Teac NT503 Networking DAC

Thanks for this info. I will check it out.

 

I am running the UD-503 as a preamp for a much more expensive analogue setup and it sounds so much better(or at least,it doesn't create a bottleneck) than as a DAC and preamp.The TEAC-QVCS volume control of the 503/505 is a trickle-down tech from the Esoteic line-up and i can vouch for it.

 

Glad to have someone else mention the volume control. It is very good indeed.

 

Hey.That's interesting.What is the end of checking the number of Internet firmware using the management program TEAC HR STREAMER?

 

First I want to thank you for your directions they were clear and helped me out. I reloaded the HR Streamer for Android on my tablet and it recognized my NT-505 immediately. I followed your instructions to verify the versions and I am up to date, v1.10/10.3c. I just now am beginning to play with the program listening to various albums I have on my NAS drive, figuring out how to navigate the program. the music files streamed sound good, however the program did get hung up and froze once. I closed it out and re-loaded it and it seems to be OK. Not sure if it was me or if the program is a little buggy, time will tell.

I have no MQA files at the moment nor a streaming service that has them. For this reason I can't say MQA works or not, however it shows up as being enabled in the properties settings area. The program has defaulted to "check the latest firmware" settings, so I am good there.

It will be interesting comparing the TEAC program with the ROON program. I also noticed in the properties that there is a button for setting up ROON. I will experiment however I think this will be a dead end since ROON has not certified this DAC yet.

Again thank you for your help.

 

New firmware for 505.
My 505 has been updated again to SYSTEM Firmware V1.21.
NETWORK Firmware Ver11.1e cannot and does not want to be updated from TEAC HR STREAMER.
Who knows what is possible to think of?

NT-505 | DOWNLOADS | TEAC - International Website -

 

Thank you so much for bringing this to my attention. I followed the link and downloaded the firmware but it appears you are correct it automatically upgraded through the TEAC HR Streamer. I went and turned my system on, switched the TEAC to the NETWORK setting, had roon running on my PC (not sure if this was required or not but it was running), opened the TEAC HR Streamer on my Android and went to "Setup", Picked the "Music Player" which is "DAC TEAC NT-505" and it said new firmware update available do I want to install? I picked yes and it installed it. I am now going downstairs to see how it works and sounds. I will use ROON as my interface. In the "Settings" menu, "Audio" submenu on ROON it reads the TEAC NT-505 is "ROON ready".

 

An update to the above post. Following the instructions above seems to only update the TEAC Streamer software, which is not a complete job to get ROON updated. To do this you need to download to your computer the TEAC new Firmware. Exract this. Now connect your TEAC DAC to the PC using a USB cable. You will need another cable for later in the process to update the firmware on the TEAC DAC. This is a USB cable with a mini USB on the rear. Similar to a cable you charge an Android phone from a PC with but it isn't a charger cable and the Firmware update docs spell this out so make sure you use the correct cable. You unzipp two Firmware files for the update onto your PC as I mentioned, connect using the standard USB cable for music. Then you follow all the instructions and the DACs firmware will be updated. You then will see in ROON the TEAC DAC with the statement that it is ROON certified and now you are not using the Apple protocol but ROONs.

Hope this makes sense, if not the TEAC instructions that come with the Firmware files is very clear so follow them carefully. Good luck.

 

One last comment on this upgrade, figure it out because it really makes a significant difference in sound. Like a totally new DAC when streaming through ROON not using the Apple App Airplay, which is what ROON was using prior to the upgrade.

 

Unfortunately in my case the streamer firmware 505 does not want to be updated.
Most likely the disgusting quality of Teac HR streamer is an obstacle to this.When you select the program in the player 505 programa not looking for a new firmware.
TEAC is a solid manufacturer.Why it was necessary to divide proshivku 505 on the standard rear USB and streamer exclusively through curve programa Teac HR streamer.
Of course USB updates without any problems and through the Internet do not want!!!

