Yeah, I'm not trying to say that the crossfeed is junk or unlistenable, just I prefer it off most of the time. I fully understand how people enjoy its sound, which can be good and sometimes great, I just find its effect contrary to many audiophile's supposed preference of 'purity'
. Basically, I get distracted by hearing an emphasis on things I know aren't there. This is only my very limited two cents, though, so take it for what it's worth
Despite all my documented grievances with it, believe it or not, the crossfeed was actually
*the* deciding factor why I kept the Micro Amp. When I'm listening to hip-hop, I found it immensely enjoyable and I believe it takes this genre's musicality to a level that isn't normally accessible (through headphones) without it. I listen to about 20% hip-hop, and after hearing the crossfeed's definitively positive impact on it, I couldn't bear the thought of giving it up. Yeah, the Micro Amp sounded slightly better in general than the Fubar III, but without the crossfeed, I probably would have kept saving my money for something that offered a greater leap in sound quality.
Moogoob: Through necessity, I quickly memorized all the switches! I'm not really sure there's any other practical way to go about it. The Fubar III (and the PSU) place the controls, aside from the volume knob, on the back, which I think is a significantly worse location. This is especially true since these small switches are jammed between the input/ouputs and when stacked, whichever is on bottom is really hard to get to. Ergonomically, I think the Micro is a generally better designed unit, but that the Fubar III does looker 'cooler', for whatever that is worth.
Aimlink: If you still use the Fubar III, I think you might consider ordering the 2627 op-amp from
Firestone Audio - Headphone Amplifier - USB DAC - Digital to Analog Converter With the adapter and shipping it comes to $61, and, in my opinion, is on par with the PSU's level of impact. It's really easy to put install, too. The sound-stage becomes much more 3D, the transitions are faster and more detailed, and scientifically speaking, it gives the sound more 'pa-zang'
