(Topic ID: 105443)

Best Place to Order MB3730 Amp Chip (DE Sound Board)

By PIN_GROOM

9 years ago


Topic Heartbeat

Topic Stats

  • 14 posts
  • 6 Pinsiders participating
  • Latest reply 9 years ago by PIN_GROOM
  • Topic is favorited by 1 Pinsider

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#1 9 years ago

I looked at Great Plains, since I've heard so much good, but he doesn't seem to have it.

Google brought up a couple places, but I've never heard of/ dealt with them.

In addition, Neither site seems to allow you to calculate shipping without creating an account. This is one of my pet peeves. When I got into this hobby, I was so relieved to find that most of "our" retailers do calculate shipping without signing in. Is that hard somehow? (Rhetorical)

I've got this BTTF...the woofer was missing, and the wires were just lying on the speaker grill. There's no A/C coming out, so I thought I would just throw a chip at it and go from there.

The board also has the Hum and Buzz (playfield lighting related buzz) that Google tells me is common and rarely really fixed, but that can be dealt (or lived) with later. I already tried recapping the spots I would have suspected might cause problems, and installed the missing power supply screws to no avail. Another day...

Thanks for any help.

#2 9 years ago

Number of sellers on ebay with them. Some in the US but you will pay a premium. I have had good results with everything I have ordered from UTSource in china. They have them for $2.00 plus $4 shipping.

#3 9 years ago

Excellent! I would never have bought out of China (HK) due to a high rate of semiconductor counterfeiting, but since you've had good luck and it's $6, I think I'll give that a spin.

Cheaper is better than faster in this instance.

Thanks!

#4 9 years ago

Be careful with China sellers. Far too often these are sanded/reprinted fake ICs.

#5 9 years ago

Oh, I know. It's rampant in audio electronics. Just Google "Counterfeit Transistor" and you'll get quite a bit. In fact, I just did it again for the first time in a while, and look what came up.

https://www.greatplainselectronics.com/Information.asp?region=133

Down at the bottom the seller that Cactus Jack has had good luck with is listed.

The questions then, are where can I get a genuine part, and does this particular counterfeit work properly? 'Cause really, I just want one that does the job.

Jack: Have you bought a lot of stuff from this seller and/ or have you bought this particular part?

Thanks!

#6 9 years ago

Right now there is a dude selling Roland IR3109 VCF ICs for like $4 a piece. They normally go for around $50 tested and working.

ebay.com link: FSC IR3109 SSOP

Dead giveaway on these is that the font does not even match for the numbers. On the original ones, the number "1" is in a sans serif font. I have never seen one that has a "1" with the top curl, and I've replaced dozens of these.

If you're gonna fake it, at least get the font right. Sheesh...

#8 9 years ago

Forget to mention, I have used this supplier in the past to obtain these DE amps, plus other parts that can't found in other places. Bob doesn't use paypal and operates similar to the Pinball Resource.

#9 9 years ago
Quoted from PIN_GROOM:

Oh, I know. It's rampant in audio electronics. Just Google "Counterfeit Transistor" and you'll get quite a bit. In fact, I just did it again for the first time in a while, and look what came up.
https://www.greatplainselectronics.com/Information.asp?region=133
Down at the bottom the seller that Cactus Jack has had good luck with is listed.
The questions then, are where can I get a genuine part, and does this particular counterfeit work properly? 'Cause really, I just want one that does the job.
Jack: Have you bought a lot of stuff from this seller and/ or have you bought this particular part?
Thanks!

No, I have not ordered that particular part from them and I have not done a ton of business with them. But I have purchased a number of semiconductors (including some reverb stuff) from them and all were legit. Obviously, anything coming from China is a crap shoot until you have established a good working relationship with the supplier. Even a good supplier could get some counterfits themselves. It may depend on how they stand behind their products but returns are usually out of the question just due to the cost of shipping.

When we say a counterfit, it probably won't work at all. It is a similar bodied component that has been wiped clean and then relabeled with the marking of a more valuable part. As has been discussed before, there are other forms of counterfits but that is the most common purpose of making them: turning a worthless common shaped part into a hard to get valuable one that someone will pay top dollar for.

If you don't mind the higher price, buy from someone here in the US. Chances are, you will receive it much faster.

#10 9 years ago
Quoted from thedefog:

Be careful with China sellers. Far too often these are sanded/reprinted fake ICs.

Im curious about this.
I used to build amps (not pinball related), and Ive bought quite a few from china, Ive never had a dud or one that even sounded less than what I expected. Is there significant evidence to believe that fake ICs are rampant? Ghost shift IC I can believe, but downright fake chips sound more to me like internet rumor.

#11 9 years ago

Evan,

http://sound.westhost.com/counterfeit.htm

Click on the links near the top of the page for many images of fakes.

Rod Elliot is pretty well respected in DIY audio circles if you don't know that already.

If he says it's true, I believe him. Never had a problem myself.

#12 9 years ago

Counterfeit chips are common. You can see from the pictures the lot numbers and date number which should vary, obvious sanding marks for remarking and evidence from past purchasers of chips that didn't work.

Common counterfeit chips are the 6821 PIA, 6802, 6800 processors.

I've had some luck with 6502 series chips from a China supplier, but expect the worst and limit your investment in the purchase until you can determine if the chips work.

Given the extremely small number of amp failures with DE sound boards, it isn't a big deal to pay a bit more for a few real chips and the assurance it brings.

If you are working with 6821's where there are frequent failures on CPU, Driver and sound boards it would be more appropriate to stock more than just a few for these type of boards.

#13 9 years ago

arcadechips.com

$10
http://www.arcadechips.com/product_info.php?products_id=57

I buy a couple of different audio chips from him. Also has the 55536CVSD speech chips used in all the Williams pins

1 month later
#14 9 years ago

I ended up using Bob Roberts. It worked out fine.

Bob has a quirky, old school way of doing business, but it went great.

This way of doing things appeals to me, but we still hand write tickets at work, and only very grudgingly began accepting credit cards. (Leaches)

You go Bob!

Thanks to all that contributed.

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