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al.stroh
41
Apr 22, 2016
I own the black version of the UD-301, which I paid $350 for well over 6 months ago. It's THE best bang for your buck around, in terms of sound quality and features. If it were available at the time, I would have purchased the UD-503, which has even better specs. That said, the UD-503 is over twice the price.
I'm using my UD-301 in a home studio setup (utilizing the XLR outputs), and it works flawlessly. The noise floor is inaudible and it's the cleanest, clearest sounding DAC I've ever owned. Prerecorded (commercial) music reveals things I'd never heard before, and it's one of those DACs that makes a very good recording sound amazing, while poorly engineered recordings sound ... well ... like crap. In a near field, studio setup though, the UD-301 will blow your socks off. Since that's the only way I've ever used mine, I can't comment on how it might sound in a more conventional/home setup.
The headphone amp is a little weak, in terms of driving power. I'm using a pair of AKG K712 Pro headphones (62 ohms), and while the headphone amp sounds incredible, on some source material, and unless I remix it (crank up the gain), the UD-301 headphone amp just doesn't have the power to drive my cans to the levels I would prefer, especially in the bass department. I have another DAC in my setup I can use though, if or when I need more power.
All things considered, I would buy the UD-301 again in a heartbeat. I have a LOT of 24-bit/192Khz recordings, and the well engineered files sound incredible. The TEAC UD-301 is worth every penny, and then some. After owning and using mine in a studio setup, I would have paid $500 or more for it. At $350, it was a GREAT buy and I can highly recommend it.
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