[Josef Parran]

I'm also looking for the output impedance of the headphone amp.

[edit: found this earlier in the thread]

 

[Serge Bernamej]

Hey there 503 owners, just wanted to offer a couple comparisons between this unit and my newly acquired Schiit Mjo2/Gumby stack.

In short, the 503 competes handily against the Schiit! That's not a knock against the Schiit as much as it is a compliment to the Teac.

Even thought the Schiit stack comes in at rought 2x the price of the Teac, they offer very similar features. The Mjo2 can run SE or balanced cans, just like the Teac with special termination, although or power hungry planars, the Mjo is going to max out with more power (and multiple gain options) than the Teac will. Both have just about every input you could need and offer fully balanced operation. Now the Gumby is a multibit DAC while the Teac runs dual AK4490s, but in all honesty their sounds are very close.

To my ears after about 4 hours of listening, the Schiit's house sound, which is rather 'in your face' offers a slightly more mid-forward and aggressive sound compared to the ever-so-slightly laid back sound of the 503. Both offer a slightly warm lilt that offers plenty of detail without shoving it down your throat! Bear in mind, the Mjo's sound is a little dependent on the tubes you use, however, it's hybrid design means that tube-rolling won't exactly turn it into a completely new amp every time you use it.

Also, I should mention that the Teac offers a few things that the Schiit doesn't. It's got DSD capability, a couple of filters to pick from, as well as an LCD display to see all of your settings and options. The Schiit's more simplistic approach is a little less hi-fi to me, but there's also something to be admired in the fact that it looks like a piece of furniture sitting in all it's brushed metal glory on the desk.

Just wanted to hype on the underappreciated Teac a little. Continued listening will be the deciding factor in which one ultimately will be my one-and-only!

Hello joe, omg, what you say is so hard to believe...do still stand by your impression that the TEAC sounds sweeter and more analog than the Gumby?

 

[FlemmingBach]

Hi,

UD-503 Service Manual and Schematic can be found here (no charge for download, just wait a while before download appears)

https://elektrotanya.com/teac_ud-503_ver.c_sm.pdf/download.html

https://elektrotanya.com/teac_ud-503_sch.pdf/download.html



BR
Flemming Bach Andreasen
Denmark

 

[frogmeat69]

Up on Massdrop now, https://www.massdrop.com/buy/teac-ud-503

 

[axtran]

Anyone else here use the built-in headphone amp in balanced mode? Figured I'd comment here, since I also did on Massdrop.

It is worth it to purchase (or make) a dual 6.3mm TS to 4-pin XLR cable to take advantage of maximum power on the UD-503 if you use its amplifier! I found that it drives all of my headphones (except for my T50RP derived ones) pretty well!

 

[foreverzer0]

Anyone else here use the built-in headphone amp in balanced mode? Figured I'd comment here, since I also did on Massdrop.

It is worth it to purchase (or make) a dual 6.3mm TS to 4-pin XLR cable to take advantage of maximum power on the UD-503 if you use its amplifier! I found that it drives all of my headphones (except for my T50RP derived ones) pretty well!

Yes, I think it's worth it. I believe there are several on ebay, but might be listed for the rme adi 2 pro which has a similar balanced out. You might have to look at their pin out to see if it's identical.

 

[Josef Parran]

Anyone else here use the built-in headphone amp in balanced mode? Figured I'd comment here, since I also did on Massdrop.

It is worth it to purchase (or make) a dual 6.3mm TS to 4-pin XLR cable to take advantage of maximum power on the UD-503 if you use its amplifier! I found that it drives all of my headphones (except for my T50RP derived ones) pretty well!

I'd say it largely depends on the impedance of your headphone.
Specs list 500mW max power at 32 ohms, 700mW in balanced mode. Note that this is max peak power, not max continuous power.
It's good with most headphones but anything over 300 ohms and I'm looking for a dedicated amp.
Interestingly the amp section on the successor UD-505 is exactly the same so I guess most people have been happy with it.

 

[kodreaming]

Any UD-503 owners experience issues with the headphone volume level fluctuation (both outputs)? It started to happen a few months ago (I have had the unit for about 2 years).

I emailed TEAC they said I will have to ship it back so they can check the unit. But it doesn't happen all the time consistently...

 

[TominJapan]

bhphotovideo.com HAD the UD-503-S for sale for $599, seems offer is gone already...

 

[calluna]

I have ud-505. I'm using foobar. There are Asio: teac asio usb driver and DS: teac usb audio device in output device. I'm able only to choose DS, Asio dosen't work. Is it correct ( and teac asio is only for TEAC HR Audio Player? ) or something is wrong? I used iFi with asio for example.

 

[lacknothing]

Hi,

UD-503 Service Manual and Schematic can be found here (no charge for download, just wait a while before download appears)

https://elektrotanya.com/teac_ud-503_ver.c_sm.pdf/download.html

https://elektrotanya.com/teac_ud-503_sch.pdf/download.html

Thanks for the links.
The UD-503 seems to make excessive use of the Rohm TT8K11 MOSFETs I haven't seen before.
http://www.chip.tomsk.ru/chip/chipfile17-x.nsf/all/47257D440020021B47257AE200773F39/$File/tt8k11.pdf

Any take on these?

 

[foreverzer0]

Anyone use hd800's with these? Seems it sounds better with active ground rather than balanced (in which balanced sounds better with my planar). I also prefer both with dsd 150k upconversion.

 

[ve3fnd]

Just ditched my Chord Hugo (tired of replacing batteries) and got a UD-503, What headphones should I look at getting to go with it. I just have a set of Sennheiser momentums that I use for on the go, not bad but looking for better over ear options.

 

[Marvin42]

Just ditched my Chord Hugo (tired of replacing batteries) and got a UD-503, What headphones should I look at getting to go with it. I just have a set of Sennheiser momentums that I use for on the go, not bad but looking for better over ear options.

Hi, i have the UD-505 and i'm using it with an AKG K701 and a Beyer Dynamic DT990 PRO. Both sound great with a more round sound from the Beyer and more neutral with the AKG K701. If i had to choose betwenn the two that would be the AKG K701 for the fact that the soundstage is clearly wider and the confort is really great for long listening session. In general, i would recommend an open headphone to go with such an amp and for a home usage.

 

[ve3fnd]

Hi, i have the UD-505 and i'm using it with an AKG K701 and a Beyer Dynamic DT990 PRO. Both sound great with a more round sound from the Beyer and more neutral with the AKG K701. If i had to choose betwenn the two that would be the AKG K701 for the fact that the soundstage is clearly wider and the confort is really great for long listening session. In general, i would recommend an open headphone to go with such an amp and for a home usage.

Thanks Marvin42, I will look in to the AKG K701.