For those who are interested in the new Teac NT-505, it  is currently available here…

https://soundapproach.com/teac-nt-505-usb-dac-network-player.html?gclid=EAIaIQob...


I just spoke with Alan from Sound Approach and he confirmed it is available and is ready to ship.   They have them both in black and silver at $1999.00 (free shipping) [Ouch!!]

After hearing Eric’s NT-503 at Decfest through headphones, I was really impressed.   The hard part is to convince the bride to give me the green light.  I was able to find the previous model like Eric has, and it’s about $1000.00 bucks.   

While I am sure the new one is not worth 2x the price of the previous model; the Tidal, Roon, and MQA decoding are big features that I find attractive.

Palomino...Yeah I am pretty bummed about the price as well.   I read the entire sheet of the features, and while it sounds good, that’s ALOT more $$$ for an upgraded model.

Here is the product information sheet on the 505.....

https://soundapproach.com/pdfs/NT-505_SNPI_WWE.pdf

I have been looking for a new and/or open box 503, but have come up short so far.   I thought I found one, but when I inquired about it was gone. Hence why I looked into the new 505 NT.  Personally...I’d rather save the money and buy a left over/ open box 503, add the ZBIT to the chain, and still have some $$ left over.

Audirvana does the MQA thing but of course the DAC does not.  I do think that the partially unfolded MQA I get sounds closer to CD or ripped flac.

After being on a TIDAL binge, I recently went back to my ripped library.  Quite a bit better than TIDAL.  I was a little surprised by the difference.

When Qobuz becomes available in the U.S. I will give it a try.  I remember reading a Paul's Post not too long ago and he says the quality is superior to TIDAL.