[dsrk]

@iFi audio
Please confirm if the xBass II on xCan is similar in quantity to the xBass on other iFi products like Go Blu, Zen Can and Hip DAC2.

The xBass II is too much for my taste and hoping others would have less bass boost.

 

[dsrk]

@iFi audio
Please confirm if the xBass II on xCan is similar in quantity to the xBass on other iFi products like Go Blu, Zen Can and Hip DAC2.

The xBass II is too much for my taste and hoping others would have less bass boost.

@Sebastien Chiu
Can you answer the above, please?

 

[Audazed]

No experience with the other products but can confirm it's significant but never seemed to be overpowering

 

[bartch]

Ibasso DC01, DC02, DC03, DC04.
Their website is not the best. Prices are reasonable IMO. REad some reviews first. I believe the DC01 was neutral.

I run my Sundara Single ended. I do not have a 2.5mm connector but don't need the extra power and possible additional hiss.

Not sure now if the BT is good enough. I am used to the LZ-A7 iem and the Sundara needs still to break in and the bass is getting sloppy and less detailed.
Not sure if this is the BT/Amp. Need to connect it wired to my cd player soon to judge wired/bluetooth.

This base is not detailed any more: Asking Alexandria: "Alone in a room" I can hear the bass toggle on my iem but not any more on my Sundara...
Maybe the xCAn on it's bass/mids limits here. I have not yet investigated it to be sure but for future speakers I may lean to studio monitors with additional EQ.

cheers,

Hi, i recently bought an XCAN (showroom model, so I got a good discount). Will I get a noticable better quality sound with the an Ibasso DC04 as an extra DAC for my XCAN? The XCAN can drive my Sundara's quite well. So far I tried the BT connection with my Oneplus Nord 2 and my Macbook Pro. Is the Ibasso DAC much better than the built in Bluetooth-Dac from the XCAN? (or the Ibasso DC01, but, that's a bit harder/more expensive to find these days)
Or should I go for a FIIO BTR3K? That way, i could stay wireless (but a bit bulkier) . Has anybody tried to stack a BTR3k with the Xcan? (or is double-amping not a good idea since it doesn't have line out?)

 

[rafaelo]

Hi, i recently bought an XCAN (showroom model, so I got a good discount). Will I get a noticable better quality sound with the an Ibasso DC04 as an extra DAC for my XCAN? The XCAN can drive my Sundara's quite well. So far I tried the BT connection with my Oneplus Nord 2 and my Macbook Pro. Is the Ibasso DAC better than the built in BT-Dac?
Or should I go for a FIIO BTR3K? That way, i could stay wireless (but a bit bulkier) . Has anybody tried to stack a BTR3k with the Xcan? (or is double-amping not a good idea?)

You mean Bluetooth connection or to use the usb of btr3k?

In any case I do not believe it worth it. The xcan dac is very good maybe the usb connection is missing but not worth all this inconvenience for a marginal at best upgrade.

 

[bartch]

You mean Bluetooth connection or to use the usb of btr3k?

In any case I do not believe it worth it. The xcan dac is very good maybe the usb connection is missing but not worth all this inconvenience for a marginal at best upgrade.

thx! I meant both actually The dac in my Oneplus is not that good of course. The DAC in my Macbook Pro M1 is probably a lot better. I was just wondering if I could upgrade easily with a cheap USB dongle Dac. The ease of use of the single XCan is brilliant of course. It's just that I tried the IFI Diablo recently, and, my God, that sounded really crisp and airy and detailed compared to my current mobile setup..but...999 euro's is a bit too much for my budget . I also have a IFI Zen Dac V2 with an Asgard 3 for my fixed Desktop setup. I think I liked the sound signature of the Diablo better than my fixed setup as well.

 

[Stevko]

thx! I meant both actually The dac in my Oneplus is not that good of course. The DAC in my Macbook Pro M1 is probably a lot better. I was just wondering if I could upgrade easily with a cheap USB dongle Dac. The ease of use of the single XCan is brilliant of course. It's just that I tried the IFI Diablo recently, and, my God, that sounded really crisp and airy and detailed compared to my current mobile setup..but...999 euro's is a bit too much for my budget . I also have a IFI Zen Dac V2 with an Asgard 3 for my fixed Desktop setup. I think I liked the sound signature of the Diablo better than my fixed setup as well.

I sold my xcan and buyed a tr-amp instead. This downgrade sounds better

 

[Erikdebrabander]

I purshased a demo version of the Sundara and bench listened with a Dragonfly Cobalt. This device got toasted by the Sundara which was the reason to buy the xCan.
Recently, the xCan had a bluetooth connecting issue and was totalled under warranty by my dealer. Having an Ibasso CF01+iem, I upgraded to a Bluesound Powernode N330 last week for speakers. Not dialed in yet because I need to upgrade from Spotify and had some balance issues (not an option on the powernode).

I do not prefer wireless for headphones anymore. A decent wireless IEM is a great solution.

