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From the iFi Audio press launch:

iFi’s new flagship analogue headphone amplifier delivers reference-quality sound with every thing from hyper-sensitive in-ear displays to essentially the most power-hungry electrostatic headphones 

Southport, England – Since its formation in 2012, iFi has constantly delivered headphone amplifiers which are rated on the high of their class, from small and inexpensive moveable units to high-performance amps to make use of at residence. 

For the previous seven years, the Pro iCAN and subsequent Pro iCAN Signature have represented the top of iFi’s vary, extensively recognised to be among the many best headphone amps on the planet owing to their mixture of helpful versatility, glorious circuit design and supremely participating efficiency. But summer season 2023 sees the Pro’s crown usurped by a fair mightier headphone amp champ – the brand new iCAN Phantom. 

iFi’s new reference-class analogue headphone amp takes the Pro iCAN, refines and enhances each aspect of its circuitry to additional elevate its efficiency, incorporates know-how from the Pro iESL – beforehand a separate element – for electrostatic headphones, and provides a brand new, superior consumer interface and network-connected management system.  

The result’s a headphone amp actually worthy of its flagship standing, with exemplary construct high quality, refined know-how, an unrivalled specification and noteworthy versatility, expertly engineered to drive each headphone sort to its full sonic potential. From ultra-sensitive IEMs, to the best dynamic driver and planar magnetic headphones, to essentially the most power-hungry electrostatic designs, the iCAN Phantom delivers a very distinctive headphone expertise – exquisitely tailor-made to the necessities of the listener. 

Another string to the iCAN Phantom’s bow is its skill to carry out as a high-end hi-fi preamplifier, enabling headphones and audio system to be mixed in a single high-performance audio system. Whether you utilize your favorite headphones to plug your self into an intoxicating personal musical universe or interact your audio system to fill the room with wonderful sound, the iCAN Phantom is brilliantly engineered to put on the coronary heart of a house audio system for essentially the most discerning of music lovers. 

What’s in a reputation? 

Ever for the reason that press dubbed a newly developed Rolls-Royce “Silver Ghost” within the early twentieth century, the well-known car marque has given its fashions ghostly names, evoking qualities which are so extraordinary as to appear supernatural. There has been a “Phantom” within the Rolls-Royce vary since 1925, at all times revered for the outstanding high quality of its engineering, its distinguished look and eerily easy, quiet trip. 

These are qualities that iFi sought to mirror in its new flagship headphone amp, which is why the corporate named it the iCAN Phantom – the Rolls-Royce of headphone amplifiers. It exemplifies engineering excellence to ship distinctive, ultra-low-noise audio efficiency, coupled with a particular exterior design and dual-level black and silver end that echoes the two-tone color schemes adorning many Rolls-Royce automobiles for many years. 

Building a flagship 

A flagship audio element needs to be constructed and completed to an distinctive commonplace and the iCAN Phantom definitely matches the invoice. It appears not like some other headphone amp; its design offers the looks of two models, however it’s in reality a single, dual-level machine, the complete top of which is absolutely utilised by its multi-layer circuit design. Its enclosure measures 256x120x185mm (WxHxD) and is sturdily constructed from aluminium, with the underside layer sporting cable connections back and front, and the highest layer providing tactile controls and a vibrant OLED show. 

The high of the iCAN Phantom incorporates a flush-fitting smoked glass panel, via which the amp’s circuitry – together with its glowing audio valves – might be glimpsed. Circular aluminium vents protrude from the glass, guaranteeing the circuitry inside doesn’t overheat. Clever design touches abound; for instance, when not in use the sockets on the entrance or again might be hidden by a neat aluminium panel that attaches magnetically. (This panel additionally holds the information playing cards for the electrostatic bias voltage settings – these are described later within the press launch.) The iCAN Phantom additionally comes with a lovely, straightforward to make use of aluminium distant management that places the handsets equipped with many audio parts to disgrace. 