 

You may need to uninstall the TEAC HR Streamer software and then reinstall it for the update to take. These latest TEAC updates included both Streaming Software and DAC Firmware updates. I do not use the TEAC HR Streamer as my go to interface, I subscribe to ROON and use that mainly. I do however have the HR Streamer on my Android Tablet so for this reason I updated both the Streamer and Firmware programs. To update the Firmware which is required to use ROON fully you need to connect your TEAC DAC to your main PC where you have downloaded the newest firmware program. You update not through the USB port that you would stream music through but the little USB port used only for updating the firmware. As stated in the TEAC literature you need to make sure you do not use an Android charging cable but a cable specifically designed for transferring data. The instructions TEAC provides to update both the TEAC HR Streaming program and the latest firmware that includes the ROON licensing is very well written and easy to follow. As I mentioned you may need to start over as best you can by uninstalling as much of the old program(s) as possible. I also found that updating through the PC's USB ports is not straight forward and some of the USB ports on your PC may not be recognized for this update process. I tried using a USB port on the front of my machine and it did not work so I used one on the rear and it did work. Why this happened I do not know but the point I am making is if the update fails try another USB port. The firmware file is called "ud-505_nt-505_fw_v121.zip"

I copied this off their site:

SYSTEM Firmware V1.21 / NETWORK Firmware Ver11.1e
Support Roon at NETWORK. (Roon Ready)
Operation stability has been improved.​

What may be confusing is they mention using the Streamer software for updating the firmware which is misleading. I believe what they are trying to say is through the software you might be able to read the instructions on how to update the firmware but in no way is the streaming software used to update the firmware this is solely done through your PC directly into the DAC. I was confused by this at first and after updating the Streaming software I noticed that the DAC still was not ROON ready so I went back and re-read and decided to use the firmware download through the PC directly into the DAC and that worked easily once I figured out the correct USB port to use on my PC.

Good luck and keep me posted.

 

Managed to flash the 505 after I installed VPN on the router.Put the country of Germany.Router took Aliexpress.In my country block some sites and under this deal fall and normal sites.

 

Hi everyone!

First time poster, long time lurker, here.

I need some advice from Teac NT-505 / NT-503 owners. I am currently looking to replace a NAD C658 which I've been trying out for past few weeks. NAD C658 doesn't work for me as I find it overly bright, un-naturally revealing, and overly clinical. I was using C658 as a preamp connected directly to Odyssey Kismet stereo amp, driving Paradigm Studio 60v5.

So, I am looking for a preamp/dac and Teac seems to fit the specs at the right price point (around $2k).

My question is can you please shed some light on your sonic impressions of Teac NT-505? I like revealing dacs, but not at the cost of losing their musicality. I listen to classic rock, Jazz, blues mostly.

Also, I'd appreciate if someone can compare NT-505 (or NT-503) to Lumin D2, Auralic Altair or any other dac from their reference point of view?

Thanks
A Cat

 

I cannot compare the TEAC NT-505 or 503 to those other DACs but I can attest to the TEAC being extremely musical. There is lots of detail but no edge or brightness. It uses the top of the line Verita AK4497 dual DAC chip set which is also used in the Esoteric line of CD players and DACs. I think you would be very happy with the 505 being that it is ROON certified along with seamlessly integrating with both Tidal and Qobuz. I do not use it as a headphone amp nor as my preamplifier but both of these duties I understand unit performs admirably in.

 

mds, thanks for sharing your experience. Eventually, I'll have the dac run through a dedicated pre-amp, but for now, it will do the duties of a preamp.
I am trying to establish some kind of reference point that I can relate to, as it's not possible for me to audition NT-505 before I buy. What was your older dac, and whats your current setup including speakers? I have Paradigm 60v5, which are slightly forward of neutral and can be very unforgiving if the source is bright.

 

My full system is listed in my profile, however the speakers that are used with the DAC are KEF Reference 3s. They are neutral and very detailed, my guess similar to yours. I believe you will be very satisfied with the NT-505. I had a similar concern when I was contemplating a DAC purchase and when I auditioned the TEAC I immediately knew this was the one for my system. I am sure there are a number of other DACs out there that also are worthy of consideration however this DAC has an awful lot to offer certainly it is more than just a DAC with a smooth detailed sound. My vinyl loving friends find this DAC to their liking.

 

Thank you for the insights. I've ordered one, and will be receiving tomorrow hopefully. While, I am hopeful and excited, I am also not ignoring the huge price difference between NT-503 (selling for approx. $600 on the bidding site) and $2k for the NT-505. Not speaking from the feature-set perspective, and strictly from the sound quality aspect, do you think the price difference is justified? For example, where does the NT-505 shines vs it's predecessor.

