Ifi Ican PRO kôrvaklapid vōimendi

Ifi Ican PRO

Specifications:

Gain:0dB, 9dB and 18dB user-selectable

Frequency Response:0.5Hz to 500kHz(-3dB)

Total Harmonic Distortion (THD, Balanced/Single-Ended):

BalancedSE

Solid-State:≤0.0015%≤0.005%

Tube:≤0.002%≤0.005%

Tube+:≤0.012%≤0.2%

Signal-to-Noise Ratio (SNR, Balanced/Single-Ended):>147dB(A) / > 137dB(A)

Output Power (16Ω, Balanced/Single-Ended):>14,000mW / >4,800mW

Output Voltage (600Ω, Balanced/Single-Ended):>23V / >11.5V

Input Voltage (Pro iCAN):DC 9V/6.7A – 18V/3.35A

Input Voltage (iPower Plus):AC 85 – 265V, 50/60Hz

Power Consumption:≤ 22W idle, 50W max.

Dimensions:213(l) x 192.5(w) x 63.3(h) mm

Weight:1.93kg （4.3lbs）

Test conditions:
Gain = 0dB, 0.775V(0dBu) with 300 Ohm load unless stated otherwise
SNR Balanced re 23V, SNR SE re. 11.5V

When I first saw these, my jaw dropped on the floor. I have never seen such SNR in any other amplifier in the world.

This is the first amplifier that in theory beats my Msb Analog Dac in terms of SNR(137 dB) and Dynamic Range (133dB).

Tube/ Solid-State Real-time Switching

Compared to high-end headphone amplifiers, the tube stage of the Pro iCAN is different in two-ways. First, we don’t use good-quality 6922s or similar. Instead we use the very best; General Electric 5670 which is the premium variant with a different pinout.

Second and just as important is the circuit design. Unlike other headphone amplifiers that have the same circuit and just switch in/out the tube section, the Pro iCAN is the very first of its kind that has two individual input circuits – one tube and one Solid-State. This results in the best sonics of both worlds because the signal path is the shortest and there is no compromise to ‘shoe horn’ the tubes into an already existing solid-state circuit.

For the first time, one can enjoy both the sound of Solid-State and Tubes in a single package (rather than as an ‘Effect Type’ add-on within an otherwise conventional solid-state design) and be able to switch in real-time. For some recordings and headphones/loudspeakers, Solid-State may sound ‘more lively.’. For others, Tube and Tube+ (especially Tube+) will sound more ‘luxurious.’ Select the one that sounds best for that particular moment, be it the recording, the mood or even the weather. After all, enjoying music is an experience to be savoured and not a scientific research exercise.

We haven’t stopped there. We are tube lovers and we appreciate sometimes there is a need for even more tube-like sound, there are two tube settings – Tube and Tube+. The Tube+ position reduces overall loop-gain and thus negative feedback to the minimum. This gives a different trade-off between the tube’s natural harmonics and the transient performance.

I found the above feature quite awesome and these modes changed the sound by quite a bit. It’s actually like you have 3 amplifiers with 3 different sound types. That is very nice for diversity.

iFi also managed to describe quite well what happens to the sound depending on the mode you select as I’ve reached similar conclusions for myself.

Class A Solid-State, J-FETs and Fully-Discrete

The Solid-State amplification section of the Pro iCAN is just as seriously executed as the Tube amplification section.

The amplifer audio circuit is a development of iFi’s revolutionary ‘TubeState’ design. It is fully discrete, fully-balanced with either tube or J-FET input switchable, bipolar second stage and MOSFET-buffered bipolar class A Power stage (with Class AB for low impedance headphones at very high levels). The resulting circuit may be best described as ‘tri-brid’ where each device is used to greatest sonic advantage while minimising any drawbacks. Furthermore, the circuit is pure DC coupled to avoid using any sonically-degrading coupling capacitors.

Reference class parts quality

ProiCAN_tu7 The Pro iCAN employed TDK Japan-made C0G type capacitors and Vishay MELF type thin film resistors. These are complimented by Panasonic Japan-made ECPU Film Capacitors explicitly designed for audio use with extremely low distortion (<0.00001% @ 1V/10kHz).