Valve or strong state – a story of two enter phases

Like the Pro iCAN earlier than it, the iCAN Phantom sports activities a number of distinctive options that set it aside from different headphone amps. One such facility is the incorporation of two enter phases – one valve/tube-based, the opposite strong state – enabling the consumer to change between the 2 in actual time. These enter phases are completely separate, which implies they are often stored quick and direct for optimum purity slightly than complicating the sign path (for instance, by switching tubes out and in of a single circuit). 

The absolutely discrete Class A solid-state enter stage makes use of J-FETs, whereas the all-valve Class A circuit encompasses a hand-selected, computer-matched pair of General Electric 5670 tubes (a premium variant of the 6922). This stage has two selectable modes – Tube and Tube+. The latter minimises general loop-gain and thus detrimental suggestions, giving a unique trade-off between the tube’s pure harmonics and the transient efficiency. The impact is like three amplifiers in a single, every with a unique sonic presentation. 

While it’s definitely enjoyable to have the ability to examine the variations between vacuum tube and solid-state sound in actual time, the inclusion of those two separate enter phases is far more than a gimmick. With completely different supply units, various music types and an abundance of headphone and speaker varieties out there to listeners, every of those circuits come into their very own and could also be most well-liked at completely different occasions. For instance, the solid-state stage affords tempo and immediacy; the Tube mode provides fluidity and a free-breathing dynamic high quality; and Tube+ accentuates the sonic affect of the valves, delivering a spellbinding romantic heat which will swimsuit, for instance, acoustic and vocal musical types.

The equipped GE 5670 tubes have an anticipated lifespan of round 100,000 hours. When ultimately the time comes to switch them, the iCAN Phantom’s glass high is well eliminated to supply entry. The amp can also be suitable with 6922 tubes (an adapter for the 6922’s pinout is included). 

PureWavePRO – reference-class absolutely balanced circuit design for the purest sound 

Balanced circuit design has lengthy been thought of a righteous path to audio excellence in high-end amp design, however the time period ‘balanced’ is utilized in alternative ways and doesn’t at all times imply the identical factor. The iCAN Phantom takes balanced circuit design to the acute – absolutely differential from enter to output, minimising noise and crosstalk within the sign path for final sonic purity. 

Essentially, ‘absolutely differential’ circuit design – or True Differential Balanced, as iFi calls it – signifies that every channel (left and proper) is absolutely separated within the circuit design, and every of those channels has two separate alerts of equal degree however reverse polarity (constructive and detrimental). This requires 4 separate amp circuits, two for the left channel and two for the correct channel – far more expensive and sophisticated to implement than single-ended circuit designs, however the sonic dividends are massively worthwhile. 

The iCAN Phantom’s True Differential Balanced circuitry is coupled to a quantity management with six decks – two decks for every channel (constructive and detrimental) with the ultimate two decks used for monitoring the amount management operation. The motorised quantity management potentiometer is custom-made by ALPS in Japan and is of outstanding high quality. 

Because the 2 halves of the amount management and the 2 halves of the amplification function differentially, they successfully change into a single stage. So, though the circuitry is elaborately carried out, it boils all the way down to the only design attainable for a headphone amplifier – a quantity management, a achieve stage and a present buffer. 

iFi has championed balanced circuit design for years and lots of of its present amp units in any respect method of costs incorporate balanced circuit rules. Since 2020, iFi’s most superior balanced circuit ideas have been collectively dubbed PureWave, referring to the sonic purity they obtain due to distinctive linearity and infinitesimally low ranges of noise and distortion. The iCAN Phantom’s True Differential Balanced circuit design, utilising the best high quality circuit parts, is the last word expression of those rules – that’s why iFi calls it PureWavePRO.

iESL know-how – for electrostatic headphones and extra

Most headphones create sound by utilizing dynamic (or transferring coil) drivers to maneuver air. A smaller quantity use planar magnetic diaphragms, that are completely different in kind and operation, however nonetheless use magnetic fields to trigger movement. At the excessive finish of the headphone scene there may be one other, uncommon however fabulous sounding driver sort – electrostatic headphones. These incorporate an electrically charged diaphragm positioned between two conductive plates or electrodes; while dynamic and planar headphones are likely to ship stronger bass response, nothing can beat the open soundstaging and magical excessive frequencies of a top-quality electrostatic design. 

