[Skooks]

Thanks, @bflat! That's a great explanation of why it's probably not doable to mount the tubes vertically.

BTW, the Red Duet tubes were $300 for a (slightly used) pair from Tim @ Kitsune Hifi. There were actually a few for sale on this forum recently, but I had already purchased my set from Tim when the sale popped up on the forum. I'm not sure you could convince Tim to part with his remaining Red Duets (they're NOS and unopened)...but he does have (whisper whisper) some other tube upgrades that he's willing to part with. Ask him!

You know, I feel bad that some iCan Pros end up on the sale block on Head-Fi, sometimes because people don't appreciate them enough. Like many others, I lust after more expensive "premium" amps that people rave about, but I've come to respect this amp as a pretty good product for the money. It is very versatile and has a lot of potential (just like any other amp with tubes) to sound better and/or different if you are willing to get your hands dirty and experiment.

I agree... it is a very versatile amp and performs very well. I just don't understand the designer hiding the tubes. They could have done like Schiit and stuck those tubes thru 2 holes in the top. That would have solved all the problems with getting to those Roman candles and doing some tube rolling. Also, when the stock tubes wear out, how do they expect us to replace them? I had to send my Pro iCan to Kitsune to put the new GE tubes in. That's a very expensive way to tube roll. Oh, well... thanks for your input.

 

[tonyo442]

hello, be disappointed by the iFI pro ican, ....... difficult to hear, but replace the iFI pro by what by which headphone amp, are all the parameters are respected, quality mains cables or modulations, quality of the current, quality of the wall sockets, where is put the material, quality of the supports, before analizing a material there is so much parameter to take into account, it is not enough to buy an amp to put it any or and connect it anyhow and think that the amp will give the best of itself, that's why I do not understand how one can be disappointed by the iFIpro, maybe it is to highlight defects on other elements, and especially what amp will replace it and at what price,
Personally I like and I prefer the iFI pro ican in tuning transistor, it has a great medium, but if I seek more heat a low medium more engaging better deffini serious with more impacts and definitions I plug the amp Moon 430HA headphones and I'm thrilled,
it is necessary to go to the evidence that on any helmet they have better current they run, and of course do not forget to accompany the headphones and headphone amp with a dac out of the current, 3 or 4 or 5 volts, I was able to test the LCD4 plugged on dac, without headphone amps and I was always disappointed, with a grave that was not held, a grave that floated, which lacked life and of expression, and of character,

 

[ufospls2]

Thanks, @bflat! That's a great explanation of why it's probably not doable to mount the tubes vertically.

BTW, the Red Duet tubes were $300 for a (slightly used) pair from Tim @ Kitsune Hifi. There were actually a few for sale on this forum recently, but I had already purchased my set from Tim when the sale popped up on the forum. I'm not sure you could convince Tim to part with his remaining Red Duets (they're NOS and unopened)...but he does have (whisper whisper) some other tube upgrades that he's willing to part with. Ask him!

You know, I feel bad that some iCan Pros end up on the sale block on Head-Fi, sometimes because people don't appreciate them enough. Like many others, I lust after more expensive "premium" amps that people rave about, but I've come to respect this amp as a pretty good product for the money. It is very versatile and has a lot of potential (just like any other amp with tubes) to sound better and/or different if you are willing to get your hands dirty and experiment.

The Pro iCAN is an amazing amp IMO, especially for the Money. I'd love to hear it with the tubes you have now. I'd be scared about losing my warranty though, but after the warranty period is up, tube rolling would be awesome. I am happy with my Master 9, but do miss the Pro iCAN in my set up.

 

[iFi audio]

Also, at Axpona we showcased our Pro iDSD and Pro iCAN at work together. Thanks to everyone who took time to listen to it.

 

[iFi audio]

Folks, you might wanna check out our official xDSD tour page. It just started and yes, there are prizes!

https://www.head-fi.org/threads/xdsd-tour-the-official-thread.877669/

 

[tekkster]

I'm sure it's been said a bunch of times on this thread. But since I want to say it, and no one else would understand...

