Musical Fidelity V-8

Yes.
Do a search.
It is a very good amp. And dead cheap compared to the quality.

It's not something can be said about MF products.
Meier's Cantate will blow any of MF's headphone amps oout of water.
Moreso than that, MF requires dedicated PSU, cause of crappy wallwart unit which comes with it stock. Summarized price of amp and psu are completely outrageous compared to the quality.

It Is Superb...

It is a superb amp... with... low impedance phones like the D5000s, or RS-1s - few are better.

However, with your Senns it is no better than many other amps, particularly the DV332 / DV337 / SP Extreme / GS Solo / X-CANv3 / etc / etc.

So... I would not buy it, unless you are planning on buying Denons, or Grados. I doubt you would like it better than your MPX3, except with low impedance phones.

Stereophile had an article on it (september issue), go to borders or barnes and noble and read it. It has received nothing but positive remarks, value being emphasized.

I have read the stereophile article - all positive.

I have also heard the opinion from professionals that sell head amps that better value for money can be found elsewhere. They were also critical of the Musical Fidelity X-Can v3 as poor value.

Has anyone directly compared the Musical Fidelity X-Can v8 against a high end amp?

The part of the world that I live in (Australia) does not have allthe amps that are sol in the US like the Dark Voice, Little Dot etc.

Who?

Who?

I would discount anything you hear from "so-called professionals" - especially, if they sell head amps. I would hardly consider them objective. You'll get a much better evaluation of whatever amps, by doing a few searches on Headfi. You'll find more than you want to know... as well as... more than the "professionals" know.

I've had / heard both MF X-CANs and modified my X-CANv3, as well as the DV332, and SP Extreme, among others.

I assure you the X-CANv3 is a good amp, especially with the Pink Floyd mods. The X-CANv8 is much better with low impedance phones, but not high impedance phones.

You can buy the Darkvoice amps, simply by ordering them from Audiophile China.com, or Casque HiFi and Jasmine Audio on eBay - as we all do. And... which is exactly what I would do... if I lived "Down Under."

From other people selling headphones. In Australia the X-Cans are pricier. the X-Can v8 is equivalent to $US800 or $A1000.

My professional friend was commenting how over-priced they are in Australia versus others on the market.

Well... Then...

Well... then... he is right!

I'd far rather order a Darkvoice from Audiophile China in Hong Kong. I assume the prices are around $450 USD and $750 USD in Australia (shipped).

I'd still rather have a X-CANv8 for Denons... but... not for most other phones - though at $1000 AD... I'd likely just "live with" the DV332, or DV337, with the Denons - their not bad with these DV amps.

I have had one of these (v8) for quite a while and used it to drive my ATH W1000's and as a preamp driving my Dodd 5687 push pull amp and a Rawson gainclone pushing both single driver speakers (Diatone) and vintage Modulus monitors, with an UltraFi Musicstream DAC for D/A conversion.  No complaints, whatsoever. It's easy for anyone who has no personal experience to speculate, but I consider it self serving guesswork based on a LACK of ACTUAL knowledge. Purchased on the used market it's a great bargain, and if desired one can roll tubes and do some tailoring of the sound. I am NOT a gearhead, I prefer to just enjoy the music, so this is my $.02.

Best Wishes.