For many headphone customers there’s a vital downside – electrostatic drivers have extraordinarily excessive impedance, which implies they want specialised amplifiers to spice up the voltage of the audio sign far, far larger than that required by different headphone varieties while additionally dropping the present of the sign to protected ranges. One approach of doing that is so as to add a separate unit known as an electrostatic ‘energiser’ to an everyday amplifier; that is the strategy iFi took with its previous-generation Pro Series, which gave the choice of including the Pro iESL energiser to the Pro iCAN headphone amp. 

iFi has chosen to include its iESL energiser know-how inside the iCAN Phantom, thereby making a single amplifier that may deal with each headphone sort with aplomb. But it’s not solely homeowners of electrostatic headphones who profit from this endeavour – the element high quality and intelligent circuit design required to ship such a excessive degree of efficiency with electrostatic headphones elevates the amp’s efficiency with different headphone varieties too. 

Transformer high quality is vital to sound high quality, which is why the iCAN Phantom incorporates custom-made PPCTs (Pinstripe Permalloy Core Transformer). These incorporate a GOSS/Mu-Metal hybrid core and complex multi-section winding with each vertical and horizontal sectioning, utilizing extraordinarily skinny wire that’s hand-wound with nice precision. This transformer is able to exceptionally extensive bandwidth, ultra-low distortion and ideal linearity. 

The consideration to each circuit element is excessive, from enter to output. For instance, gold-plated silver contact relays, crammed with an inert gasoline, guarantee good efficiency over a protracted lifespan, and meticulously engineered semiconductors, shielded from noise in gold-plated copper circumstances, ship constant, distortion-free sound. 

Powerful amplification delivers musical gratification 

The iCAN Phantom is an awfully highly effective headphone amplifier, able to delivering greater than 15,000mW from its balanced outputs and greater than 5,760mW from its single-ended outputs into 16 ohms. In phrases of voltage, it may possibly provide greater than 27V right into a 600-ohm load; in the case of electrostatic headphones, it delivers as much as 640V. 

The iCAN Phantom’s capacitive battery energy provide, initially developed for the Pro iESL and additional enhanced right here, is intrinsic to its excessive degree of efficiency. Rather than counting on a mains-powered switched-mode step-up circuit, a big battery of custom-made movie capacitors rated at 1,000V DC is charged and infrequently topped up utilizing mains energy. This ‘digital battery pack’ delivers pure DC, utterly freed from AC and switching noise – the best high-voltage provide for electrostatic headphones. 

Two impartial circuits ship the electrostatic bias voltage – one for 230V ‘regular’ bias and the opposite adjustable between 500V and 640V to ship an ideal match for each electrostatic headphone on the planet. (There’s extra details about choosing ‘{custom}’ bias voltages beneath.) 

Sonic tailoring for an immaculate match 

The alternative between solid-state and valve-based enter phases isn’t the one approach to make sure the iCAN Phantom’s efficiency completely matches your headphone choice and the music you play. A variety of adjustable settings allow you to dial within the good efficiency – right here’s a abstract: 

For dynamic and planar magnetic headphones and IEMs: 

