Fubar II DAC Impressions

[Pagail118]

Hi everybody,

I received my Fubar II DAC today and wanted to share my impression for all the one who might have a hard time to figure which DAC to buy ! ( like I did )

First the DAC is very nice to look at. The light in the front are quite bright ! The build quality seems really great. Something that is weird is the power plug, which is really unusual. It is straight and about 6.5 cm long.

Anyway, that is not the most important part. Coming from my headphone output of my XPS M1530, I was wondering if my purchase will make a real difference to the sound.

Let me say it makes a huge difference. When I first started "Angry Chair" from Alice in Chains MTV Unplugged, the difference was amazing. It feels like every instruments comes from the right place. Before it sounded like every instruments was coming from the same hole, buy now I hear all the spacing between all the sounds.

On a trance song like "Everything" from Tiesto, the base kick seems more deep.

Well that is pretty much it. I think it was well worth it. The only think I dislike is that it takes like 1 sec to switch from a song to another with WASAPI enable in Foobar2000.

I really recommend this dac, even if I can't compare it to any other dac. I feel like I paid for a real improvement. I really wish I had knew before it could make such a big difference !

Now I hope the wait for my LD MKIII won't be too long !

Note : Sorry if there is any incoherence in my text, English is not my first language !

 

[HeatFan12]

Nice...

I have been using the Fubar II for almost a year. Great little dac...
I don't have any delay problems though. I use it with XP Pro and Vista. I don't use Wasapi or ASIO and it works great.

 

[Pagail118]

Yeah, it really is wasapi that slow down. I might turn it off it bothers me too much.

 

[Toby M]

You could try ASIO, I don't get any delay using it with the Fubar II.

 

[roker]

Another happy customer here.

I paired it with the supplier for even better sound

I'm thinking of replacing the stock opamps with 627s

 

[Pagail118]

Hey quick question. At what volume do you set the output on your computer ?

It seems that around 75 sounds a lot better. at 100 my amp volume can't be higher than 10/100... no room to adjustments

 

[lordearl]

roker - can definitely suggest changing to opa 627, the difference is huge, especially at the lower end. where did you get the additional power supplier? our stores in Aus aren't stocking firestone products anymore!

 

[darkhalo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pagail118 /img/forum/go_quote.gif Let me say it makes a huge difference. When I first started "Angry Chair" from Alice in Chains MTV Unplugged, the difference was amazing.

Just wondering what you are comparing it to, and how much you paid for it. Thanks.

Edit: Sorry, I see you say you were use the Dell laptop headphone output before.

 

[Pagail118]

Quote:

Originally Posted by darkhalo /img/forum/go_quote.gif Just wondering what you are comparing it to, and how much you paid for it. Thanks. Edit: Sorry, I see you say you were use the Dell laptop headphone output before.

It cost around 190 CND. I think you can get the power supply on the official website. That's where I got the DAC anyway.

 

[roker]

Quote:

Originally Posted by lordearl /img/forum/go_quote.gif roker - can definitely suggest changing to opa 627, the difference is huge, especially at the lower end. where did you get the additional power supplier? our stores in Aus aren't stocking firestone products anymore!

I got it from a seller on the forums (thanks head-fi).

did you try:

http://www.firestone-audio.com

???

 

[Toby M]

I just put OPA 627s in my Fubar II and Cute Beyond. Wow! Nice upgrade for $90!

If anyone in Australia is looking for these I can reccomend COEM Audio. They sold me 4x OPA627 pre-soldered onto Browndog adapters for $90 shipped. Great place to deal with.

Roker - how would you rate the audio improvement from the Supplier units compared to the OPA 627? I'm interested in this but they cost quite a bit for a small power supply.

 

[roker]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Toby M /img/forum/go_quote.gif I just put OPA 627s in my Fubar II and Cute Beyond. Wow! Nice upgrade for $90! If anyone in Australia is looking for these I can reccomend COEM Audio. They sold me 4x OPA627 pre-soldered onto Browndog adapters for $90 shipped. Great place to deal with. Roker - how would you rate the audio improvement from the Supplier units compared to the OPA 627? I'm interested in this but they cost quite a bit for a small power supply.

As soon as I order a set of 627s I'll let you know

I have to sell a few things on ebay first.

 

[Toby M]

Quote:

Originally Posted by lordearl /img/forum/go_quote.gif where did you get the additional power supplier? our stores in Aus aren't stocking firestone products anymore!

You can order straight from here: http://firestone-audio.com/

I've done this a few times from Canberra and they've been great. The Aus dollar is up a lot at the moment too compared to a few months ago.

 

[koven]

anyone know how the fubar ii compares to the d2 boa?

 

[Toby M]

The D2 is an amp+dac right? You'd probably want to compare it to the Fubar III, which also an amp+dac unit. The Fubar II is just a straight dac, you need an external amp to go with it.

With the Fubar III it appears you have the option to bypass the amp and just use it as a DAC, so you can always upgrade to an external amp later. Not sure if you can do that with the D2 or not.

Probably can't go wrong with either