Product Description
The V-CAN is a genuine state-of-the-art headphone amplifier. Most high quality headphones have impedance of around 30 Ohms. Almost all headphone amps have an output impedance between 50 and 100 Ohms. Because of their high output impedance they cannot drive headphones properly. Any sound they produce through the headphones is necessarily coloured, with distortion and non linear frequency response. The V-CAN is quite different. It’s output impedance is 5 Ohms. This me… More >>
#1 by Katsumoto on July 2, 2010 - 9:25 pm
I own a Grace m902 DAC (State of the art – read review in stereophile.com), and AKG 701 headphones.
The clarity and definition of the V-CAN, is awesome. The sound detail, the soundstage detail that its able to capture and amplify… Just impressive for $250. (Exept for the external finish, witch looks cheap)
Its able to drive the AKG 701 reference headphones to a unbearable volume, and its still at 3/4…
I read somewhere they they are “Tube” but I am not sure.
If you have more budget, our you want the best, then buy Vincent KHV-1
Hybrid headphone preamplifier, or the Cayin HA-1A Headphone Amp. Both seem to be the best according to my year of investigation… I plan to get one of the two soon. Ill keep you posted.
Rating: 4 / 5
#2 by Evitzee on July 2, 2010 - 9:35 pm
I picked up the V-Can headphone amp to power my AKG K702 Professional headphones. This unit’s sound is clean, clean, clean and easily powers the AKG’s to extreme volumes. Incredible sound and detail is on tap every time you slip on the ‘phones for some personal listening. I have the unit sitting upright alongside my McIntosh integrated amp and it is not even noticeable. Do not be fooled by it’s low price, it is of the highest quality and will give champagne results on a beer budget. Highly recommended for anyone who wants more than the usual crappy sound from most headphone jacks on pre-amplifiers, integrated amplifiers, or a CD player. Get one, you won’t be disappointed.
Rating: 5 / 5
#3 by L. Topper on July 3, 2010 - 12:20 am
I use the V-Can in conjunction with the V-Dac. I have hooked the V-Dac to a USB connection on my computer. I bypassed the sound card on the computer. I got a gold plated printer cable with the regular USB connection to the computer and fitted the smaller connector the the V-Dac. The V-Dac connects to the V-Can. It has a pass through circuit that utilizes standard RCA jacks. The V-Can then fits into a NHT PVC (passive volume control device that controls the volume of the computer speakers NHT M-00’s and to a Velodyne sub-woofer. This computer which can now hold terrabites of music along with external hard drives can hold more music than can be listened to in lifetimes at very, very good quality.
When I am listening to the external speakers, the V-Can is not used. The speakers are all independently powered and must be plugged into an electric current. When I want to listen to head phones, the V-Can can handle any headphone or earphone. It has both 1/8″ and 1/4″ headphone jacks. It has its own independent volume control. You could actually power both the headphone and the computer speakers independently. And, you can even power two pairs of headphones out of the V-Can simultaneously. It is an amazingly flexible unit. The V-Dac also has signal input connectors for optical and coaxial digital sound along with a USB connector. I have already used it to hook up to a Wadia Ipod transport. While I have not tried it yet, I believe that the V-Dac will hook up to the optical output of a cd player. In essence, the V-Dac works as a digital to analogue converter for an entire system.
The Velodyne sub-woofer and the NHT M-00’s can be gotten at bargain basement prices at this time. The Musical Fidelity V-Can and V-Dac offer no price breaks anywhere, but they are very competatively priced for their quality. They do not come in a pretty case, but it is very practical and has a small footprint.
Lastly, I have many headphone amps, both portable and desktop components that are not portable. They range from cheap Chinese amps which generally speaking are competent, but not excellent. I have some of Ray Samuel’s very good work and best work, Woo Audio tube headphone amps, Millett amps, Meier’s top of the line desk top and portable amps, and many others. I have to say that the V-Can competes very well and is at a rock bottom price. While each of these other products sound wonderful, they were all considerably more expensive. Buy it. It is top notch audio for a very small price.
It is essential to note that if you bypass the computer sound card, you need an external DAC. That is why the V-Dac is a must if you want to properly use the V-Can. You can also use it with a Wadia transport for an Ipod. In fact, it was probably designed for use with an Ipod. You can use a Wadia with the digital coaxial out of the Wadia into a set of two RCA plugs into the V-Dac and a set of double RCA cables into the V-Can to power headphones or into powered speakers like the NHT M-00’s or into Audio Engines. The M-00’s are more revealing and are often used in recording studios as monitors. The Audio Engines also sound very nice, but far less revealing or analytical. You might still want to add a sub-woofer to get the richer bass response that so many of us like to hear.
Important: If you use the V-Dac and V-Can in a computer set up where you intend to use individually powered speakers, then you need to ensure that you have a good, convenient, and effective volume control. These powered NHT speakers are going to be deafeningly loud without an effective volume control. You probably cannot use the volume control on tray in the bottom right hand corner of the computer monitor because when you use the V-Dac, you are circumventing the computer sound card and all of the controls that you are otherwise used to using.
Rating: 5 / 5