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Post by alistair72 on Dec 15, 2010 23:04:48 GMT
Well I pulled the pin having been out bid on fleebay for an x-can V2 & V3.
£60 down and the mod kit for less than the second hand price - it must be good vfm.
But damn this pesky snow! My Xmas project will have to wait until next year...
Still I can play with it un-modded for a few weeks.
Take care in the snow Mike.
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Post by PinkFloyd on Dec 15, 2010 23:26:04 GMT
Well I pulled the pin having been out bid on fleebay for an x-can V2 & V3. £60 down and the mod kit for less than the second hand price - it must be good vfm. But damn this pesky snow! My Xmas project will have to wait until next year... Still I can play with it un-modded for a few weeks. Take care in the snow Mike. eh? Am I supposed to know what you are talking about? Welcome to the forum  Mike. |
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Post by alistair72 on Dec 16, 2010 19:22:18 GMT
[/quote]eh? Am I supposed to know what you are talking about? Welcome to the forum Mike.[/quote] Only if you've been reading your emails and linked my name to a recent enquiry on a V-kit. My bad. I just assumed you know everything  Well I got it today, only it has the wrong wallwart in the box  Still found one that fits and it does sound good already. But damn it's loud! I was hoping I could get a kit and mod it whilst I was off work over the festives, but I will have to wait for the big thaw. I may be able to find a few resistors locally and at least calm the gain. Cheers for the welcome Mike. |
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Post by moobie on May 30, 2011 17:22:32 GMT
Hello.
Is it possible to obtain detailed DIY guide for modding V-CAN? I am able to procure necessary parts, but I'm not sure which ones.
I might be able to deduce what to do from comments and photos scattered around this thread, but perhaps there is some summary document available?
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Post by PinkFloyd on May 30, 2011 19:45:18 GMT
Hello. Is it possible to obtain detailed DIY guide for modding V-CAN? I am able to procure necessary parts, but I'm not sure which ones. I might be able to deduce what to do from comments and photos scattered around this thread, but perhaps there is some summary document available? You have e-mail |
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Post by moobie on May 31, 2011 2:13:58 GMT
Hello. Is it possible to obtain detailed DIY guide for modding V-CAN? I am able to procure necessary parts, but I'm not sure which ones. I might be able to deduce what to do from comments and photos scattered around this thread, but perhaps there is some summary document available? You have e-mail Thank you! |
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Post by PinkFloyd on May 31, 2011 19:18:53 GMT
You have e-mail Thank you! No problems at all. If you need any more advice just ask. Mike. |
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Post by dejanm on Sept 2, 2011 13:12:36 GMT
I haven't seen this thread until now ... Pink has put some really inspiring experiences here that I really have to go for V-Can now ...   |
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Post by luin on Nov 28, 2011 10:25:52 GMT
Hi. I am a new user, I've been reading this for many months but this is my first mesage, so hello everybody  I am a happy owner of a V Can, and after reading many pages of the mods, I took my desolder and started to remove things  Now I am in the phase of gathering caps, and there is a couple of questions that I have not seen in the mods proposed here, so if any of you could help me...: I see that usually is not replaced the blue caps, I think tantalum is not optimal for audio purposes, is there a better alternatiove to these blue things? (silver mica?...) Most of the replaced Jamicons are 25V but in I see that the mod include for some of the caps 16V, I see that the PCB has both limitations to caps height and also caps diameter, (maybe this is the reason...) Is there any risk if I put most of the caps for 16V? I think that the amp works at 24V, so this is my "concern"... Is there any chance to replace the RCAs? Kind regards, and many thanks for all the excellent info that is shared here |
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mrarroyo
Been here a while! 
Our man in Miami!
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Post by mrarroyo on Dec 8, 2011 11:46:53 GMT
Hola Luin, I wish I could help with the technical stuff but I am not good at it. I can say that Mike is the expert on these MF units and he should be your main source of information. I am sure based on Mike's kits that if you implement his recommendations you will end up with a very nice unit. Good luck.
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Post by luin on Dec 12, 2011 8:18:26 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Dec 12, 2011 10:31:24 GMT
luin
Nice work,especially replacing the ceramic capacitors which can markedly increase HF distortion.
It's not always a good idea though, to use too many electros of the same type, as you can sometimes end up with the individual "house" signature of the electros.
Alex
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Post by luin on Dec 12, 2011 14:29:32 GMT
luin Nice work,especially replacing the ceramic capacitors which can markedly increase HF distortion. It's not always a good idea though, to use too many electros of the same type, as you can sometimes end up with the individual "house" signature of the electros. Alex Thanks. I agree ceramic caps are not ideal for audio purposes. I also replaced the blue ones as initially assumed were tantalum, but are styroflex... Regarding the use of electros of the same type, is also due to the limitations of the PCB, as I initially had Elnas Gold for the 2200 C1 and C9 (but did not fit due to the PCB height) and Rubycon BG for the C4/c104, but very narrow diameter... And Nichicon is the easiest option to find Kind regards |
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Post by derbigpr500 on Mar 10, 2013 19:31:27 GMT
Hello everyone, this is my first post on this forum. I've been lurking
around for quite a while and I think its a great place, lots of things to learn while having fun in the process.
Anyway, I know this thread has been inactive for quite some time, but I have a question related to the MF V-can MkII headphone amp.