• Adjustable achieve Three settings – 0dB, 9dB and 18dB – allow the amp to exactly match the related headphones. Unity achieve (0dB) is helpful to make sure low noise with extra delicate headphones and IEMs, whereas the upper achieve settings profit from harder headphone hundreds, delivering glorious dynamic headroom. 7 
•  IEMatch This proprietary iFi circuit attenuates the output to higher swimsuit high-sensitivity IEMs (in-ear displays), eradicating potential background noise and growing the usable quantity vary. This might be optionally utilized to the three.5mm and balanced 4.4mm outputs. 
• XBass analogue processing This proprietary circuit might be engaged to boost low frequencies, its sophistication enabling it to take action while sustaining bass definition and with out muddying the midrange. This is helpful with, for instance, some open-back headphones that sound bass-light; it ‘corrects’ the bass in order that the listener hears low frequencies because the artist meant. The iCAN Phantom affords three XBass steps – 10Hz, 20Hz and 40Hz – or it may be switched out of the sign path altogether. 
• XSpace analogue processing Another proprietary analogue processing mode, XSpace is designed to boost soundstage width and depth. The iCAN Phantom consists of two XSpace matrices, one for headphones and the opposite for audio system, with automated switching between the 2. XSpace for Headphones compensates for the ‘in-head localisation’ impact that may happen when listening to music that was combined utilizing audio system, widening the headphone soundstage to ship a extra spacious and speaker-like expertise. XSpace for Speakers will increase the width of the obvious soundstage past the width dictated by speaker placement. Both types of XSpace characteristic a number of ranges that could be chosen based on desire or switched out of the sign path utterly. 

For electrostatic headphones: 

• Custom bias voltage playing cards Electrostatic headphones have various requirement in the case of bias voltage. The iCAN Phantom has two outputs for electrostatics – one set on the ‘regular’ bias voltage of 230V, the opposite providing variable bias voltage between 500V and 640V, chosen by the consumer. It is feasible to wreck the headphones if the unsuitable voltage is chosen; to make this far much less possible, iFi has created a collection of knowledge playing cards that specify completely different bias voltages (these are equipped with the amp). Simply choose the cardboard that matches the headphone’s specification and pop it within the card slot – there are playing cards for 500V, 540V, 580V, 600V, 620V and 640V, every with a helpful information on the again exhibiting which headphone model is suitable with that voltage.
• Load impedance The impedance response might be adjusted from 16 ohms to 96 ohms. Lower impedance settings create a larger step-up and can produce a louder sound degree on the similar quantity setting. 
• AC termination This low- and high-impedance setting for the shared node between the channels for bias impacts a fancy set of parameters, however most noticeably the width and depth of the soundstage. 

iFi Nexus – network-connected management 

The iCAN Phantom is the primary product to include iFi’s Nexus module, which mixes with an app to supply a complete, scalable network-connected management system. The options that Nexus affords will develop over time; at launch, the Nexus app permits your Android or iOS machine to behave as a ‘tremendous distant management’ for the iCAN Phantom, offering entry to extra options not accessible through the amp’s fascia or commonplace distant management. 

The app can show diagnostic info and permit the consumer to watch the iCAN Phantom’s operational situation in actual time – for instance, voltages, the situation and projected life span of the vacuum tubes and so forth. It may also be used to use over-the-air updates to the iCAN Phantom’s firmware, downloading and putting in replace recordsdata through your house Wi-Fi community. 

Nexus shall be integrated into extra iFi units over time – for instance, a number of new mid- and top-tier DAC/amps set to reach later this yr will assist it. As the variety of Nexus-compatible iFi units grows and the app’s performance expands, a network-connected iFi ‘ecosystem’ will develop – one app for all of your necessities, like a concierge service for iFi prospects. It will allow extra software-driven performance to be delivered and shared throughout current iFi units, in addition to offering a direct technical assist service and even doubtlessly a web-based retailer inside the app. 

Every connection – iFi’s obtained it lined 

The iCAN Phantom provides an array of balanced and single-ended connection choices. The headphone outputs are on the entrance, with the supply inputs and preamp outputs on the rear. Here’s a abstract:

Price and availability 

The iCAN Phantom is obtainable from chosen retailers at an RRP of £3,749. Pre-orders at the moment are open, with retail inventory anticipated to reach on the finish of June. 

www.ifi-audio.com

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