 

I had the NT-503 at my house for a week and feel in love with it. Sounded wonderful, however it was about the time the NT-505 was about to come out. I really liked all the features that the 505 offered (ROON, Tidal, Qobuz, MQA, better Bluetooth) and particularly I felt the VERITA AK4497 D/A converters would keep me current longer and less likely to wonder if I made a mistake. Now that I own and lived with the NT-505 I will say that it does sound better than the NT-503, but how much better and if it justifies the price difference probably not if that is the only criteria for buying the DAC. When you add in all the other upgrades then yes it is definitely worth the extra money and I do not regret the expense at all. I had been looking at DACs in the $2500 to $3000 range and feel like I got a steal with the 505. If you have any plans to use ROON, it is worth it just for that alone not to mention the other improvements and higher levels of performance this unit operates at. The one thing I must warn you about, it takes a long time to break in. At first I was really upset since I had been listening to a well broken in NT-503 and it sounded better than an out of the box NT-505, but once broken in the 505 took it place on top of the 503 in all areas and yes it is better in terms of sound. Most important Congratulations on the purchase, you will not be sorry. Please keep us posted and remember no snap judgements until you have lots of hours of break in on the unit.

 

Congratulations, I am also considering the 505, yet there is not a lot of user experience out on the unit so far. I'm interested in the wifi capabilities. The Onkyo distribution does not seem to help their sales and availability.

 

MDS - thank you for the super-informative and detailed writeup of your experience with the NT-505. Can you please confirm if it will play truly gapless over your NAS setup? I am already aware of the limitations on what file types and sample rates can be streamed via NAS, but for those file types that are supported (IE FLAC, 192/24), will say a live album with no gaps stream truly smoothly from one track to another? For me this is one of the most important details of any network streamer.

Thanks!

 

"Gapless", what I can speak to are how live albums that I have ripped to FLAC play through ROON. Two examples would be the Quicksilver Messenger Service's "Happy Trails" and The Grateful Dead's "Fillmore West 1969" where I hear no gaps between the tracks. The music just flows from one song into the next without notice of any breaks in the flow of the concerts. I do not stream from the internet but do stream these albums off my NAS drive using ROON. I can also say that when I stream a ripped album that is not a live recording one song flows into the next and the only silence I hear is the fade out and any silent moments that are deliberately tacked onto the end of the song by the engineer, because the moment the song is complete the next starts with no pause. I hope this helps you out.

 

Thanks. That’s jus what I was looking for, and as someone with a sizable collection of high res live Grateful Dead, you really couldn’t have given a better example to illustrate your point! I’d be streaming off of my NAS (Synology) as well, so I’m encouraged to read your positive experience with gapless. Now if I could only find someone that had the silver model in stock!

 

Silver is the bomb, that is the color I have and it looks fantastic! Will you be interfacing though ROON? ROON is fantastic and I was a skeptic, really sounds good. TEAC's program does not even come close. You might want to check with Quest for Sound. They special ordered my unit. The owner, Steve Monte is great to work with and a big Dead fan. Good luck.

 

Thanks for the tip! I’ve thought about Roon, and will likely try it out at some point. I’ve been using Plex as my DLNA server mainly, and that has been very solid on the Synology. To my knowledge, there is not Roon Synology client yet, but I think they are working on it. I’ll probably start with Plex and go from there. I’ll let you know how it goes once I’ve got everything in order. Plex works really well as a DLNA client with the Apple TV, and it will even play high res multichannel audio, which is a nice perk. Unfortunately, the Apple TV is limited to 48kHz/24-bit audio, hence the desire to add the 505 for 2-channel playback.

 

I am not 100% up on all the options available in terms of the various clients to stream from however prior to the TEAC DAC being certified by ROON, ROON used Apple Play, I believe. I thought it sounded good but not as good as my CDs played through the DAC using my CD player as a transport. Once TEAC was certified by ROON they dropped Apple Play and went with their proprietory program to stream through to my DAC and the sound quality jumped and I mean jumped really high in quality. It was night and day better, so much so I rarely use my CD player now that I have the majority of my collection ripped to FLAC. I have now turned my CD player off, I don't power it up unless I know for sure I will be spinning discs. ROON's radio play is also great. Radio Play goes through my collection of files and plays randomly selecting from my collection of files those that are similar in sound to the last played file I had selected. I am re-discovering my music collection through this feature and being pretty impressed with my taste in music that I had totally forgotten I even owned. It will also include songs from Tidal and Qobuz if you subscribe to them, which I haven't as yet, and probably never will. Having over 3,000 albums ripped and still not complete I am having too much fun rediscovering music I had no idea I even owned.