The HD 800 and T1 on this amazing amp (source iMac/Swinsian/Schiit Wyrd/H2/ifi pro ican/[headphone]) is stunning.

The biggest surprise for me, though, was the Etymotic ER-4P (still one of my all time favorite IEMs).
I did not know it had any bass capabilities....LOL

 

[bflat]

I agree... it is a very versatile amp and performs very well. I just don't understand the designer hiding the tubes. They could have done like Schiit and stuck those tubes thru 2 holes in the top. That would have solved all the problems with getting to those Roman candles and doing some tube rolling. Also, when the stock tubes wear out, how do they expect us to replace them? I had to send my Pro iCan to Kitsune to put the new GE tubes in. That's a very expensive way to tube roll. Oh, well... thanks for your input.

Alternate View - there are not many tubes that are considered better than the stock GE ones. It is pretty easy to open the chassis (not confirming that I have) and swap the tubes - less than 5 min. Once you try 1-2 different tubes you are likely going to stick to the one you like for a long time. Under normal operating conditions, a NOS pair should last around 5000 hours. I purchased a backup pair and don't expect I will be alive long enough to wear both sets out.

The amps that are truly designed to roll tubes on a frequent basis use much more pervasive tubes like 12AU7 or 6922. On the positive side, you can spend thousands on the elusive holy grail tubes with either one of those types LOL. These are so ridiculously rolled that folks even claim specific years or date codes are the best. I suspect folks who continue to do this find just as much joy in finding the elusive tubes as much as listening to them.

 

[Skooks]

Alternate View - there are not many tubes that are considered better than the stock GE ones. It is pretty easy to open the chassis (not confirming that I have) and swap the tubes - less than 5 min. Once you try 1-2 different tubes you are likely going to stick to the one you like for a long time. Under normal operating conditions, a NOS pair should last around 5000 hours. I purchased a backup pair and don't expect I will be alive long enough to wear both sets out.

The amps that are truly designed to roll tubes on a frequent basis use much more pervasive tubes like 12AU7 or 6922. On the positive side, you can spend thousands on the elusive holy grail tubes with either one of those types LOL. These are so ridiculously rolled that folks even claim specific years or date codes are the best. I suspect folks who continue to do this find just as much joy in finding the elusive tubes as much as listening to them.

I basically agree with your analogy on chasing tubes... it gets to be the Easter egg hunt for audiophiles. And, you can throw in... chasing amps and DACs and etc... it never stops... there's always another one that can beat the present one. Doesn't leave much time for enjoying the music.

 

[dcguy73]

I basically agree with your analogy on chasing tubes... it gets to be the Easter egg hunt for audiophiles. And, you can throw in... chasing amps and DACs and etc... it never stops... there's always another one that can beat the present one. Doesn't leave much time for enjoying the music.

Then again, sometimes you're happy enough with the tubes you've got to stick with them for a while...

Had a listening session with my upgraded iCan Pro tonight with a friend who owns a Chord Dave amp/DAC. He was interested in comparing using his Dave as an amp and DAC versus using the Dave as a DAC with the iCan Pro as an amp.. For everything but classical/classic jazz, he preferred the sound of the iCan Pro (in hybrid tube mode) as amp over his Dave. He said it sounded more dynamic and organic. The reason he preferred the Dave over the iCan Pro for classical/classic jazz is that he thought the Dave was more transparent.

From my personal listening, I thought the sound through the Dave was smoother and more even-handed. Listening through the iCan Pro made the sound more "fun" and alive. Plus, with the bass boost at setting number 1, the iCan Pro had more low-end impact than the Dave.

