[youurayy]

I am testing the Pro iCAN with the Pro iDSD these days. I am impressed by the dynamism, control, details, extension etc. but I miss life from the sound. Especially vocals/mids just sound recessed and lifeless compared to other similarly priced amps. Other technicalities however like dynamism and control are outstanding. I find this to be an analytically perfect amp but having hard time to connect emotionally to the music with them.
How much this can be improved with other tubes?

tubes lose control imo, try DSD512 upsample on the iDSD

 

[RustyGates]

Selling my Pro iCAN for those who are interested, just need to condense my collection.

https://www.head-fi.org/threads/ifi-pro-ican-hardly-used-australian-shipping-inclusive.899721/

 

[Dan Lee]

Hi guys, hoping I can get a little help and understanding here as I am by no means tech savy. I have the ican pro and this thing gets crazy hot which I understand to be relatively normal if you run it in tube or tube+ mode but I always run it in solid state mode as I prefer the clarity that SS offers over tube warmth. Also I find that my ican has a common tendency to go into safety mode relatively easy. I am not sure what I am doing wrong to cause this or if my unit is defective. I read the faq page on ifi and they talk about to much current and other things I dont understand. This thing is supposed have 14 watts on tap so I dont know how I could possibly be approaching that number to cause safety mode to engage. I occasionally use bass boost at 1 notch and 3d at 3 to 4 notchs from time to time but I would think that using low impedance headphones like the Utopias or slightly higher with LCD-4 that shouldnt cause so many drop outs.

Am I missing something or just not understanding? Is it simply a DC current issue like ifi suggests in the faq and if so how do I control that so I can take advantage of this units features and power?

Thanks for any help you can provide guys.

 

[Slim1970]

Hi guys, hoping I can get a little help and understanding here as I am by no means tech savy. I have the ican pro and this thing gets crazy hot which I understand to be relatively normal if you run it in tube or tube+ mode but I always run it in solid state mode as I prefer the clarity that SS offers over tube warmth. Also I find that my ican has a common tendency to go into safety mode relatively easy. I am not sure what I am doing wrong to cause this or if my unit is defective. I read the faq page on ifi and they talk about to much current and other things I dont understand. This thing is supposed have 14 watts on tap so I dont know how I could possibly be approaching that number to cause safety mode to engage. I occasionally use bass boost at 1 notch and 3d at 3 to 4 notchs from time to time but I would think that using low impedance headphones like the Utopias or slightly higher with LCD-4 that shouldnt cause so many drop outs.

Am I missing something or just not understanding? Is it simply a DC current issue like ifi suggests in the faq and if so how do I control that so I can take advantage of this units features and power?

Thanks for any help you can provide guys.

That’s not normal for it to go into shutdown/safety mode so easily. My Pro iCan gets warm but this normal behavior for class A amps. I would submit a support ticket with iFi

 

[Dan Lee]

Thanks, thats what I thought just wanted to see if I was missing something.

 

[iFi audio]

Thanks, thats what I thought just wanted to see if I was missing something.

Hey there Dan,
If you've opened a support ticket, I'm sure our guys are helping you but I just thought I'd drop this in here.

Just curious, do you use a 3.5mm connection and plug the headphone in with an SE connection 3.5mm TRS jack into the balanced output? This could lead to what you actually describe. Generally if the Pro iCAN goes into protection mode, it is an indication that something is wired or potentially connected wrongly.

Normal sensitivity headphones (e.g. Audeze or Focal Utopia's) should be connected using at least 6.3mm connections, and it's better to use XLR-4 or Dual XLR for balanced connections. Don't use 3.5mm connections as these have a -18dB iEMatch fixed, so the levels will be low - this is intended for super sensitivity IEM's (e.g. Campfire Andromeda).

Also, a word of advice never connect SE 3.5mm plugs to the connector marked BAL. It will mess up the sound and cause protection circuitry to trigger more readily.

I hope this helps? Let us know how you get on. Thanks.

 

[Dan Lee]

Hey there Dan,
If you've opened a support ticket, I'm sure our guys are helping you but I just thought I'd drop this in here.

Just curious, do you use a 3.5mm connection and plug the headphone in with an SE connection 3.5mm TRS jack into the balanced output? This could lead to what you actually describe. Generally if the Pro iCAN goes into protection mode, it is an indication that something is wired or potentially connected wrongly.

