Problems with Teac UD-301 and JRiver

[JFraser]

So I bought a Teac UD-301 yesterday. I followed the instructions and installed the driver before connecting it to the PC via USB. I have my internal sound card set as the default device so no Windows sounds go through the Teac device. I have set the audio output in JRiver to the Teac asio driver.

 

Sometimes it plays songs but sometimes it doesn't and sometimes the Teac doesn't even appear in the list of sound devices and I have to turn it off and on again to get it to show.

 

When it does play, it will work for a little bit but changing song, or skipping the track makes the DAC just cut out.

 

I connected it via the optical port from the optical out on my motherboard and had the same issues, so this isn't a problem relating to the USB input.

 

Another thing that's weird, is that when it does work, I notice the output to be extremely loud, as if it's amplifying the signal. I have it connected via XLR straight to powered monitors and even at quarter volume on the Teac it's much much louder than previous DACs I've used with built in pre-amp. I don't even have the gain set to 0db on my speakers. Saying that, the sound is fantastic. Very detailed and I haven't heard the low end sound so good on these speakers.

 

Any comments would be very much welcome.

 

(oh, and I'm using windows 10).

[wgscott]

I can't help you with most of this, but the 0dB position on my TEAC NT-503 (which has a volume control but is otherwise similar to yours) is extremely loud. Pre-amps for digital devices are almost always attenuators; the output by default is quite "hot" for standard DACs playing bit-perfect with no volume attenuation. This corresponds to 2V rms. My TEAC also has a selectable +6dB setting corresponding to 4 V rms output. If yours does, you could try dropping that to 2V rms.

[JFraser]

I can't help you with most of this, but the 0dB position on my TEAC NT-503 (which has a volume control but is otherwise similar to yours) is extremely loud. Pre-amps for digital devices are almost always attenuators; the output by default is quite "hot" for standard DACs playing bit-perfect with no volume attenuation. This corresponds to 2V rms. My TEAC also has a selectable +6dB setting corresponding to 4 V rms output. If yours does, you could try dropping that to 2V rms.

 

Thanks for the reply. I think there's some confusion, my TEAC does have a volume control. I'm saying even when the knob is at quarter, it's very loud.

[wgscott]

Sorry, I thought the volume control for the UD-301 only worked for the headphone amp, but it looks like you can toggle that behavior.

 

 

Do you have this set to "Variable"?

[Snowmonkey]

So I bought a Teac UD-301 yesterday. I followed the instructions and installed the driver before connecting it to the PC via USB. I have my internal sound card set as the default device so no Windows sounds go through the Teac device. I have set the audio output in JRiver to the Teac asio driver.

 

Sometimes it plays songs but sometimes it doesn't and sometimes the Teac doesn't even appear in the list of sound devices and I have to turn it off and on again to get it to show.

 

When it does play, it will work for a little bit but changing song, or skipping the track makes the DAC just cut out.

 

I connected it via the optical port from the optical out on my motherboard and had the same issues, so this isn't a problem relating to the USB input.

Are you saying it doesn't play some tracks even when connected via optical out? When you do that, do you set the audio output in JRiver to SPDIF out on the motherboard and do you disconnect the USB connection to the DAC?

[JFraser]

Are you saying it doesn't play some tracks even when connected via optical out? When you do that, do you set the audio output in JRiver to SPDIF out on the motherboard and do you disconnect the USB connection to the DAC?

 

Yes and yes.

[JFraser]

Sorry, I thought the volume control for the UD-301 only worked for the headphone amp, but it looks like you can toggle that behavior.

 

 

Do you have this set to "Variable"?

 

Yes

[Snowmonkey]

Do you have another DAC available which you can connect via optical out and if so, does that work OK?

[17629v2]

Out of curiosity, I checked the manual. Windows 10 wasn't on the list of supported OS's.

[wgscott]

The manual pre-dates Windows 10, but I have heard of a number of USB issues, and then apparently they really messed things up with the anniversary update.

 

Works great on OS X, fwiw.

[17629v2]

If it works on OSX, it should work with Linux. Maybe run a live distro just so the dac could be used until the issues are resolved.

[Snowmonkey]

Do you have the right version of the driver installed?

 

 

The most recent version is dated 09-09-2016, so you could easily have missed it.

[JFraser]

Do you have the right version of the driver installed?

 

[ATTACH=CONFIG]28962[/ATTACH]

 

The most recent version is dated 09-09-2016, so you could easily have missed it.

