When paired with an Aragon 18K preamp the sound through Denon headphones AH-D 7200 or AH-D 5500 is pure audio extacy. Bright crisp clean highs, lots of depth in the midrange and astonishingly tight yet deep bass. Without the preamp (which I happen to have but it has no headphone jack) the X-Can V-8 still sounds great but will not get as loud and loses some punch, but not much. I'd kill for a second - can't seem to match it with anything Music Fidelity offers today under a grand.

Ultra rare. You can hear through the headphones when you touch the unit and headphone wire. No biggie.

I have been using an X-Can V8 with my Sennheiser hd 600's, and have never been disappointed, although it took a while to run the rig in. I bought it new ten years ago.
To start with, I was playing through a Juli@ soundcard, but then I linked to my CD as well. There were times,I fell off my chair, the sound was so great. Nothing to do with the vodka i had drunk. Really fine amp for good cans. Will drive any headphones.

hello,
i purchased the x-can v8p about a year ago.
a greag headphone amplifier. but using the rega ear with my macbook, after converting the optical signal to rca with a simple convertor to be used as input for the ear. great flaw from rega not having any digital input whatsoever.

but, back to the v8p. i want to use him as a preamp, mainly to an integrated amp.
the manual says, connect the preout rca to the headphone outputs. Impossible. headphone output is a 3.5 jack. No rca out.
bit further they correct themselves saying "connect preouts of the v8p to the tape output, and connect the rca output that was in to the rca output of the v8p. is this looping ? i guess.
v8p should take over volume. yes and no. both ampvolume and v8p volume work in parallel.
manual is so thin in info... you get nothing out of it decently.

so. nice amp. but how do i connect everything properly. i got poweramps too.
cannot find a decent explanation on the net. mf has no support forms. contact dealer. i bought it 2nd hand.

anyone can help ? headphone is out of the equation. pure trying to use the dac and the
pre-amp stage.
thanks everybody.

Amazing product at an amazing price. Amazing and full sound. Simple to hook up. Great value.

I bought this amp to pair with my Denon D5000's.

The Denons did sound reasonable through headphones out of my CD player and integrated amp, but not much better than my Audio Technica A500's, in some aspects even worse.
They sounded a bit strained and short-breathed whereas my A500's sounded bigger, easier and more confindent.
Still I could sense the better sound of the D5000's, they just needed more control, a better amplification.

The Musical Fidelity is exactly what I was expecting.
The Denons, paired with the X-Can finally show their authority over the A500's.
A very rich smooth sounding midrange, great dynamics and a slightly gentler treble compared with the headphones out of my integrated stereo amp.

The X-Can has a pretty good built-in USB-DAC.
It's so good that I simply do not favor any source (CD player or iMac) over the other, I can play all my music with my iMac and I don't feel I trade-in some detail or soundstage.

The amp comes with JAN Phillips 6922 tubes and they sound just great.
Maybe the highs could be a bit smoother, but I may have gotten that idea only from reading on forums and if I really want to have smoother highs I can simply replace the JAN's for a pair of Amperex Bugle boys.

I really feel there's synergy between this amp and the D5000's, I get a very natural, analogue, lush and even toned sound which is very addictive.
A combination that will stay with me the rest of my life.

This unit is for a review of Musical Fidelity w/o Pre-Out put.
I've had this unit for less than a week, but I feel like I've heard all I need to review this product.

I had been in a pursuit of a quality headphone amp with a capability of decoding digital music via USB.
But, my main reason was to listen to LP as much as my energy allowed late at night.
Also, since I used work over 70 hours a week, including weekends, I wanted to setup a small office system that I can enjoy without sacrifice too much on the fidelity. However, music is not allowed at work (at least during regular hours), I didn’t want to invest too greatly. But as we all know, mediocre gear just does not suffice…

1. Ergonomics
This unit is very ugly in a picture, but looks great in person. This aspect is very subject, as it is for all areas of this hobby. X-CAN V8 is substantially bigger in size than its predecessor, X-CAN V3.

Bottom of this unit is embraced by 2 long rubber stripes for security. I imagine it will absorb nominal amount of vibration, but if this sort of isolation is needed then I would’ve relocated to a different home. The V8 does not have On/Off switch so it stays on 24/7. This unit runs very cool for a tube unit. Isolation for heat dispersion is also unnecessary. But if you feel it is needed for a headphone setup, then by all means…

MF had decided to use a very shallow (physical depth) volume pot. If you have clumsy finger with arthritis, then I would look elsewhere.

