[bidn]

What dac would one recommend for the ican pro?
Is there a dac/amp combo coming to the pro line?

 
I have had the iCAN Pro for several months.
I would like to buy the Utopia, and I have been told the iCAN Pro should be good enough for it as an amp,
but that I should buy the Schiit Yggdrasil as a matching DAC.
 
 
On the other hand the iDSD Pro DAC should be marketed next year.
The Yggdrasil has the disadvantage that it does not play DSD (however I don't play much DSD),
and that the iDSD will probably have a much smaller form factor (and hopefully lesser power consumption).
 
But again in favour of the Yggdrasil is that you don't have to wait,
and you know for sure that is an excellent DAC, we don't know how the iDSD will turn out.
 
In my case I have not made up my mind, whether I should go for the Yggdrasil or wait for the iDSD.
It probably will depend from the date when the Utopia will be available in the country where I live,
there is apparently so much demand that FOCAL cannot cope with it and months of delays add on,
So the more I think about it, the more likely it is that I may just as well wait for the iDSD to come out and see how it will compare to the Yggdrasil.

 

[bidn]

I can give some impressions about the iFi iCAN Pro,
but I am not in a position to write a review of it as it is the first dedicated desktop headphone amp which I own.
 
I purchased it in mid-June , i.e. only two months ago,
and in this period of the year (summer) I have much less opportunity to play with my audio equipment.
I have quite a number of TOTL headphones (incl. Final Sonorous X, VIII,  Mrspeakers Ether C, Oppo, etc.)
but due to time restriction in this period of the year
I used it so far only with the HD 800 (through the XLR-4 output)
and the AKG K812.
 
 
I bought it because:
 
1 I already owned the iFi iDSD micro (combo of DAC and amp), whose SQ received excellent ratings in the tests of respected German audio magazines.
However I hated the volume knob of the iFi micro: too small, and worse, when used in the mode for high impedance phones, a small rotation of the knob would change the sound too much, making it too much of a hassle to use. So  I was interested in a better device improving on the iDSD micro.
 
2 I like multi-purpose things like the iCAN Pro. I was interested in its possibility of switching between solid-state and gaz tube modes, especially as I was not ready for a tube-only amp, not quite trusting the idea that they have a warm sound. Also the iCAN Pro has a few other tweaks and a good number of input and output connections 
 
3 It has a small form factor
 
4 It has class A or A/B depending on the power.
 
 
First the things I don't like about the unit I received :
 
1 the remote does not really allow to adjust the volume. I followed the advice above in this thread and opened a support ticket on their site, hoping they will ship me a replacement.
Hopefully this issue is or will be fixed with the newer shipments
 
2 it does not have a 6,35 mm jack output (I think in the US it is called 1/4 inch TRS ), which for me is more important that the separate left and right XLR-3 outputs.
But if this is the trade-off for getting a small form factor, then so be it, you can't ask for the moon,
 
 
Now what I like about it :
 
1 I indeed enjoy being able to switch and compare the solid state and the tube circuits, and I am very satisfied by the discovery that I prefer the more resolving sound of the solid state circuit so far.
 
2 There are indeed further tweaks and many outputs (an unbalanced and a balanced jack, XLR-4, etc.)
 
3 it does improve the SQ of my DAC-amp combo (Pioneer U-05) : more power, more body, 
the sound is also more "lush" ( I am not sure whether this is the right word) compared to the quite analytical sound produced by the dual ESS Sabre 9016 of the Pioneer U-05.
 
However the changes in sound are not quite as spectacular as one of the tweaks of the Pioneer U-05, i.e. going from the standard USB frame locking range to the most narrow one increased a lot the resolution.
 
I am sorry I cannot say more and am not in position to feed it with a TOTL DAC nor to compare it with other dedicated phone amps.

 

[technobear]

2 it does not have a 6,35 mm jack output (I think in the US it is called 1/4 inch TRS ), which for me is more important that the separate left and right XLR-3 outputs.

Actually the Pro iCAN has two 6.35mm outputs.

 

[thatonenoob]

Actually the Pro iCAN has two 6.35mm outputs.

And a 3.5 too for sensitive items. Though not being able to individually adjust each 6.35 mm output is slightly missed op. Then again, the amp wasn't specifically designed to run multiple cans.

 

[grizzlybeast]

 

Actually the Pro iCAN has two 6.35mm outputs.

And a 3.5 too for sensitive items. Though not being able to individually adjust each 6.35 mm output is slightly missed op. Then again, the amp wasn't specifically designed to run multiple cans.

 
What amp do you know can control each output separately and simultaneously?

 

[thatonenoob]

What amp do you know can control each output separately and simultaneously?

Many pro audio amps do this. Sure, different levels of sound quality and (even compromised) design. But this was the Professional iCAN, with studio grade performance. To clarify- I'm not expecting it to have 8 channels of freedom, or even 2 for that matter. But hey, it'd be cool to have that independent capability. Now I'm sure there are many engineering considerations..and hence I'm really not dinging it. Dual output listening has been done - head box se ii. Maybe I'll rephrase this - it'd be cool to see independent volume/ gain.

