iFi products Discussion Thread + Review of iCAN - Page 2

Quote:

Originally Posted by mrinspire 

This is great man!

Have you been using the 3D effect more often? Can you say more about what you hear when it is engaged? How many levels of effect are there?

Thanks....

Hi,

Quote:

Originally Posted by mrinspire 

Yes,I have test the 3D effect.  There is 3 level of adjustment there.

 

Frankly and quite strange,I do think that off is better than level one while level 2(Max position) is the best option, Sound is more open,spacious and wider,detail is engaging more as well in level 2. Detail level is impressive,

I think the "one dot" setting is meant only for "ping pong" stereo recordings. I found some older Jazz and Blues recordings where this is of use, moving the stage forward and giving better centre fill. I believe this is what is normally called "crossfeed". With most music it does not work too well, seeming almost like mono. This is probably why a lot of people do not like "crossfeed".

Normally I use the "tree dot" setting, this works very well with most music. It gives a much wider sound stage than without and it also moves the sound stage forward so the band is not stuck in your head like the bypass setting. To me at least this is the major thing I like about the iCAN.

As you may find in my headphone reviews, the XBass tingey also helps with some headphones that I'd otherwise call awfully bass shy to sound pretty decent, I use it with my JVC's. Given the jolly decent head amp in the iDAC , I cannot see me splurging on a straight headamp without these tricks.

Cheers Rich

Thanks for the info about the 3d effect. I am psyched now to give it at try. that is interesting that the middle setting is not so great, but the full on setting seems to work well. I have tried other ways of getting a realistic soundstage, such as the setups described in these two threads:

http://www.head-fi.org/t/648182/two-headphones-at-once-an-utterly-natural-crossfeed-effect

http://www.head-fi.org/t/640655/noozxoide-and-neutron-versus-jplay-for-windows

but the 3d effect on the iCAN sounds so much simpler.

And thanks Bedlam for your original review that included the iCAN. that is what first clued me into this new amp. I am also interested in hearing the bass boost as that is another great option with certain headphones or for certain music. I also like being able to vary the sound of my system without having to swap my equipment, so these extra features of the iCAN really appeal to me.

Can't wait for it to arrive!

Ordered the ICan this AM.  Should be here this week.  Stoked.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rob N 

I need to post my impressions of the Ican

Would appreciate hearing them.

interesting topic and a nice bit of tech there. I'm primarily interested in the 3D effect and how similar it might be to crossfeed addons such as foo_dsp_xfeed for foobar.

Crossfeed implementation in foobar tries to create a natural speaker setting, mixing one channel into the other for the effect of "3D"

Is this similar and do you use it frequently?

Another spacial process is in a set of headphones I have; Parrot Zik which is really well done and offers room and stereo width effects. It really works well with out seeming like a cheap trick. I imagine, done right this could be very good.

Hi,

Quote:

Originally Posted by ri_toast 

interesting topic and a nice bit of tech there. I'm primarily interested in the 3D effect and how similar it might be to crossfeed addons such as foo_dsp_xfeed for foobar.

Crossfeed implementation in foobar tries to create a natural speaker setting, mixing one channel into the other for the effect of "3D"

Is this similar and do you use it frequently?

Another spacial process is in a set of headphones I have; Parrot Zik which is really well done and offers room and stereo width effects. It really works well with out seeming like a cheap trick. I imagine, done right this could be very good.

I tried crossfeed before, via software, I did not like it much, better than nothing.

I recently tried the Zik at Selfridges, the iCAN 3D sound (turned all up) is more alike than what this does, but not adjustable, just a very narrow setting (down) which seems a lot like crossfeed and a wider setting that makes the soundstage wider than yer noggin and moves it forward a good deal.

I have 3D Sound on all the time.

Cheerio Rich

thanks, the fact you like it always on speaks volumes, it is what i do with the zik.

Quote:

Originally Posted by bbophead 

Ordered the ICan this AM.  Should be here this week.  Stoked.

Preliminary thoughts.  Got it yesterday so only have about four hours on it.

3D effect in three positions:  Direct (none), minimum sounds duller and less separated, maximum is O.K., not sure it's really wider than my WA6, seems to be brighter.  In all, i would say it sounds like there is some FR manipulation going on.  Maximum doesn't work too well with my Grado's which are already bright enough given that they are G-Cushed which may brighten them up more and widens the soundstage a lot.  So, right now, kind of a meh.

