I use the 2i2 with the full version of Reaper for recording), ASIO rules.

 

[LinkPro]

I have a Focusrite Scarlett Solo, the first unit distorted so badly when recording I had to get an exchange. Second unit does it too but less. No way to fix it other than unplugging. Maybe a Focusrite thing.  
 
Also ASIO tends to not play nice with multiple apps IIRC. 
 
Can't speak for the wyrd since I've never used it. However I'd suggest using optical out from your PC if it has one. 

 

[adrockthewalrus]

hmm, i only have optical on the onboard sound which i'm trying to avoid using, and it sounds like i wouldn't be able to leave it as the default device; I'd need one soundcard for general usage, possibly another just for an optical out connection, then the UD-301. I've always had issues with jitter from on-board optical out and this may be getting into more external devices then i'd like.
 
I'm not 100% as I've always had issues in the past, but if i did run an optical out as my default system device, does windows/that soundcard happily mix audio from multiple applications + system sounds and send them over a single optical connection, which the UD-301 could then play without issues? Could it do that WHILE being connected over USB, with me changing it's input selector to USB when i want to be using ASIO and listening to music from a suitable player, but going via the other soundcards optical which i'd then need to select the input for? I think I could make that work, though i'd still need to find a suitable external usb soundcard with optical out, and i'd be starting to run out of nice USB 2.0 ports then.

 

[LinkPro]

The TEAC has a button on the front that does input switching (USB/Coax/Optical) so I think you can do that just fine. I really don't know much about ASIO outside of recording work. 

 

[adrockthewalrus]

No problem, I really appreciate you trying to help me out
 
Is there an option to use the UD-301 without ASIO? (appreciate you may not be able to answer)

 

[Xyrium]

Yes, you can use the Windows driver. You will need to select that from your menu if using something like Foobar, or it will default to such if using something like Media Player to play music
 
http://www.teac.com/content/downloads/products/894/teac_asio_usb_%20driver_install_guide_e_vf2.pdf
 
That said, I would go into the registry and remove anything that relates to previous audio interfaces that you are no longer using, and verify that you have the latet drivers for your USB chipset (whether onboard Intel or otherwise).

 

[adrockthewalrus]

Thanks Xyrium, good to know. I'm fine with needing to specify the audio device in whichever media player or letting those that don't let you just run through the default.
 
I've had a bit of a faff to test the onboard optical out and after some faffing to get my old emu 0404 synced at 96KHz, it seems to be managing 24/96 out just fine, so i'm hopeful i'll not run into issues if i try 24/192 on the teac.
 
I'm assuming being more than a decade newer the teac won't have that issue and will sync to whatever it's receiving over optical as long as it's supported; the 0404 i had to hook up by usb and use the emu util to tell it to sync at 96 and I'd rather avoid having to do that in future.

 

[LinkPro]

Just spent some time setting my Foobar2k to do DSD. ASIO was required to do it. 
 
I find that if Foobar is opened and music is playing OR on pause (not completely stopped), the TEAC will operate in ASIO - only one program may output sound at a time. If I paused a song in Foobar and go to a Youtube video, the video won't load. If I stop the song (square button) then reload the video, it plays.
 
If Foobar is not on OR on but with no music being played or on pause, more than two programs can output sound at a time. Most definitely not ASIO,
 
So to answer your question, it seems the TEAC will work with ASIO if told to do so, and won't otherwise. During all this, the TEAC was selected as default playback device in Windows.
 
A bit of a mess, but hope this bit of info help.

 

[adrockthewalrus]

That's fantastic, thanks for testing! It does sound like it'll do what I need and my previous issues have been down to not being able to run two different focusrite usb drivers together.
 
I'll try to get one delivered Thursday when I'm home and give it a try