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Post by PinkFloyd on Feb 14, 2008 13:24:44 GMT
On sale from next Monday will be the X-Can v8 headphone amp. It will retail at £349 GBP. Apparantly there is a review in the March edition of Hi-Fi News which I haven't yet seen. I have spoken to a source at Musical Fidelity who reckons this is the most spectacular headphone amp yet, it will feature the same E88CC valves (tubes) as v1, v2 and v3 but will be equipped with a USB DAC. I will do a full review here as soon as I can get my hands on one of these puppies  |
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Sol
100+
loves motorcycles !
Chief Technical Numpty
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Post by Sol on Feb 14, 2008 13:37:54 GMT
No information on the MF site  |
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Post by PinkFloyd on Feb 14, 2008 13:45:58 GMT
No information on the MF site Just off the phone to MF Technical basically........ USB DAC included Better output stage Output impedance <1ohm Gain of 8 ECC88 valves (equivalent to 6DJ8) In a nutshell drives low impedance 'phones a LOT better, more oomph than the v3. Similar enclosure but edges not rounded off (more of a square shape) PSU will be a X-PSU v8 which is basically a revamped X-PSU v3 it will still be 12 - 0 - 12V (centre tapped) sounds interesting! Will try to get hold of one ASAP. |
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Post by PinkFloyd on Feb 14, 2008 13:53:59 GMT
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Post by PinkFloyd on Feb 14, 2008 22:49:48 GMT
One is on it's way, I think I'm second on the waiting list (bloody cheek! "second"? erm......  ) as soon as she arrives I will do a full under the bonnet preview for all you pRon addicts out there and will then slot her into the system and see what she's got to offer in the SQ stakes. This really is an exciting moment for me, a lot of you probably know I have a passion for the original tubular series of MF headphone amps as they offered superb SQ at a bargain basement price (£129) you really couldn't complain...... fantastic devices for the money and true classics IMO. Quite a few people did complain, however, mostly about the "tacky little pot" and the "shite Jamicon 85C capacitors".... I must hold my hands up, it was me that was quite vocal about the capacitors.... they had "built in obsolescence" written all over them ..... anyways, I digress..... Next came the X-Can v3 in a fancy new enclosure (horrible square box) with an ALPS RK27 (also known as a "blue velvet" yawn....) and a "mil-spec" knob (eh?)..... a sprinkling of transistors, the same E88CC (6922) valves and WHAMMO!, we are now looking at £249 rrp.... V8 (yes, V "eight") now comes with a USB DAC and implements ECC88 valves (tubes) which are 6DJ8..... ECC88 are not "mil-spec" like the joint army navy (JAN) philips 6922 which featured in the X-Cans, X-Can v2 and X-can v3........ V8 uses the general purpose 6DJ8 / ECC88 instead. I haven't even seen the X-Can v8 as yet so should really be keeping my gob shut until such time I have the item sitting in front of me.... from what I have heard it's a v3 with a USB DAC, the output impedance has been reduced to <1ohm (a case of replacing two resistors) and it has inferior (read - not as long lasting as 6922) 6DJ8 valves on board. And thanks to the onboard "DAC" (which I will never have any reason to use) the price has been hiked up by a further £100 meaning this this X-Can will retail at £349 ($700) and this is for the amp alone..... the "optional" X-PSU V8 will possibly cost more than the amp. Anyways folks..... that's what I have "gathered" from my MF contacts..... let's wait for the actual amp to materialise before reviewing it  |
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Post by sometrolls2 on Feb 15, 2008 15:27:41 GMT
This thing will be tougher to mod: it sounds like the digital section won't have its own board, so that will make removing parts a more delicate operation, and to power the DAC and headphone amp well will need two or three transformers and some DC PSU parts, or some much more involved regulatior. This is getting like CD modding rather than the simple cap swap.
Mike, you ever tried mini coax for the 12V AC pinkie power lead, rapid item 02-0676.
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Post by aurum on Feb 16, 2008 8:33:53 GMT
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XTRProf
Fully Modded
Pssst ! Got any spare capacitors ?
Posts: 5,689
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Post by XTRProf on Feb 16, 2008 11:55:34 GMT
So if the new sucker is a V8 then why isn't shaped like an engine block?  Ha, then it will be the most powerful headamp in the world. Hope our ears can take it. Unfortunately, it seems V8 stands for 8 times victory for MF. In terms of profit, of course. Just imagine from V3 straight away to V8. Nothing in between.   |
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Post by PinkFloyd on Feb 18, 2008 16:02:51 GMT
Many thanks to James Henry for this photo:  Look at that knob! Also interesting to note the v8 has two head outs |
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Post by krisno on Feb 21, 2008 18:48:04 GMT
Will this work with the littlie pinkie Mike?
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Post by PinkFloyd on Feb 21, 2008 20:52:03 GMT
Will this work with the littlie pinkie Mike? Yes, it will! I don't know what the v8 sounds like yet Krisno but I hope to get hold of one pretty soon. All the best. Mike. |
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Post by canjunkie on Feb 22, 2008 0:45:44 GMT
Read it while waiting for a train & the reviewer was impressed. Apparently a real improvement over the original/V2/V3. Not far off the SQ of the Sugden IHO.
But after my experience with 6DJ8's which came in my V2 (harsh, glassy & died after 4 months) I'll be interested to see what Mike has to say.
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Post by krisno on Feb 22, 2008 18:11:11 GMT
X-Can v8 details is out on the MF homepage... It says it is powerfull enough to drive the AKG K1000.. does this mean that this will be better for my AKG K 701's?
But I don't understand... is this a HYBRID design or a PURE tube??
