[music_man]

stock for stock the 503 is like 20% better. the headamp on the 503 is like 40% better. if you liked the 501 the 503 is certainly a good upgrade. i just hope you get one of the nice ones. i guess we have discovered this is an issue. they have already built the same 503 much differently from unit to unit. unfortunately i got one of the lousy ones. probably sounds the same but some apparently are much better built.

 

[FlemmingBach]

Hello Nordkapp,
 
I have not heard a UD-501, but I own a Asus Essence One (MK1) which uses the same TI-BurrBrown PCM1795 DAC (dual PCM1795) as the UD-501, there is no doubt that the AKM AK4490 DAC sounds better in my setup. My UD-503 is connected to my Electrocompaniet ECI4 ("ECI5") and this is a very very good combo !   The sound of the UD-503 is very very analog even with 44.1/16 bit redbook material being played. And the possibility to select between NOS, and sharp, slow filters and Upsampling is a nice feature to play around with. 
 
I have even run my Asus E1, with passive I/V conversion (Resistor as I/V conversion) which gives the PC1795 a more analogue sound, but still the UD-503 sounds better out of the box.
 
Cheers
Flemming
Denmark

 

[FlemmingBach]

Hi Music_Man,
 
Can you post some pictures of your UD-503 inside ?   (No warranty seal will be broken to open it up)
 
I will try to post some more Pictures of mine this weekend, so we can compare!
 
Thanks
Flemming

 

[music_man]

i already said this. i am sorry i cannot right now. i would be unable to open it due to my disability. that is why i type like i do. i only have one finger on one hand that works anymore. plus my friend has it. he can open it though. i wil ask him if he can and snap a couple pics. you can look right on google though and see the diferences meanwhile. i am sorry i can't do it but trust me my condition sucks. i am not looking for symphony just saying it aint good.

 

[FlemmingBach]

Sorry to hear that buddy! 
 
By the way, my units serial number was below 5000, but it had the white dot and a special label on the box, that shows it had been fixed (muting bug i guess it was)  
 
And my version is of cause an European version. I think the EU version has an extra 230V net-filter PCB mounted in the left side.  
Some pictures I have seen of UD-503 from google does not have this net-filter. EU has certain extra regulations regarding these kind of things compared to US!.
 
Cheers
Flemming

 

[nordkapp]

Thanks guys. I felt, for me at least, the 501 was decent enough but lacked the resolution I was after and sort of truncated the upper frequencies a bit. I have heard positive things about the AKM chipsets. Sold my 501 after hearing the stunning resolution of the Concero HD(which I now use). Problem with it though is it lacks the ins and outs that I now need. I was always impressed with the 501 other than those minor quibbles. I feel the 501/503 are hands down the value leaders in this price range. I suspect I will go through Amazon-just in case I get a turkey. Their return policy is seemless. Thanks again. I stay on this thread. 

 

[buson160man]

 I have read that some people have tweaked their 501s and that they outperformed the 503 . Apparently their is more room for tweaks in the 501 . The headphone amp on my 501 is ok not great but it is not bad . But I would use a dedicated headphone amp instead. The 501 is balanced on the dac side and it does sound better that way than single ended .The akm dac is no doubt the better chip potentially it is a pity it cannot be retrofitted to the 501 it would probably be a decent upgrade .
  I also read that the 501 is a bit better built .

 

[music_man]

buson160, are you kidding? where have you been all this time lol. i think just about everyone here knows i have a 501 modified to the hilt. it is not even the same machine anymore really. indeed it not only sounds better than the 503 it sounds better than almost anything! well, thats our opinion here. the thing is many people cannot or will not do that. even i could not do it now unfortunately. in that case i do not feel you can get a better dac, and headamp in one box for the price of the 503. speaking on ins/outs. i am currently using an ayre codex in a very high system. the thing has me banging my head with lack of connectivity. this was supposed to be their affordable dac though well for them at least. different price range than 503 anyways but 503 beats it hands down in connectivity. ayre claims they will make a full size unit but it is vaporware as ofv now. i am just mentioning this because the best dac is useless if you cannot hook it up,duh! the 501 and 503 really are great little packages. weell built, especially the 501, good connection options,really good dacs stock, do dsd, the 503 has a very good headamp. in fact i would pay the price of the 503 just for it's headamp. the dac is no slouch either though. 503 is certainly better. what buson said though holds true. if you are able to gut a 501 you can make something very serious. it took a stock 501, 3 grand of parts at wholesale and about 160 hours of my and others time. so if you figure a good tech makes $85 an hour you cannot even compare this to the 503. it is a completely different price and takes a lot of skill. stock, rest assured the 503 is a nice upgrade. i just hope at this point they all have the new/revised construction or whatever. what the other person posted i would never have complained about as i originally did. it looks nice and sounds very good. especuially when you factor in the price. as someone else said in this segment teac is the price/performance leader. plus i can obviously see things here that trickled down from their knowledge with esoteric. the only reason this is affordable is that it is made in china. which is fine quite frankly. my buddy has mine and it is holding up fine. hundreds of hours on my 503 and thousands on my 501. although the 501 was never even powered on stock. 

 

[plektret]

Would this be a suitable DAC under 1000$ with DSD support for use in a Stax system, especially SR-L700 with SRM-353X? I currently use the old Onkyo 200PCI soundcard.

 

[music_man]

it's considerably better than the onkyo. i would not say it is good enough for the sr009 but what you have it is plenty good. it is warm like tubes so great for stax.

 

[AudioQuality777]

I got a Teac nt-503 from Italy.Oh,that wonderful sound compared to Mytek Stereo192-DSD DAC!
Hooked up to my computer through the filter Sotm Tx-USBhubex!
Oh,it's a big difference when you have Sotm Tx-USBhubex!
Detail rose high,transparency, stereo picture,bass is sweet,strong, dense and elastic.
Two of the toroidal transformer is responsible for this.
Connected directly to the power amplifier Parasound A 21 on the XLR inputs.
Can not include Teac nt-503 and have fun,as it rotates the volume knob is very smooth and with a pleasant elasticity.I was convinced that a new DAC AKM Verita AK4490EQ very good,very good in comparison with Sabre 32 in my Stereo192-DSD DAC which I put up for sale!  

 

[SkyWalker2]

Queston to ud/nt-503 owners.
Need to figure out is 120v model could be used on 220v without stepdown transformer and vice versa. If you do not know exact answer may you pls check primary winding on any toroidal trans on your 503. Suppose that it could be two windings configuralbe in parallel on in serie. May you pls check this on your device?

 

[FlemmingBach]

Hi,
 
As far as I remember there is only two wires on each transformer, for the Primary on my EU model.
This can also be seen on this guys webpage here:
 
http://www.estatica.it/it/letture/articolo/recensione-teac-ud-503
 
 
BR
Flemming Bach
B.Sc.E.E.

 

[AudioQuality777]

To disassemble?I'm sorry,I'm not doing the wiring .You forgot that the difference between 120 and 220 version not only in power but in different filtering.In Europe, more stringent requirements.

 

[Bigbwb]

Quick question. With the 503, do both balanced and RCA out puts work simultaneously?