 

Yes I found a copy of the newest 1.0.10 driver off the Japanese website. What's weird is that in the one you link to, they've only updated the pdf instructions file and not the driver itself. The driver is still the 1.0.8 version.

 

Either way, I've tried both drivers but neither have fixed the problem.

[davide256]

I would suggest a troubleshooting 101 approach... I had like problems when I had both iFi Nano and Gustard u12 drivers installed where both used XMOS chipset.

 

First; swap out the USB cable first and use a different USB port to rule out a physical connection problem. If this doesn't resolve, proceed with the assumption

of a software problem

 

1. Uninstall all add on drivers for DAC/asynch USB devices including your Teac device... by add on I mean ones that show in your installed app list.

2. reboot your pc, insure that your Antivirus software, malware, security software, etc are disabled after boot up to avoid interference with a clean install. You may want to disable network access at this point so that you don't forget and start browsing the internet.

3. Follow the driver install instruction explicitly and watch closely for any error messages. Its very common during an asynch USB driver install for the program to

ask you to plug in the device to complete the install... don't skip this if asked.

4. Reboot the PC and see if the device is recognized.. at this point all your security software should be re-enabled

5. bring up task manager and check to see if you have any background audio apps running that did not come with windows OS or from Teac. If the device stops being recognized, disable the audio app(s) in startup and reboot to see if this stops the failure to recognize the device. iTunes or JRMC program app's shouldn't be an issue, what you are looking for is ill behaved audio driver apps that didn't advertise their presence in the installed app list or uninstall cleanly in step 1

[lucretius]

Yes I found a copy of the newest 1.0.10 driver off the Japanese website. What's weird is that in the one you link to, they've only updated the pdf instructions file and not the driver itself. The driver is still the 1.0.8 version.

 

Either way, I've tried both drivers but neither have fixed the problem.

 

Since you have the same problem with SPDIF out on the motherboard, I don't see how it can be a problem with the TEAC driver, which is for USB only.

 

I have occasionally had problems with Windows 10, but most of the time they turned out to be Adobe Flash updates that would kill the timing -- JRiver would play fine, until I opened up a web browser. So first thing I usually due to troubleshoot is to take Adobe Flash out of the equation.

[JFraser]

I would suggest a troubleshooting 101 approach... I had like problems when I had both iFi Nano and Gustard u12 drivers installed where both used XMOS chipset.

 

First; swap out the USB cable first and use a different USB port to rule out a physical connection problem. If this doesn't resolve, proceed with the assumption

of a software problem

 

1. Uninstall all add on drivers for DAC/asynch USB devices including your Teac device... by add on I mean ones that show in your installed app list.

2. reboot your pc, insure that your Antivirus software, malware, security software, etc are disabled after boot up to avoid interference with a clean install. You may want to disable network access at this point so that you don't forget and start browsing the internet.

3. Follow the driver install instruction explicitly and watch closely for any error messages. Its very common during an asynch USB driver install for the program to

ask you to plug in the device to complete the install... don't skip this if asked.

4. Reboot the PC and see if the device is recognized.. at this point all your security software should be re-enabled

5. bring up task manager and check to see if you have any background audio apps running that did not come with windows OS or from Teac. If the device stops being recognized, disable the audio app(s) in startup and reboot to see if this stops the failure to recognize the device. iTunes or JRMC program app's shouldn't be an issue, what you are looking for is ill behaved audio driver apps that didn't advertise their presence in the installed app list or uninstall cleanly in step 1

 

Many thanks for your reply, but none of that worked. Wondering if I should just return the unit.

[davide256]

Many thanks for your reply, but none of that worked. Wondering if I should just return the unit.

 

The other possibility is an Asio parameter/driver issue. Does the problem go away if you use WASAPI or kernel streaming? I personally don't like Asio, have always found kernel streaming better where supported. And kernel streaming requires no setup fiddling when its supported

[beerandmusic]

jriver has several options including how to handle volume...have you tried jriver settings?

Try using another player?

I love my nt503 and can adjust the volume from nothing to loud.

Does the pc volume control have effect as well as the player and as well as the teac?

I use asio since most of my music that i listen to is dsd

[JamesPTao]

The problem is the driver. Teac messed up when they released the 2nd tow revisions of the driver and forgot to add components . Uninstall the driver, unplug the usb connection, restart the machine, install the oldest driver, then plug in the usb connection AMD power up device. This should fix it. It did for me. The later drivers are missing the aisocompetant. You'll notice the original driver is a larger file then both later versions..