2. Connectivity

System setup via USB was extremely easy. It just plugged it in to my laptop with Windows XP and alter the audio setting in Control Panel. Small knob on the face allows for switch between USB/RCA inputs. Microphonic distortion from tubes is audible when this switch is made. This is nothing to be concerned about as it is not abnormal for tube gear.

3. Components
In order to take the cover off, I had to unscrew total of 8 hex bolts, unscrew ground wire, and 3 wires with plastic pin connectors. This wasn’t very difficult, but was bit of pain in the ass.

Here is the list of components used:

JAN Phillips USA 6922 ($15 x 2)
ALPS 50KAX2 Volume Pot ($18)
PCM2706 DAC Chip ($4)
JAMICON electrolytic capacitors, unknown ceramic resistors, diodes, etc (very cheap)
24V 500mA External Wall Wart Power Supply ($6)


There are 2200uF (6), 1000uF (4), and 100uF(4) capacitors in the power supply, and from what I can tell off of the internet, V3 and V8’s internal power supply components are exactly the same.
Layout looks very similar as well.
I guess this is expected from a company that comes up with a new line of products every 2 years. They are almost as bad as Denon is this department.
V8($650) offers DAC input and 2 headphone inputs, while V3($399) does not. You make the decision.

PS: I never expected to see exotic parts from a Sub $1K component, but some decent Nichicon caps would’ve been a nice touch.

4. Playability.

I had purchased a demo unit, so I assumed break-in was unnecessary.
I’m a believer in breaking in audio gear, especially tubes, cartridges, and speakers.
But this unit hasn’t really changed sonic character over since my purchase.

My V8 came equipped with a pair of JAN Phillips USA 6922 tubes and works just fine.


LP sound is very full, dynamics, and has plenty of headroom with my Audio Technica headphones.
I usually keep the pot dialed no higher than 8:30 to 9 O’Clock (less than 1/4 Open) for both CD and LP playback.
Volume control with USB setup, however, will need to be cranked up a bit higher, but no higher than 11 O’Clock. I imagine the setup with Sennhauser will require higher gain, but should match just fine.


5. Sound Quality.

Internal DAC in this unit is subpar with my Marantz SA-8001. I’ve been dissatisfied with Marantz’s ability to resolve finer details, but Musical Fidelity sounds very good thru Marantz, while CD thru my Laptop sounds dry and unfocused. Lossless files doesn’t sound any better or worse, so I imagine the sound quality is degraded thru cheap parts and not the PC Transport.

LP playback thru V8 is satisfying. V8 doesn’t introduce added noise or hiss when connected via interconnects. But, when listed thru a USB cord, digital hiss can be heard if connections aren’t secured on both ends. What I love about this unit is since I’m always in the listening sweet spot, I can test out L/R balance/alignment and anti-skate settings with headphones…. But of course you can do that with any headphone amps.

For the price I paid, I would give this unit 4/5 for value and 4/5 for its Sound Quality. If I had paid the retail price the rating would be lowered to 3/5 overall.

This is an excellent amp period. There is no hiss.
I use it with AKG 601 headphones and a Marantz CD/SACD player.

This is just a great sounding amp.

None.

Sounds like the previous reviewer had a defective unit. He has no idea what he's talking about.This is a great headphone amp that has been well reviewed elsewhere. It's one of the best you can buy and a good value at its price.

Superb sound with the Denon D5000s, or any of the Grados... if... you use a pre-amp / line stage to boost the signal before the amp.

Headphone amps are not supposed to require a pre-amp / line stage.

Good headphone amps don't require a pre-amp / line stage to produce great sound with most phones - this one does.

Beware of the Musical Fidelity X-CANv8.

It doesn't have sufficient power (current & voltage) to drive either low impedence, or high impedence headphones to reasonable volumes, without hiss / noise... without a using a pre-amp / line stage, or exceptionally high gain signal output from your source.

Think... like... 75% to 100% POT setting to achieve reasonable volume with noise / hiss in the background.

Tested this headphone amp with 5 different sources, and 5 different "top quality" headphones - with the same results.

Retailer says its performing up to MF specs - so I returned it for a refund.

Beware... avoid this amp... until MF releases an updated version.

Customer Service

If you buy one... get it from Music Direct!

Their customer service is... EXTRAORDINARY!

Similar Products Used:

Musical Fidelity X-CAN v3 - great amp with all phones, without pre-amp or line stage.

Darkvoice 332 THA Tube Headphone Amp - great amp with all phones... period!

Grado HA-1 (DC) - great amp with Grados, and only Grados! Get the AC version.

Several others...