iFi AUDIO Pro iCAN - Studio-Grade Headphone Amplifier and Audiophile Line-Stage

Long wait, well worth it, bass boost is fun.

I've been wanting this amp for a couple of years, since it's been so well reviewed. The flexibility in outputs for this amp is really amazing. Kind of blows me away that you get balanced 4 pin XLR, 3 pin XLR, 1/4 unbalanced, 3.5mm unbalanced, and 3.5mm balanced. It's kind of crazy. The gain adjust is ideal for managing headphones that are low power to really high resistance 600 ohm headphones. As someone who normally seeks headphones with a ... Show Moreflat response which sometimes can translate to low bass response, this amp is pretty incredible in that it can take such headphones and you can use them with the crystal clarity that you'd want from acoustical music, but also turn up the bass boost when you want a little more oomph for electronic music. The easiest examples are the HD800 and the Etymotic Er4p. The HD800 sounds a little "thin" on the Chord Hugo 2 for electronic music or rock or dubstep, but sounds great on the iFi Audio pro iCan. And so expansive! Kind of hard to believe just how wide these headphones can sound on this amp (still sourced from the Chord Hugo 2 as the DAC). And even more dramatic is the Etymotic ER4p. These headphones have, for over a decade, been my favorite IEMs, but for electronic music, they've always sounded a little thin, and these IEMs overall can sound a little artificial or synthetic is maybe the right word, on the H2. It sound pretty good on the Mojo. But on the iFi Audio pro iCan, suddenly the whole sound "grows" Though I can source from the Schiit Jot, H2, or Mojo, the H2 provides the Audio Pro iCan with the most natural sound, and the Schiit Jotunheim provides the AUdio Pro iCan with the widest and deepest sound. The other surprise, though, is the Mojo. It also sounds really good as a DAC for Audio Pro iCan. I could easily be pretty happy for a good majority of music off of any of these DACs. It would be nice if I could have the option to cut just a teeny bit of treble for some songs. And I think the Schiit Loki at just $149 might be the ideal "equalizer" to place between any of these dacs and the iFi Audio Pro iCan. Given how long this model has been out, it wouldn't surprise me if a new pure amp cam out from iFi, but since they just released the Audio Pro iDSD and also the xDSD, there may be some time before an updated amp emerges. At 14,000mW, the power output on this amp is also incredibly impressive. There's really no headphone that this thing can't power except maybe electrostats. There's a switch to toggle between solid state amp, tube amp, and hybrid amp. Frankly, I think they're all great with fairly light differences, but that could be a weakness in my ears. Generally I use tube for acoustical, hybrid for classical orchestral, and ss for electronics or rock. But in truth, during the hot summer months, I can just leave it in ss mode all the time for all my music since the tube runs a little hot. Holographic switching is not that big a difference, at least on the headphones I've tried. The only small wish I have on this amp is the ability to set different volumes for different output ports simultaneously, and be able to adjust them independently. That's mostly so I could leave different headphones plugged in simultaneously. But that's a small wish.Show Less

Reviewed on B&H Photo Video