Normal sensitivity headphones (e.g. Audeze or Focal Utopia's) should be connected using at least 6.3mm connections, and it's better to use XLR-4 or Dual XLR for balanced connections. Don't use 3.5mm connections as these have a -18dB iEMatch fixed, so the levels will be low - this is intended for super sensitivity IEM's (e.g. Campfire Andromeda).

Also, a word of advice never connect SE 3.5mm plugs to the connector marked BAL. It will mess up the sound and cause protection circuitry to trigger more readily.

I hope this helps? Let us know how you get on. Thanks.

I appreciate you taking the time to respond to me. I have opened a ticket but havent heard back but could be up to 3 days on website and its only been a day and a half so not worried about that. I run all of my headphones with a 4 pin xlr cable. That being said I may well have hooked something up incorrectly or have a setting that is not set correctly. I just dont know what that might be yet. I plug all three devices into a furman power conditioner as well but I suppose its possible that the conditioner could be the issue as well. I absolutely love the system and all its features. For me this setup is my end game, I just want to get it all working correctly.

Thank you again for taking the time to help me out a little here. I really appreciate that.
Dan Moser

 

[betula]

My take on the Pro iCAN. Thanks iFi!

 

[iFi audio]

My take on the Pro iCAN. Thanks iFi!

Thanks!

 

[LoryWiv]

My take on the Pro iCAN. Thanks iFi!

Appreciated your excellent review and especially wanted to concur that of the 3 modes, Tube mode strikes the best balance between speed / detail retrieval and non-fatiguing musicality. There is a caveat: although tube mode is my overall listening preference, I find the soundstage and imaging is less satisfying than SS. Using the 1st setting of 3D does widen the stage but sounds a bit unnatural.

Wondering in general if that is inherent to tube amp. versus solid state, or unique to the Pro iCAN. I've read some material indicating imaging and stage as advantages of tube design, so I wanted to ask the question as that's not how I hear the Pro iCAN in it's different modes.

 

[betula]

Appreciated your excellent review and especially wanted to concur that of the 3 modes, Tube mode strikes the best balance between speed / detail retrieval and non-fatiguing musicality. There is a caveat: although tube mode is my overall listening preference, I find the soundstage and imaging is less satisfying than SS. Using the 1st setting of 3D does widen the stage but sounds a bit unnatural.

Wondering in general if that is inherent to tube amp. versus solid state, or unique to the Pro iCAN. I've read some material indicating imaging and stage as advantages of tube design, so I wanted to ask the question as that's not how I hear the Pro iCAN in it's different modes.

Thanks for the kind words! In my experience soundstage and imaging does not depend on the design (tube vs SS). I have heard very spacious SS amps with great imaging and claustrophobic tube amps and vice versa. I would say these qualities are manufacturer and model dependent, regardless if we are talking about SS or tube amps.

 

[dcguy73]

I have come to appreciate the iCan Pro a lot more after I upgraded my headphones from the Hifiman HEKv2 to the HEKse. The HEKse sound like a hybrid between the HEKv2 and the Focal Clear, providing incredible clarity at the cost of some of the v2's soundstage. I used to prefer the iCan Pro's tube and tube plus modes the most, but with the new focus of my HEKse, I now think the solid-state mode sounds the best. The iCan Pro's SS mode has a very clean and full-bodied sound that I didn't "get" before the headphones upgrade. I still appreciate the iCan Pro's tube and tube plus modes for particular music genres, but the SS mode is now my default.

 

[Sound Eq]

@iFi audio greetings i lost my external box of ifi ican pro and all what comes with it, is there a way to get the box and all the accessories that come with the ifi ican pro , i do not need the remote control or rca

 

[iFi audio]

@iFi audio greetings i lost my external box of ifi ican pro and all what comes with it, is there a way to get the box and all the accessories that come with the ifi ican pro , i do not need the remote control or rca

We have no idea, but please shoot us a message to support@ifi-audio.com. If we can help, we will.

 

[webmi]

Thinking about upgrading my iCAN with two of these babys. Saw that two part teardown video on YT. To open the iCAN up i have to remove all the screws on the backside, but i guess i dont have to remove the buttons on the front, like he did in that teardown video, i am right? I dont think ifi can provide a guide for rolling tubes with ican pro, can you?

I wonder if these tubes sound like i hope they sound. By going from SS to Tube (with stock tubes) i notice there is lost a lot of details and resolution. Can someone tell if these tubes are that good? How much better are these tubes compared to stock tubes and how do they compare to SS only?

I really like that tube sound, but i am missing details with stock tubes. If these tubes really sound a lot better then stock, i am willing to pay good money. But i am not sure if they can get to SS level of detail and if its worth it.