So far I've been using my Asus Xonar Essence ST soundcard, but just recently I got the V-CAN primarily for my AKG K701 and Beyerdynamic DT990Pro headphones, and it does sound very good for the price. Its definitely an improvement over the ST headphone output in terms of SQ overall, but the improvement is not as big as I had hoped for, maybe 5-10% higher SQ overall, so I'd like to extract a bit more out it, seeing that is has that much potential. What I'd like the most is not a change in frequency balance, I don't feel like I need to increase/reduce bass, mids or highs, but I'd like an improvement in terms of scale, soundstage, imaging, etc.
As I already said, its the V-CAN MkII amp, the new one, with the silver chassis. I took it apart and as far as I can see by comparing it to the pictures of old the black V-CAN, they're identical inside, at least visually.
So my question is, what would be the simplest, or the easiest way to improve the sound quality of the amp? Which components should I replace first? Maybe the Op-amp? Would it be ok to replace JUST the Op-amp on this thing? I can get the Burr Brown OPA4227 in my local parts store, so I would like to try it out if its a decent improvement.
Would it be possible to get a complete list of all parts needed to completely modify the V-CAN?
Sorry if I sound like a newb, but I don't have much experience when it comes to amplifiers, however, using a soldering iron is something I'm pretty good at, and I enjoy experimenting, so I think this would a fun little project.
Thanks in advance!
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Post by Seamus on Mar 12, 2013 14:41:10 GMT
Welcome to the forum derbigpr500. If it's the same as the original V-can you should look at this: linkMike (PinkFloyd) is the expert on these matters, you could send him a message. |
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Post by derbigpr500 on Mar 12, 2013 20:01:55 GMT
Hi, thanks.
Yes I've sent Mike a message, but I now realize it was a bit pointless since I can find a list of all components needed.
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Post by derbigpr500 on Mar 12, 2013 20:18:55 GMT
A question about caps for the V-CAN mod: is it ok to use ALL caps from the same manufacturer or can that cause some sort of manufacturer specific sound coloration? Because I'd like my V-CAN to be as neutral as possible, with big soundstage and great imaging. I'll be putting in the opa4227 opamp. I thought about getting the Panasonic FC, FM or NHG series, since they seem generally well regarded. Which series would be the best to choose? Or is one series better for a specific spot on the V-CAN? I see the prices are about the same between FC and FM series, but NHG are cheaper on average. Or...can you recommend a better quality cap (I'm ready to pay for more performance) that I can get from this shop? uk.rs-online.com/web/c/passive-components/capacitors/Thanks |
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Mar 13, 2013 10:11:18 GMT
A question about caps for the V-CAN mod: is it ok to use ALL caps from the same manufacturer or can that cause some sort of manufacturer specific sound coloration? Because I'd like my V-CAN to be as neutral as possible, with big soundstage and great imaging. I'll be putting in the opa4227 opamp. I thought about getting the Panasonic FC, FM or NHG series, since they seem generally well regarded. Which series would be the best to choose? Or is one series better for a specific spot on the V-CAN? I see the prices are about the same between FC and FM series, but NHG are cheaper on average. Or...can you recommend a better quality cap (I'm ready to pay for more performance) that I can get from this shop? uk.rs-online.com/web/c/passive-components/capacitors/Thanks Why not buy the kit from Mike? You would be helping to fund the kit service and gaining the benefit of Mike's time and vast experience. To quote Mike - "The capacitors I have chosen for this kit are the Samwha VA series(and a couple of Oscons) . . ." "Every part has been chosen for it's sonic ability after many hours evaluating a wide selection of components" |
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mrarroyo
Been here a while!
Our man in Miami!
Posts: 1,003
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Post by mrarroyo on Mar 14, 2013 0:39:41 GMT
^ I approve of this post! |
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Post by derbigpr500 on Apr 5, 2013 21:45:45 GMT
A question about channel imbalance...what does actually cause it? I hear a very noticeable difference in volumes between left and right channels under 9 o'clock, and even above that its a bit bugging me. Is it the volume pot or...? Also, it became more apparent after changing the op amp to the opa4227.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Apr 6, 2013 0:00:51 GMT
A question about channel imbalance...what does actually cause it? I hear a very noticeable difference in volumes between left and right channels under 9 o'clock, and even above that its a bit bugging me. Is it the volume pot or...? Also, it became more apparent after changing the op amp to the opa4227. It is almost certainly poor matching between sections of the potentiometer. although some MF HAs also appear to have poor internal earthing practices that results in one channel not completely shutting off at minimum volume. Mike is best equipped to answer these questions due to familiarity with all of these designs. However, it's now the wee small hours in Europe. Regards Alex |
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Post by PinkFloyd on Jul 31, 2016 19:36:42 GMT
I have put together a few high quality SOIC to DIP adaptors and have used the Burr Brown OPA1644, Winslow Adaptic SOIC to DIP adaptor and Winslow Adaptic dip 14 turned pin sockets. This is a superb upgrade for the V-CAN / V-CAN 2 and will take it to new heights in the sonics department. The OPA1644 has been soldered onto the Winslow Adaptic (the best SOIC to DIP adaptor you can get) with Audio Note 6% silver solder so absolute top class materials used throughout. Each OPA1644 is hand soldered by myself. If anybody is interested please PM me (or e-mail me). Best regards, Mike. Winslow Adaptics Adaptor, OPA1644 and Winslow adaptics turned pin DIP socket:   Completed OPA1644 SOIC to DIP adaptor:   OPA1644 spec sheet: www.ti.com/lit/ds/symlink/opa1644.pdf |
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Still found one that fits and it does sound good already. But damn it's loud!
