In addition to the main buttons, there is also a toggle switch that enables the iFi IEMatch, which attenuates the sound and adds a small impedance gain to the circuit to help reduce noise from the amp. It's barely legible, if at all for me, as someone who doesn't require eyeglasses for anything. Over time, you can memorize or just remember what things once you get the hang of it, but the tiny LED dots, and the tiny text is already likely hard to read, but then you add in the fact that they chose a light grayish-blue (periwinkle?) text color on top of a dark gunmetal gray shell design, makes it exponentially harder to read, no matter how much light, what angle its coming from, or how much you squint.
#IFI GO BAR REVIEW HOW TO#
While the features are abundant for a small little dongle DAC, I am not a big fan of how to determine what settings you are on. What is best is sort of up to the user to decide. Typically, most DACs default to a symmetric filter with both pre- and post-ringing with a steep cut-off.
The GTO filter reduces the taps in total, making it a short filter, and minimizes the pre and post-ringing, while also being asymmetrical. I also prefer this option because I haven't been a fan of iFi's preferred Gibbs Transient Optimized Digital Filter, aka the GTO Filter. This is a nice feature that was lacking on some of the other iFi products, and required firmware rolling to change digital filters, if that was even an option. Holding the third button, and then using the volume controls will toggle through the various filters iFi has put into the Go Bar. First off, you can control volume with the two volume controls, and the third button switches between X-Space, X-Bass+, both of them on, or both of them off.
#IFI GO BAR REVIEW ANDROID#
This should fit most use cases for digital transports, whether that be a computer, laptop, tablets, an Android phone or an iPhone.īuttons & FeaturesThe iFi Go Bar has a couple features that are controlled with 3 side buttons. The unit comes with both a USB-C to USB-C cable, as well as a USB-C to Lightning cable, along with a USB-C to USB-A adapter. The iFi Go Bar I am reviewing is actually from and was sent to me from Precogvision of their team many months ago, but I still have it here for now.įor this premium dongle, iFi included a very nice leather case that can carry both the unit and the USB cable(s).
#IFI GO BAR REVIEW FULL#
While, I still consider it my favorite dongle of that batch, I wanted to re-visit some of these dongles a bit more, and today I will take a deeper look at the iFi Go Bar, a very popular and pricey $349 USB-C portable DAC/Amp that is full of features, and my opinion of it has changed a bit since then.
The iFi Go Bar is available from 20th May, priced £329, while the Go Bar Anniversary Edition model follows in June with an RRP of £499.Several months ago, I did a Dongle Discourse Shoot-Out and I crowned the Cayin RU-6 my champion at the time. Power supply filtering is further enhanced over the standard version too, and naturally that all attracts a price premium. In a celebratory nod to its 10th anniversary this year, iFi has also produced a special ‘Anniversary Edition’ of the Go Bar – and of course it's gold! Limited to 1000 pieces, the gold variant swaps the alloy enclosure for a copper chassis, not just for added bling but also for added robustness and electrical shielding. The former includes volume buttons (which can be synchronised with the volume controls on the source device) while the latter lets users see the format and sample rate of the audio being played, and whether XBass+ and/or XSpace modes are engaged. You can tell iFi strived to make the Go Bar as practical as possible – not only by being pocket-sized but also by having on-unit controls and an LED display. Essentially, with a claimed output of 550mW (into 64 ohms) and 7.5V (into 600 ohms), the new iFi DAC/headphone amp should suitably drive any headphones you’re likely to plug into it. That’s not all: IEMatch works to attenuate the Go Bar’s power to suit high-sensitivity headphones and in-ear monitors, removing potential background noise and increasing the usable volume range, while Turbo mode increases gain by 6dB to accommodate more power-hungry headphones.
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