I don't have a preference for either, as I never used one of them. I ended up rebuilding my OEM Shicoh fan with the leads and PC board from the original and the fan, bearings and casing from a newer Shicoh.

So far, no problems but, I have the Evercool 60mm 5V Ball Bearing Case Fan, 3-pin, 4000RMP, Model: #EC6010M05CA

http://www.directron.com/ec6010m05ca.html?gsear=1 as a backup.


As you can tell if you read this thread from the top, my fan was giving intermittent noises for several years before it finally started doing it all the time, pretty loudly. Up to you if you just want to take the plunge and replace now or, wait until it's really whining.

As for doing the replacement, if you have a moderate level of mechanical skill and a decent philips-head screwdriver, it's not hard to do, at all. Once you get the DA-7 open (and the mic-pre sub-chassis out of the way - about 20 screws, in total), the fan is right there, screwed to the side of the DA-7 itself. The thing opens up kind of like the hood of a car (it opens from the the back, hinged at the front). When you prop it open there's a decent amount of room to work.

There are photos and guides (which I found a bit incomplete and lacking detail, yet still helpful) on this and other sites. I think one of the older "Fan Replacement" threads in this forum has a link to a guide - including some photos - on how to open up and replace the battery and/or fuses inside the DA-7, that you can refer to.