We used the Focal Utopia and the HE1000v2 as headphones. Testing was a bit difficult because we could only A/B the two amps using single-ended headphone jacks (the Dave does not have a balanced headphone jack).The iCan Pro sounded noticeably better when using its balanced jack, but then A/B was impossible. Also, the iCan Pro lost its edge when running in standard solid state mode as opposed to hybrid tube mode.

 

[tekkster]

Then again, sometimes you're happy enough with the tubes you've got to stick with them for a while...

Had a listening session with my upgraded iCan Pro tonight with a friend who owns a Chord Dave amp/DAC. He was interested in comparing using his Dave as an amp and DAC versus using the Dave as a DAC with the iCan Pro as an amp.. For everything but classical music (and a few jazz albums), he preferred the sound of the iCan Pro (in hybrid tube mode) as amp over his Dave. He said it sounded more dynamic and organic. The reason he preferred the Dave over the iCan Pro for classical is that he thought the Dave was a little more transparent.

That's really interesting! I don't have the funds to get my hands on a Dave, but comparing the H2 to the iCan Pro, I find that I prefer the iCan Pro paired with my old HD800 for large orchestral classical pieces. What headphones was he using that made him prefer the Dave for classical? I wonder if they're affordable enough that I could get those and try them with my H2 just to see if I prefer that setup (And yes, I know that the Dave and H2 are worlds apart, I'm just curious)

 

[dcguy73]

That's really interesting! I don't have the funds to get my hands on a Dave, but comparing the H2 to the iCan Pro, I find that I prefer the iCan Pro paired with my old HD800 for large orchestral classical pieces. What headphones was he using that made him prefer the Dave for classical? I wonder if they're affordable enough that I could get those and try them with my H2 just to see if I prefer that setup (And yes, I know that the Dave and H2 are worlds apart, I'm just curious)

I updated my post with more info, including which headphones we used. Honestly, I don't think he listened to any large-scale orchestral pieces during our session, so maybe that usage case would have had a different outcome.

 

[Skooks]

Then again, sometimes you're happy enough with the tubes you've got to stick with them for a while...

Had a listening session with my upgraded iCan Pro tonight with a friend who owns a Chord Dave amp/DAC. He was interested in comparing using his Dave as an amp and DAC versus using the Dave as a DAC with the iCan Pro as an amp.. For everything but classical/classic jazz, he preferred the sound of the iCan Pro (in hybrid tube mode) as amp over his Dave. He said it sounded more dynamic and organic. The reason he preferred the Dave over the iCan Pro for classical/classic jazz is that he thought the Dave was more transparent.

From my personal listening, I thought the sound through the Dave was smoother and more even-handed. Listening through the iCan Pro made the sound more "fun" and alive. Plus, with the bass boost at setting number 1, the iCan Pro had more low-end impact than the Dave.

We used the Focal Utopia and the HE1000v2 as headphones. Testing was a bit difficult because we could only A/B the two amps using single-ended headphone jacks (the Dave does not have a balanced headphone jack).The iCan Pro sounded noticeably better when using its balanced jack, but then A/B was impossible. Also, the iCan Pro lost its edge when running in standard solid state mode as opposed to hybrid tube mode.

To judge the two equally, you must run both at their optimum... don't you think? The iCan Pro's optimum is with balanced output and with tubes in one of its two positions. Would you say to make it even you would not use the tubes in the Pro since the Dave has no tubes? I don't think so. Just my thoughts.

 

[Skooks]

I updated my post with more info, including which headphones we used. Honestly, I don't think he listened to any large-scale orchestral pieces during our session, so maybe that usage case would have had a different outcome.

Which of the two headphones did you like best with the iCan Pro?

 

[Morimoriya 62]

Hi guys

Has anyone experience with Adi2 pro REM?
My friend wants to buy it ,i thinking I can pro has advantage in SQ for HD800S but when his searching and asking some people ,They told him Adi2 pro better in SQ

Please guide me thanks
Regards Mori

 

[Morimoriya 62]

Which of the two headphones did you like best with the iCan Pro?

Mybe HD800S