John Massaria
Member of the Trade: JM Audio Editions/Headphone Modifications
I have been using my UD-301 for a few years and can say it is warm and wonderful sounding- it greatly improved when i spent some money for a PASS Class A heaphone amp with the ability to swap op amps out - I have the OPA627, LM833N, OPA2107AP - my favorite is the OPA627 by far- LM833N is warm tube, OPA2107AP is more detailed still and the 627 is like opening up a window surpassing any op amp I ever heard. The TEAC301 easily allows me to hear the difference of the PASS Amp- so that should tell you how good it is a stand allone dac. As a heapdhone amp (UD301) its is whisper quiet dead silent- but lacks the dynamics and rtythem compared to my PASS headphone amp. The DAC does DSD and any high res files I can throw at it- I dont like or use MQA as this is a lossy codec so that is a non issue for me. The Burr brown DACs in the TEAC are wonderfully musical. You will be hard pressed to find better unless you buy the Topping D90 which I just did at $700++