 

[rafaelo]

thx! I meant both actually The dac in my Oneplus is not that good of course. The DAC in my Macbook Pro M1 is probably a lot better. I was just wondering if I could upgrade easily with a cheap USB dongle Dac. The ease of use of the single XCan is brilliant of course. It's just that I tried the IFI Diablo recently, and, my God, that sounded really crisp and airy and detailed compared to my current mobile setup..but...999 euro's is a bit too much for my budget . I also have a IFI Zen Dac V2 with an Asgard 3 for my fixed Desktop setup. I think I liked the sound signature of the Diablo better than my fixed setup as well.

Macbook pro 13 or 14.1? Because the new New ones 14.1 have a special amp section for high impedance headphones they are a whole new game.

My opinion is the Dac is not so important the amp section of the dac makes most of the difference.

The xcan has a great Dac and an amazing amp section. The xdsd has a more elegant dac section but misses a bit of bite for my beloved sennheiser headphones 58x-6xx. You can see my old xcan review in headfi for more details.

I have xdsd, xcan, btr5, es100 and KA3 which I bought recently, the Bluetooth btr5 and es100 are best for use with my amazon firestick Max (LDAC) watching movies in the TV.

Xcan is the only bluetooth device for serious addictive listening which happens in the balanced mode for me.

I recently bought the KA3 because I am fan of the usb input (timing and dynamics) and the convience of a dongle - the btr5 usb section left me a bit underwhelmed when i tried it.

I hope ifi would do a similar dongle to have a xdsd/xcan flavour and organic sound in a convenient and simple form.

I never try or review staff I cannot afford or cannot replace without big financial pain...

Because when you hear something magical you cannot go back to mediocrasy so i always live in the budget/Value for money category...

 

[Audazed]

Macbook pro 13 or 14.1? Because the new New ones 14.1 have a special amp section for high impedance headphones they are a whole new game.

My opinion is the Dac is not so important the amp section of the dac makes most of the difference.

The xcan has a great Dac and an amazing amp section. The xdsd has a more elegant dac section but misses a bit of bite for my beloved sennheiser headphones 58x-6xx. You can see my old xcan review in headfi for more details.

I have xdsd, xcan, btr5, es100 and KA3 which I bought recently, the Bluetooth btr5 and es100 are best for use with my amazon firestick Max (LDAC) watching movies in the TV.

Xcan is the only bluetooth device for serious addictive listening which happens in the balanced mode for me.

I recently bought the KA3 because I am fan of the usb input (timing and dynamics) and the convience of a dongle - the btr5 usb section left me a bit underwhelmed when i tried it.

I hope ifi would do a similar dongle to have a xdsd/xcan flavour and organic sound in a convenient and simple form.

I never try or review staff I cannot afford or cannot replace without big financial pain...

Because when you hear something magical you cannot go back to mediocrasy so i always live in the budget/Value for money category...

Ditto, tried D90 as dac input to xCan out of curiosity and the differences weren't terribly noticeable for me over the Bluetooth input. I did this via unbalanced input though so maybe you might have different mileage over balanced

 

[bartch]

Macbook pro 13 or 14.1? Because the new New ones 14.1 have a special amp section for high impedance headphones they are a whole new game.

My opinion is the Dac is not so important the amp section of the dac makes most of the difference.

The xcan has a great Dac and an amazing amp section. The xdsd has a more elegant dac section but misses a bit of bite for my beloved sennheiser headphones 58x-6xx. You can see my old xcan review in headfi for more details.

I have xdsd, xcan, btr5, es100 and KA3 which I bought recently, the Bluetooth btr5 and es100 are best for use with my amazon firestick Max (LDAC) watching movies in the TV.

Xcan is the only bluetooth device for serious addictive listening which happens in the balanced mode for me.

I recently bought the KA3 because I am fan of the usb input (timing and dynamics) and the convience of a dongle - the btr5 usb section left me a bit underwhelmed when i tried it.

I hope ifi would do a similar dongle to have a xdsd/xcan flavour and organic sound in a convenient and simple form.

I never try or review staff I cannot afford or cannot replace without big financial pain...

Because when you hear something magical you cannot go back to mediocrasy so i always live in the budget/Value for money category...

It's a MacBook pro M1 16 inch, the new one. My sundara's sound ok on it, but the special amp doesn't seem to kick in with the Sundara's (more people have this problem) . Only works with high ohm Cans.

Thx for all the info. The Xcan sounds pretty good on its own with Bluetooth anyway. And i"ve learned a good lesson: never try out audio stuff you can't afford

 

[bartch]

But...oh man, that Diablo sounded so freaking crisp

 

[rafaelo]

But...oh man, that Diablo sounded so freaking crisp

Now try to forget about it...

 

[etroze86]

Now try to forget about it...

The BT on the xCAN is actually pretty dark sounding to me. I hooked it up to my D90 balanced and it was kind like a light turned on. It got brighter but still retained that warm ifi sound......don't listen to the gryphon if you really liked the diablo.

 

[twiceboss]

The BT on the xCAN is actually pretty dark sounding to me. I hooked it up to my D90 balanced and it was kind like a light turned on. It got brighter but still retained that warm ifi sound......don't listen to the gryphon if you really liked the diablo.

BT xcan is straight up low res.

Gryphon is worse than Xcan+decent dac?