 

[iFi audio]

Actually the Pro iCAN has two 6.35mm outputs.

 
This is correct. It does. 

 

 

[grdlow]

   
I have had the iCAN Pro for several months.
I would like to buy the Utopia, and I have been told the iCAN Pro should be good enough for it as an amp,
but that I should buy the Schiit Yggdrasil as a matching DAC.
 
 
On the other hand the iDSD Pro DAC should be marketed next year.
The Yggdrasil has the disadvantage that it does not play DSD (however I don't play much DSD),
and that the iDSD will probably have a much smaller form factor (and hopefully lesser power consumption).
 
But again in favour of the Yggdrasil is that you don't have to wait,
and you know for sure that is an excellent DAC, we don't know how the iDSD will turn out.
 
In my case I have not made up my mind, whether I should go for the Yggdrasil or wait for the iDSD.
It probably will depend from the date when the Utopia will be available in the country where I live,
there is apparently so much demand that FOCAL cannot cope with it and months of delays add on,
So the more I think about it, the more likely it is that I may just as well wait for the iDSD to come out and see how it will compare to the Yggdrasil.

I've been using the iCan Pro with the Yggdrasil and HD800S for a bit and the combination is stunning. Think of the pairing as lifelike hyper detailed DAC meets lush, highly musical amp and completely honest headphones.

 

[Kenny Powers]

Should i be running a fan over this amp is does seem to get pretty hot. I live in california and we dont have the coolest weather in america.

 

[bidn]

 

Actually the Pro iCAN has two 6.35mm outputs.

 
This is correct. It does. 

 

Hello,
 
Please excuse me for my mistake,
I am quite sorry, let me explain:
I was back from summer holidays, I had forgotten about the connections,
and as I try to have as little light as possible in my study (so it is quite obscure and I can put the big 48" SUHD TV which I use as a computer screen at very low luminosity),
I mistook the two front 6,35 mm jack inputs for 2 XLR-3 inputs
(they have a big black muff, and the whole is same size as the XLR-4 plug between the two 6,35 mm jacks
(I have been so far only using the XLR-4 (to HD-800) and the 3,5 mm (to AKG K812) plugs).
 
The iFI iCAN is really nice and I love the small form factor.
Not too small for me like the products of the nano and micro series, 
but as small as possible to get big enough knobs and all the connections you wish.
 
BTW iFI support promptly and professinaly replied and sent me a replacement remote which I should receive soon.

 

[bidn]

  Should i be running a fan over this amp is does seem to get pretty hot. I live in california and we dont have the coolest weather in america.

 
I think that all good amps have to produce warmth, the tube ones producing more than the semiconductor ones.
Moreover given its relatively very small surface, the iFI iCAN Pro will produce less heat that a much bigger amp having the same temperature.
 
I have been using it with a maximum room temperature of 26 degree Celsius (80 Fahrenheit) this summer, 
it has produced less heat than other devices
(I rank like this in terms of heat production : #1 is my 48js9000 Samsung TV which I use as a computer monitor in my study, #2 my 8-disk NAS, #3 my two 5-disk NAS, #4 my Windows and Linux full-tower computers , #5 my AV Onkyo TX-NR-636 receiver for driving the 5.1 speakers in my study, #6 iFI ICAN Pro, #7 Pioneer U-05).
The AV receiver is not as hot as the iFI ICAN Pro, but the the heat-producing surface is much bigger.
Please note that I turn off the audio devices (iFi, Onkyo, Pioneer) when not using them, whereas the other devices are always on.
 
 
A van may be producing noise, so I would avoid using one.
Another idea could be putting a silent laptop fan underneath, but in the case of the iFI iCAn Pro, it would not help because the major part of its bottom consists of a thick layer of plastic (designed against vibrations, but it will probably isolate, preventing the cooling).
 
 
In general I think that, because people in Europe are constantly exhorted by the governments and the media to save energy,
there is much awareness of this issue here,
so they will tend to design devices wasting less energy, thus producing less heat.
So re. heat production I would have a positive prejudice about products of European companies like iFi or Chord,
and unfortunately rather negative about American products in this respect.
In other words I assume that the iFi iCAn Pro will be producing less heat than most similar products of competing companies.

 

[Kenny Powers]

So I shouldn't have to worry about overheating it then? I dont listen to it for crazy amount of hours or anything and its never shut off on me so im just asking.

 

[iFi audio]

  So I shouldn't have to worry about overheating it then? I dont listen to it for crazy amount of hours or anything and its never shut off on me so im just asking.

 
No, you wont be listening for longer than 4 day show!
 

 

[Mediahound]

Has anyone compared this to the Schiit Mjolnir 2? I'm curious how it compares.

 

[Mediahound]

Also, where is iFi based and where are they made?