X-Bass:  Direct (none), minimum increase is a little like a loudness control (for the ancient ones) and not bad.  Doesn't seem to make things too boomy so the increase must be lower than mid-bass, maximum could be useful, again mostly increases the low bass, probably too much most of the time for me.  Maybe I don't need those orthos after all.   

The volume control is waay sensitive so 10 o'clock is really too loud on the Grado's and even the 600 ohm 880's.  Seems to have enough juice however.

It seems nicely made, solid and matched the Woo's silver look fairly nicely.  When plugging and unplugging even with the supplied stick-on feet, you must hold the unit when plugging and unplugging.  Other accessories include a stereo pair of RCA's and a single mini to mini stereo cable for the digital devices.  They don't recommend plugging both in at the same time.

Perhaps when I have some more time with it, I'll post further impressions if they differ from these.  Looks like a keeper for $266 including shipping.

Maybe some pics would be nice but the writing is super tiny on it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by bbophead 

Preliminary thoughts.  Got it yesterday so only have about four hours on it.

 

3D effect in three positions:  Direct (none), minimum sounds duller and less separated, maximum is O.K., not sure it's really wider than my WA6, seems to be brighter.  In all, i would say it sounds like there is some FR manipulation going on.  Maximum doesn't work too well with my Grado's which are already bright enough given that they are G-Cushed which may brighten them up more and widens the soundstage a lot.  So, right now, kind of a meh.

 

X-Bass:  Direct (none), minimum increase is a little like a loudness control (for the ancient ones) and not bad.  Doesn't seem to make things too boomy so the increase must be lower than mid-bass, maximum could be useful, again mostly increases the low bass, probably too much most of the time for me.  Maybe I don't need those orthos after all.   

 

The volume control is waay sensitive so 10 o'clock is really too loud on the Grado's and even the 600 ohm 880's.  Seems to have enough juice however.

 

It seems nicely made, solid and matched the Woo's silver look fairly nicely.  When plugging and unplugging even with the supplied stick-on feet, you must hold the unit when plugging and unplugging.  Other accessories include a stereo pair of RCA's and a single mini to mini stereo cable for the digital devices.  They don't recommend plugging both in at the same time.

 

Perhaps when I have some more time with it, I'll post further impressions if they differ from these.  Looks like a keeper for $266 including shipping.

 

Maybe some pics would be nice but the writing is super tiny on it.

Thanks for the impressions. I was told by Avatar Acoustics (who is sending me my loaner unit) to let it burn in for a week before doing any critical listening, so it will be interesting to hear what you think in a week or so.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nirmalanow 

Quote:

Originally Posted by bbophead 

Preliminary thoughts.  Got it yesterday so only have about four hours on it.

 

3D effect in three positions:  Direct (none), minimum sounds duller and less separated, maximum is O.K., not sure it's really wider than my WA6, seems to be brighter.  In all, i would say it sounds like there is some FR manipulation going on.  Maximum doesn't work too well with my Grado's which are already bright enough given that they are G-Cushed which may brighten them up more and widens the soundstage a lot.  So, right now, kind of a meh.

 

X-Bass:  Direct (none), minimum increase is a little like a loudness control (for the ancient ones) and not bad.  Doesn't seem to make things too boomy so the increase must be lower than mid-bass, maximum could be useful, again mostly increases the low bass, probably too much most of the time for me.  Maybe I don't need those orthos after all.   

 

The volume control is waay sensitive so 10 o'clock is really too loud on the Grado's and even the 600 ohm 880's.  Seems to have enough juice however.

 

It seems nicely made, solid and matched the Woo's silver look fairly nicely.  When plugging and unplugging even with the supplied stick-on feet, you must hold the unit when plugging and unplugging.  Other accessories include a stereo pair of RCA's and a single mini to mini stereo cable for the digital devices.  They don't recommend plugging both in at the same time.

 

Perhaps when I have some more time with it, I'll post further impressions if they differ from these.  Looks like a keeper for $266 including shipping.

 

Maybe some pics would be nice but the writing is super tiny on it.

Thanks for the impressions. I was told by Avatar Acoustics (who is sending me my loaner unit) to let it burn in for a week before doing any critical listening, so it will be interesting to hear what you think in a week or so.

Yeah, that's what I needed, a "loaner" unit.  Avatar is where I bought it.  They didn't seem so forth coming in their emails but perhaps I should have asked a bunch of questions.  

It was iFi that offered to loan me a unit for review, but they made the arrangements through Avatar to avoid shipping one from the UK.