[simon740]

  I am not a chord fan. dave was a big disappointment to me. i felt the ayre qx-5 twenty smokes dave. it is less money and uses an ess chip as it's heart. yet i feel it is vastly better. i know this is ot but i would not be surprised if i liked the 503 better than the hugo tt. certainly better than mojo. that is just my feeling though. everything really depends if you like the sound. regardless of price or status.

I agree with that

 

[melody50]

I liked the UD503 than the Audiolab 8200CD's DAC portion, however both were in different set up

 

[music_man]

simon, if you could like things on this board i would like that. i never can stress that enough. if at all possible one must always listen to gear. it does not matter if it is $500 or $500,000. it is a very personal thing. i have seen instances all over the board. very cheap stuff that was great and very expensive that sucked. again, that was just my opinion. someone else may find it the other way around. i feel there is no low or high end or mid-fi. it all depends what you like. i understand their are budgets where people cannot obtain what they do like but that is an entirely different story. regardless i think the 501 and 503 are very solid choices for the money. i like to test inexpensive gear mainly because i can get loaners from being in the industry and i like it to help people. still, it is my opinion. it is not necessarily anyone elses. the most important thing i feel i always say is you must listen. either buy with a 30 day return policy or better yet patronize a local shop. unless they are audio snobs which actually is rare anymore. one point i would like to make is if you can live without dsd. which you should be able to. a r2r nos dac for the same price may very well be better. i can think of some that are.the curve is going to be  aweak point on inexpensive gear. even though these have a sort of nos mode. the ayre for instance has an ess but their curve is so refined that it is beating most fpga and r2r dacs. it does not belong mentioned in this thread though because it is $12,000. however a lot of money is going to go into r&d of the curve/filter which is not going to usually be spent on less expensive dacs. still with a few choices the 501 and 503 are very nice. if you need dsd i think you can stop here. however again, that is just my opinion.

 

[simon740]

  simon, if you could like things on this board i would like that. i never can stress that enough. if at all possible one must always listen to gear. it does not matter if it is $500 or $500,000. it is a very personal thing. i have seen instances all over the board. very cheap stuff that was great and very expensive that sucked. again, that was just my opinion. someone else may find it the other way around. i feel there is no low or high end or mid-fi. it all depends what you like. i understand their are budgets where people cannot obtain what they do like but that is an entirely different story. regardless i think the 501 and 503 are very solid choices for the money. i like to test inexpensive gear mainly because i can get loaners from being in the industry and i like it to help people. still, it is my opinion. it is not necessarily anyone elses. the most important thing i feel i always say is you must listen. either buy with a 30 day return policy or better yet patronize a local shop. unless they are audio snobs which actually is rare anymore. one point i would like to make is if you can live without dsd. which you should be able to. a r2r nos dac for the same price may very well be better. i can think of some that are.the curve is going to be  aweak point on inexpensive gear. even though these have a sort of nos mode. the ayre for instance has an ess but their curve is so refined that it is beating most fpga and r2r dacs. it does not belong mentioned in this thread though because it is $12,000. however a lot of money is going to go into r&d of the curve/filter which is not going to usually be spent on less expensive dacs. still with a few choices the 501 and 503 are very nice. if you need dsd i think you can stop here. however again, that is just my opinion.

Thank you for that. Somehow, I decided that I tried the headphones as well. So it's great if DAC have a headphone amplifier. I participate in this auction: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Teac-UD-503-High-End-USB-D-A-Wandler-und-Kopfhorerverstarker-Schwarz-/401235948190?hash=item5d6b86b29e:g:RzgAAOSwux5YQH6m
Although I still hovers between UD-503 and A20H Gustard. Otherwise, in our little land it is almost impossible to listen before buying.

 

[music_man]

I live in about as rural as it gets in america. i drive 16 hours to chicago and go to as many stereo shops as i can. i understand in remote european or especially asian places you would need a darn airplane. anyways that was an outstanding price in euro. did you win it?

 

[simon740]

  I live in about as rural as it gets in america. i drive 16 hours to chicago and go to as many stereo shops as i can. i understand in remote european or especially asian places you would need a darn airplane. anyways that was an outstanding price in euro. did you win it?

No, I didnt win...
I think I will take Gustard A20H.
 
regards,
Simon

 

[djsunzi]

I am not a chord fan. dave was a big disappointment to me. i felt the ayre qx-5 twenty smokes dave. it is less money and uses an ess chip as it's heart. yet i feel it is vastly better. i know this is ot but i would not be surprised if i liked the 503 better than the hugo tt. certainly better than mojo. that is just my feeling though. everything really depends if you like the sound. regardless of price or status.

In what way do you prefer ud503 to Hugo tt? Curious

 

[music_man]

I just like the sound better. even if the hugo should be more competent.

 

[LinuxmasterD]

I just like the sound better. even if the hugo should be more competent.
[/quot
Try pairing it with Gustard U12 XMOS and youll like it even more

 

[music_man]

I do not know what you are trying to say. i am just not a chord fan thats all.

 

[bflat]

I don't know if Teac does firmware updates but I would love to see 2 things if possible with firmware change:
 
1) Disable the blinking "Ready" when music is stopped
2) Make the Input Selector an Output Selector

 

[music_man]

the second one I do not think they could do with firmware.

 

[melody50]

Just compared 503 using coax from roksan k3 with roksan k3 cd, 503 have warm sound and detailed, however the vocal in roksan is prominent and striking

 

[frogmeat69]

Can anyone give some input as to how the 503 stacks up against the iFi iDSD Micro, when both are run as a DAC only? I have the iCan Pro and use the iDSD for my DAC, and would like a DAC with balanced outs for my amp, and really can't afford much more than the Teac at this time. Thanks in advance!

 

[LinuxmasterD]

Yeah, I would like to see some comparison info on iFi DSD, especially detail wise, I'm considering second dac for some genres. Thanks