[Review] Musical Fidelity X-Can v3

Musical Fidelity X-Can v3

Musical Fidelity X-Can V3 Review

I have decided to write a brief review of the Musical Fidelity X-Can v3 headphone amplifier for this forum, since there does not seem to be much information about it on this forum, and I hope that this information will come in useful for someone.

Associated equipment
Sony MDR-CD3000, Sennheiser HD650, Beyer DT531 headphones, Terratec EWX 24/96 soundcard

My Amp “Experienceâ€Â
I've previously owned the X-Can v2 and Corda HA-1 amps, and have used my integrated amp (Rotel RA-01) as a point of reference..

Music
Mainly dance, but also pop (modern and old), rock and female vocals.

Design
In comparison to the old X-Can v2, this is a much heftier amplifier, with a larger footprint, heavier mass and the perception of being a much higher quality product. It looks good and feels well built. The volume pot may be counter intuitive at first for those folks who are just starting out in audio, but for the rest of us, it should be pretty self explanatory.

However, there are some design issues remaining from old X-Can amps which leave a lot to be desired. For example, to shine at its best, it will probably require the additional power supply, and of course it will benefit from capacitor upgrades too. The amp is a sealed unit like the old one, and thus head build up may cause problems years down the line (leaking caps).

Build Quality
The amp gives a perception of being well built, its heavy, and looks good. The volume control rotates smoothly, and allows versatile gain even for high sensitivity, low impedance phones like the CD3000. The casing is a black casing with a brushed aluminium front panel, and blue LED. It certainly looks the part if nothing else, and pride of ownership is high.

I cannot comment too much on the internals of the amp since I've never actually opened it up, however I believe it uses the same Jan Philips tubes as in the older models, and I feel these tubes are a bit on the bright side, and also possibly a little unreliable. Hissing and whooshing noises can be heard on the left channel, but only through the Sony CD3000. Those noises were completely absent from the Sennheiser HD650 and Beyer DT531 cans, with their higher impedances and lower sensitivity. If an amp has any faults, the Sony's will show it, whereas other cans it may never manifest itself.

Sound Quality
This amp gives good sound quality for an amp of its price, remembering that it's a commercial amplifier with likely cheap parts. It sounds good with all of the headphones that I've used with it, but it seems especially designed for the Sennheiser HD650. Its bright, upfront sound does seem to spruce the otherwise laid back sound of the HD650, and the result seems neutral, relaxing and musical. However, if you are looking for a rig for dance and rock music, the X-Can v3 and HD650 combo can easily be bettered, either by a change in headphones or amp. The v3/650 combo is detailed but also seems to be overly smooth for a true air guitar effect. I feel the 650 would benefit more from an amp that can grab it by the balls and make it scream a bit.

Switching to the CD3000, the X-Can seems to drive the CD3000 with more authority, but I think that's a combination by the fact the CD3000 is very easy to drive, and also the fact the CD3000 are much more lively and clean sounding than the HD650. As a result, the combo can actually tend towards brightness, but that is the CD3000 house sound anyway, but the bass slams quite well with these headphones, although it fails to reach the bottom octave to my ears. Although I feel that this is primarily a trait of the headphones, the fact that according to MF's specs it only extends to 30 Hz probably does not help. Nevertheless, it rarely sounds thin unless it encounters a poor recording, and the bass is quite punchy, more so than any amp I've had in my possession so far.

With the DT531's, it makes them sound quite good too, not as bright as the Sony, and the bass is punchier still (a headphone trait probably), but they also sound grainier and less impressive than the Sony's, but for the cash they do sound pretty good when properly amped.

Out of these cans, it's a toss up which headphone sounds the best with it, between the HD650 and CD3000. I personally prefer the CD3000 on there, but that's probably because I prefer the CD3000 anyway over the HD650. The HD650 and X-Can v3 make a very inoffensive, relaxed combination, which is musical, and pretty natural too, but definitely not the last word in dynamics or excitement. And that's what the CD3000's bring to the fore with the v3. These sound a lot more dynamic and punchy, clearer too. The X-Can v3 has a tendency to smooth the midrange and treble and make it more euphonic, and whilst this makes things overly smooth on the HD650 for my ears, on the Sonys it's a good thing, as it makes them less analytical. The highs are bright on the Sony / X-Can v3 though, and I'd recommend it with a little caution. Some music can sound a little artificial as a result, but out of the two combos, I prefer the compromises made by the Sonys.

In comparison to my previous amps, it beats the others hands down for me. Its far better than the v2, more punchy in the bass, more dynamic, detailed and musical, less grainy, but then given its twice the price, it should be better. In comparison to the Corda, the Corda has a cleaner sound, but is analytical in nature, and I do not like an overly analytical sound, one analytical component in a chain is enough for me. The Corda HA-1 is leaner in the bass, sounds cleaner than the v3, but the v3 is a much nicer listen to my ears, a lot more musical and punchy. Between the v3 and my Rotel speaker amp, theres little comparison, the v3 simply bests it in every area.

Conclusion
I would have been happy with the CD3000 and X-Can combo, but unfortunately, the Sonys are so sensitive as to show up any problems that may occur with the valves, and that's something that may go unnoticed by other headphones, and hence I believe this makes the X-Can a better match with higher impedance headphones. The issue of the valves is something that I feel will be a constant expense if I were to keep it, and therefore I have decided to sell this amplifier, and get a solid state amp.