Damn, maybe this is the one to get, and also use the built in DAC, though it doesn't work as a pre-amp still, and the dac might be crap.
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Post by PinkFloyd on Feb 22, 2008 20:21:40 GMT
From the MF website: The X-CANv8 is a huge advance over the outgoing X-CANv3. The difference is similar to comparing an Audi A4 compared to an Audi RS4. They both look similar but the performance is light years apart. The X-CANv8 will drive any headphone easily (including the wicked AKG1000) and deliver sweet neutral dynamic sound with a colossal sound stage and effortless dynamic range. You simply don’t know what your headphones are capable of until they’re driven by an X-CANv8, it’s that good. Listen and you’ll have your ears and eyes opened to a new world.A "huge advance"? as far as I am aware they have changed the output impedance and the output power has been upped to 1.3watts (it was 1 watt with the v2 / v3) it'll be interesting to have a listen to one of these. "light years ahead" "colossal soundstage"...... hmmmmm, this new marketing man sure is keen Oh bollocks! Just went to link to the pic of the amp on the MF site and it says I can't do that "function disabled" Oh well then MF I'll just have to cheat and get the URL from looking at your source code  |
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Post by krisno on Feb 24, 2008 16:57:42 GMT
Mike?
The ECC88 tubes is a older tube, the 6922 is a 'super version' of the ECC88, why is MF 'going down' on quality?
What do you think about SQ, will it actually be below x-can v3?
Are they saving money bc they implemented the DAC? I am very interested to know what kind of crap dac they have used here. They don't write anything about it, so I presume it can't be good.... but we will see.
K
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rickcr42
Fully Modded
Rest in peace my good friend.
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Post by rickcr42 on Feb 24, 2008 19:30:27 GMT
Looking at the chassis size increase (not as tight means increased cooling ) plus a bit of "read between the lines jerkweed" thrown in I would throw a guess and say they beefed up the output stage by either going to bigger devices or they just paralleled some more of the same in to get the increase in VA delivery. |
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Post by krisno on Feb 24, 2008 20:02:35 GMT
About the tubes anyone? Is it a downgrade?
I am very exicted about the small X-series DAC which just must come this year or next. They need a good solid-state only DAC. On those thoughts I am parting with the older DAC now.
But still, it's sad to see that they did not integrate a proper torroidal psu in that chassis. It's room enough. They probably have a VERY good deal on those cheap wall-warts, and it does also fuel the sale of X-PSU.
well well.... I am ordering one very soon, just need to part with this '2 week' old equipment. hehe.. Well, since I am lucky enough to afford it, I should do it as well.
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Deleted
Deleted Member
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Post by Deleted on Feb 24, 2008 20:44:55 GMT
Really ? ;D
Even if there was, (there isn't !) a standard toroidal still radiates hum and crap into very close wiring and components.
SandyK
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Post by krisno on Feb 24, 2008 21:08:43 GMT
SandyK
Well everybody else seems to have room for it, a torroidal I mean. If it had that, it would be just the perfect thing.
The DAC innside that thing is going to be fun. MF can afford a nice solution as it has 'manufactoring' of scale, keeping costs down. (vs the damn Heed, handmade in a basement in Hungary). ;D
But we will see, if we are lucky, it is the Wolfson 24bit upsampling DAC, same as the little Pico. It 's coming 3 years after the Lehmann USB version, so I am disapointed if it is the same boring Burr Brown PCM2702.
Though AV-D speaker company say that the PCM2702 can be as good as everything as it is the way it is implemented, and not the DAC chip making the quality. I am ordering one anyways.
Kris
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Post by gurra1980 on Feb 27, 2008 18:10:07 GMT
Has anyone heard the amp yet?
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Post by PinkFloyd on Feb 27, 2008 23:18:49 GMT
Has anyone heard the amp yet? I hope to shortly but have a few others in the queue first. |
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Post by krisno on Mar 4, 2008 16:51:40 GMT
Has anyone tried the X-Can V8 yet?
Anyone know the specs of the DAC? I guess they don't have room for a very nice DAC solution, unless it sits on its own board.
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Post by PinkFloyd on Mar 6, 2008 15:21:59 GMT
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Post by benzol on Mar 7, 2008 13:36:29 GMT
This sounds rather like a marketing review. But thanks anyways, the final truth then again is to believe it with your own ears. Cheers Benzol |
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Post by krisno on Mar 7, 2008 16:34:49 GMT
Most review's in HIFI er marketing reviews I guess.
But the V8, maybe it is a tiny bit better on AKG headphones vs V3(separation, spatial presentation, etc).
But my interest is in the DAC. It is 'one less box' on the desktop, and with a USB connection, it works better with computer than the X-DAC v3. There is no need for 24bit resolution(not supported by USB) as long as we have no proper standard for high definition audio. Maybe a future downloadable lossless format on the internet will fix that, or maybe Blueray will be the new audio standard?
Questions is ... HOW GOOD IS THE DAC? Probably it will be good enough. There was not that much difference on x-dac v3 vs audigy 2 analog output on the V3. Maybe because the AKG killed it, but I didn't hear that much difference. Wonder what made the V3 work so badly. hmm..
As Stereophile said: 'The X-dac v3 vs x-dac v8 sounds about the same on spdif out from the iMac. But when using USB, the x-dac V8 beats the x-dac with a big margin'. Probably its a joke also.. but we will see.
So X-can v3 lovers, keep the X-can v3. People like me who use it only with a computer, will like the DAC function. There is no other point to get the x-dac v8! Btw, you always get what you pay for
K
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) as soon as she arrives I will do a full under the bonnet preview for all you pRon addicts out there and will then slot her into the system and see what she's got to offer in the SQ stakes.
