2017 Chinese brands DAC vs. Teac

ben_

Active Member
Hi there,

Lately I wanted to upgrade my desktop dac. I was owning a Cambridge Audio DacMagic 100 which sounded great but slightly veiled and no better than my Breeze audio AK4490 (both with provided wall wart power supply)

I wanted to buy a new generation DSD dac because I have more and more files in this format and tried upsampling to DSD with audirvana and find it sounded great.

My choice is between a used from 2016 (still under warranty) TEAC UD-501, or a brand new Topping DX7 or Audio-GD NFB-11.28
I would like and headphones output closer to the dac because my amps has one which is so-so and I may upgrade my headphones in 2018.

The TEAC I can have it for ~$412, topping dx-7 for $446 or Audio-GD $465

What I like in the teac is its massive power supply, good build quality and it has great review from when it came out (2013) but use an older generation dac and USB chip.
What I dont want is anything that sound bright, I sent back an SMSL M8A because of this, they claimed its sound improved with the separated power supply but then it would have cost something in the same range as other with headphones output and a proper built-in power supply.

What would you do ? The chinese dacs have both good reviews also
 
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I've had the Teac and, for $412, you'd be hard pressed to find better. Very nice DAC that made a noticeable difference in my system.
 
The TEAC is not bright to me. It just is better with everything, definition, midrange balance, etc. Remember this was one of TEAC's total DACs. This after listening for 1/2 hour. It is that noticeable.

Thanks for your answer :) Confirming what I've read from various sources it is not bright and has an excellent midrange definition, I personally would lean towards the Teac just based on how it was build on dual mono with quality components that do not need upgrade. But wanted to read input from others as this particular one use an (two actually) older PCM1795
 
I've had the Teac and, for $412, you'd be hard pressed to find better. Very nice DAC that made a noticeable difference in my system.
Thanks for your answer, may I ask from what you upgraded with the UD-501 and why did you get rid of it ?

Cheers,
 
Thanks for your answer, may I ask from what you upgraded with the UD-501 and why did you get rid of it ?

Cheers,
I sold it when I bought a Parasound Halo integrated with built-in DAC. However, I've since sold the Parasound and wouldn't mind picking up another UD-501.
 
Thanks to you all, I installed the Teac in my system today and spent the day listening with my headphones (wife's also working home today).

Really happy with the sound, the izotope-64 upsampling I used to run on audirvana is almost useless now, and sound is really more lively than any dac I owned, seems to sound really well on my integrated amp as well. I'm using RCA, not balanced XLR connection I was in fear because some review say it sounded better using balanced but its just fine to my ears :)
 
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