Fubar 4 Op-Amp upgrade ?

[SpiceWeasel]

I have the Fubar4 on order (waiting for bank transfer to clear) thanks to idc, the special price was just to good to miss. I havn't even recieved the Fubar yet and I am already looking at tweaks/upgrades, I blame you lot for giving me the upgrade bug.
I was quite happy listening to Spotify free edition through my 5.1 gaming headphones until I upgraded to the Grado SR80i's at xmas. I then upgraded to Spotify premium and now upgrading my pc setup with the Fubar4. When will this madness end?

I was trying to find some reviews of the Fubar online before I ordered and noticed quite a few people have upgraded the Op-Amp to a higher performance version. Some reviews say that the headamp is the weakest part of the Fubar and an Op-Amp upgrade can work wonders. Has anyone tried upgrading their Fubar's with different Op-Amps and what would you recommend ?

It looks to be a bit of a minefiled if you don't know what to look for as their seem to be quite a few options available. I did find this site which is based in the USA, if you scroll down a bit the OPA2627 Superchip (2 x 627's on an adapter) looks like it might be a good upgrade over the standard Fubar item. Are there any UK based companys that sell these upgrades, I know we have RS or Maplins but you would need to know what you want before hand.

 

[matengawhat]

i'd be tempted to just get it and use it for a while before worrying about upgrades!

i think you will be very happy with it over what you're used to - i also read that buying the power supplier makes a big difference

but i thought you were struggling just to buy this - just enjoy it!

think about superchips later - read else where that it is a worth while upgrade but then you could argue you need better cans - when does it stop!!!

 

[SpiceWeasel]

I should of waited until the end of the month when I get paid to buy the Fubar, but I was worried I would of then missed out on the special offer. Just had to spend £300 on getting my car through an MOT and another £100 for tax this month plus xmas, so yes funds are not as good as they should be.

I am not thinking about an Op-Amp upgrade straight away though, just looked like a cheap upgrade to do in the future. If you can improve the performance for £20-£30 though I think it might be worth it. I will of course want to use the Fubar for a while before I think about tweaking any more, you know what its like when you start looking into things a bit more closely.

 

[matengawhat]

well i bought one after you posted it earlier this week should be with me mon/tues fingers crossed

i also google op-amp upgrades and came up with the same site and the superchip - might be worth emailing them to check as the new fubar 4 isn't listed on their site but sure won't be an issue in fitting but they might advice that there is room for one of the others, sure they will be in the best postion to advise - hopefully also will be just pull and push swap with no solder - firestone are obviously happy for you to do though since they supply the allan key to take the casing apart

 

[idc]

Chebby changed the opamp on mine, he may be able to gibve you a few pointers on what the work requires and where to get an opamp from. I (and I think Chebby) find that the Supplier gives the Fubar DAC more dynamic and clarity, it moves you closer to the music and makes it clearer.

 

[matengawhat]

would be good to hear from chebby on how easy it is to install and whether he can point us to a uk upgrades shop

 

[idc]

CHEBBYYYYYYYYYYYYY ! He does not come round here as much as before.

 

[SpiceWeasel]

The Op-Amp is easy to change, it sits in a socket so you can just pull out the old one and push in the new Amp. One of the sites I was looking on (forgot the site) showed a picture with the cover removed. Looks like you can fit the "Superchip" to the Fubar4 from the blurb on their website, not sure what else would work though.

Hopefully Chebby will come along soon...

 

[matengawhat]

well my gf has just txt me asking whats in the box from the netherlands - so guessing its arrived!!!

Will update later once had time to set up. listen and absorb

 

[SpiceWeasel]

Oooo, be interested to hear your thoughts. Mine has been sent out today, should be here Friday.... can't wait.

 

[matengawhat]

well initial thoughts are a very clean, clear and bassy sound - chuffed to bits - the mains pack in to adaptor isn't great due to it coming left out of the plug had to swap my plugs around but think you could prob buy a UK version - interested in the matching mains supplier which just has a figure of 8 so should be quite easy to swap out for any other cable - will update later as just left playing upstairs

i'm using an ipod classic with lossless into an onkyo nd-s1 dock using optical out to the fubar iv then through my senn hd650s