Cepheid Chorus: help me find legit 3207/3102 chips!

Caldo71

Active member
Hey folks,

So after finishing a ridiculously clean and meticulous build of the Cepheid with every component tested before being soldered in, I am clearly having the EXACT same symptims and problems as this fellow here…
https://forum.pedalpcb.com/threads/cepheid-chorus-no-chorus….12747/page-2#posts
…and, YES: ALSO ordered my chips off of eBay.

All these eBay listings look the same and I REALLY do not know who to trust! Can anyone point me in the right direction?

P.S. would prefer NOT to go the 3007/3101 route, now that the solder pads are bridged and with taller components populated all around it. That is a game of “desoldering twister” I an likely to lose.
 
Solution
So @fig ’s chips arrived today—“cool audio” branded versions—and sure as s#%t they worked a charm!

Fig, can’t thank you enough, dude.

The finished pedal sounds really fantastic and is incredibly quiet to boot, I find.

Anecdotally, I happened to be playing the right chord as I first dialed it in and was instantly greeted with nearly the exact early 80s chorus sound of Pretenders’ “Brass in Pocket” so I’d not be surprised if a CE-1 or 2 was in play on that track.

So cool…I really needed a win today and this was a great capper to my evening.
So @fig ’s chips arrived today—“cool audio” branded versions—and sure as s#%t they worked a charm!

Fig, can’t thank you enough, dude.

The finished pedal sounds really fantastic and is incredibly quiet to boot, I find.

Anecdotally, I happened to be playing the right chord as I first dialed it in and was instantly greeted with nearly the exact early 80s chorus sound of Pretenders’ “Brass in Pocket” so I’d not be surprised if a CE-1 or 2 was in play on that track.

So cool…I really needed a win today and this was a great capper to my evening.
 
Solution
Yes we have plenty of the Coolaudio chips, but we are not going to stock the MN3207 "NOS" any more -- too high a rate of failure and dead chips.
I think the “mn” versus the “v” was what I was getting tripped up on…a distinction I was unaware of. I just ordered a few of each from ya just to have around for the future.
 
So @fig ’s chips arrived today—“cool audio” branded versions—and sure as s#%t they worked a charm!

Fig, can’t thank you enough, dude.

The finished pedal sounds really fantastic and is incredibly quiet to boot, I find.

Anecdotally, I happened to be playing the right chord as I first dialed it in and was instantly greeted with nearly the exact early 80s chorus sound of Pretenders’ “Brass in Pocket” so I’d not be surprised if a CE-1 or 2 was in play on that track.

So cool…I really needed a win today and this was a great capper to my evening.
@fig FTW!
 
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I think the “mn” versus the “v” was what I was getting tripped up on…a distinction I was unaware of. I just ordered a few of each from ya just to have around for the future.
Yeah, a lot of people don't realize the part number tells you a lot...

V3207, V3208, V3205SD, V3102 - Current production, high quality parts made by Coolaudio. These are the only BBD chips Coolaudio makes. These were unobtainable for a long while during the semicon shortage.

MN3207, MN3102 - So called "New Old Stock", parts said to be made by Panasonic or Matsushita a dozen or more years ago. Often high fallout rates or outright fakes. We have seen as high as 70% bad chips in a batch of MN3207. We no longer sell them since Coolaudio production seems to be coming back online now.

Xvive MN3005, MN3007, MN3009 - Current production, high quality BBDs. Xvie does not use their own unique part number, so strictly by part number you cannot distinguish from "new old stock" parts. But they do have the Xvive logo on them and like Coolaudio, are high quality.
 
Hey folks,

So after finishing a ridiculously clean and meticulous build of the Cepheid with every component tested before being soldered in, I am clearly having the EXACT same symptims and problems as this fellow here…
https://forum.pedalpcb.com/threads/cepheid-chorus-no-chorus….12747/page-2#posts
…and, YES: ALSO ordered my chips off of eBay.

All these eBay listings look the same and I REALLY do not know who to trust! Can anyone point me in the right direction?

P.S. would prefer NOT to go the 3007/3101 route, now that the solder pads are bridged and with taller components populated all around it. That is a game of “desoldering twister” I an likely to lose.

That’s me!…
 
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