iFi audio GO bar

ifi GO bar
Redcarmoose Labs February 29th, 2024

An amount of difference:
Using simple logic, you would think someone would eventually make an extra powerful Dongle, and add more features than ever existed in the Dongle realm. As such, ifi has created a product that not only acts and looks the part, meaning the shape and options match the rest of the ifi product line. But have made a device which transcends the sound you normally associate with portable Dongles.

ifi:
So I was approached by the ifi Company and strangely they told me I could review anything I wanted, or they would guide me to a product destination. Really, I thought, this would take some time? But upon looking over their product page it really only took minutes to decide. I have always seen ifi around, you know if you are browsing Head-Fi you really can’t miss them. Belonging to the group AMR (Abbingdon Music Research Group) one of the largest if not the largest audio manufacturer in the UK, ifi has made a notch here at Head-fi. Endlessly imaginative they have created one-of-a-kind products like the xDSD, the Nano iOne, the Nano iDSD Black Label, the ifi Blue and most recently the ifi iDSD Diablo II.

https://ifi-audio.com

But if you were wondering why the GO bar grabbed my attention you would have to understand my history. I come from full-size headphones and migrated slowly to portable more around 2017. DAPs have always been my forte, yet as of recently I have been inundated with small devices. Meaning brands simply sent me these little Dongles and I was curious as to their performance. Then I became fascinated by how each is different and offers different levels of sound quality and features. So out of everything I chose to review the ifi GO bar. Keep in mind I’m no expert in Dongles, and I actually told ifi that, that I would do my best and compare the GO bar to different devices I had…………and the rest is history. Showing-up on my doorstep was a fairly large box, yet inside was a very small box, I mean I knew this was small, yet you always have a different idea as to size from the close-up photographs online.

Really you don’t need to read any instructions to move ahead into usability. Sure this is the most feature rich Dongle on the market, but that doesn’t mean you can’t get going instantly once you have it in your hands. I plugged it into the USB Type-C port at the bottom of my HiBy R3 II and away I went………

The sound:
Look, I consider myself a Sony fan, I have the TA-ZH1ES flagship desktop, the WM1Z and the WM1A. So over the years I have gotten to know what the sound is about. Yet for many Sony is too laidback……at least the WM1Z DAP and the Sony TA-ZH1ES desktop can be looked at as that, the WM1A goes about a drastic about face, and proclaims a vivid midrange opposing what the WM1Z stands for……..and finally the TA-ZH1ES DAC/Amp comes-off even more relaxed, seemingly asleep at the wheel, trying to please the tube enthusiasts only not using tubes. To my surprise the ifi GO bar was different, yet fully entertaining. Yep, I read it was the most powerful Dongle on the market, yet I was using easy to drive IEMs here.

But what had me obsessed was the tone…….the simple tone of this little thing.

First off it was better sounding than all of the Dongles I was sent, but I said to myself…….this I can (singularly) listen to, and use to performance test IEMs. Why? While slightly warm, the GO bar was super authoritative. It was in a way like the WM1Z, yet more forward, offering a placement of midrange that was no-nonsense. Sure the stage wasn’t as big as the MrWalkman’s aftermarket-fortified WM1A or WM1Z, yet it was close, and better positioned than pretty much all I had heard besides the few Sony products I used.


But, you’re forgetting................... well actually I haven’t told you……….why I was curious about the GO bar. The GO bar has no battery to wear out. The GO bar is truly portable and joins with all kinds of sources, to proclaim a vivid and exceptional level of sound out of the house. I mean, commonly it is called the GO bar…….and I know I’m being myopic here, but the sound of this little bar is way, way better than I expected. I had used the Penon Dongle, the Shanling UA3, the SIMGOT AUDIO DEW4X, the Penon OS133 Dongle and the HiBy R3 II micro-DAP, yet this little bar beat them all, and not by a little. It even had me questioning the tone of the $3200.00 SONY WM1Z for a moment. Why? Simply because the tone was both fresh and new.

The new toy phenomenon:
Basically when you get to a certain level in this personal audio game it becomes (more often then not) all good. What that simply means is good quality gives you more ways to become introduced to your music. There are obviously some outsiders, but the main output by companies in the $600 to $2000 IEM league is surprisingly entertaining regardless of tune. This means that those levels of IEMs provide a subtly different well done response, yet none of it is truly bad, like at times you find (stuff missing) in the ultra-budget realm. And I started to get a glimpse that this little Dongle was in many ways joining the ranks of the more expensive DAPs I had. And in fact if you had a need for the various features in excess of what the Sony DAPs offered, this little Dongle could in fact become of even more use. But this new toy thing is that often we become enamored by simply a new tone. A fresh new example which is just different, yet gets accepted as better just because it is new, when in-fact it is showing you extra details in a different place, and those details come-off as exciting. There is actually nothing wrong with this, unless you become addicted to such delusions, getting a bunch of new toys all the time until eventually the old toys in your collection become the new toys again because (after time) they are foreign to you once more. Yet eventually stuff reaches the level of correct assessment (personally) due to quality of signal.

Full-size headphones:
Before I get started on features I want to bring-in full-size headphones. Yep………but we haven’t even begun to list the specifications, or even the bells and whistles here, and you know why? As long as you are listening and having fun in audio, you can do no wrong. Plug stuff in and get going…..we only have limited time to enjoy audio……so let's not waste it. Basically grab the Go bar and plug it in, there is no chance of breaking anything.



Full-size headphones:
Test units In order of appearance left to right.

1) The Penon Audio Tail:
2) The Shanling UA3:
3) The SIMGOT AUDIO DEW4X:
4) The ifi GO bar:



Daft Punk
Tron OST
Derezzed
44.1 kHz - 16 bit
Here is the thing, each Dongle performed well, yet there was noticeable differences in performance. Obviously the ifi GO Bar was the best, but it’s also the most expensive. The trick here is understanding the application and how the results can be perceived.




Top to bottom:
1) ifi Audio GO bar Dongle
2) SIMGOT AUDIO DEW4X Dongle
3) Shanling UA3 Dongle
4) Penon Audio Tail Dongle



The Sony MDR-Z1R:
Penon Audio Tail:
With the Tron OST opening of Derezzed.......the drums were very loud, all you would want, yet the pronunciation of the opening drums was not as thick (with the Tail) or holding the ample amount of physicality possible. And while the attack edges were clean, they simply didn’t contain the reverberations both in the stage and to the actual drum hits. While the stage was ample in size, it was filled with simply less involvement because it was missing details, therefore less real. In comparison to the ifi GO bar.............it contained a lower depth to the bass harmonics, which simply extended farther down. And this wasn’t due to volume chosen, because the Tail is one loud Dongle, yet slightly thin in the end compared to the GO bar.

SIMGOT AUDIO DEW4X:
One of the loudest Dongles ever in today's testing, the DEW4X has the ability to go ungodly loud. With that volume though once again we are offered a thinner and less filled-out rendition of the opening Derezzed drums, that in fact this extra treble tilt even adds to perceived clarity, yet there is less inside of that detail, it is fine anyway, but if you really sit down and do side-by-sides..............this physicality thing, this density of realness that the ifi GO bar does................becomes inherently real……

As I continued my tests one major thing became apparent. Why would people buy 3 or 4 (or more) Dongles and complain that the GO bar is too pricy? Simply buy the GO bar and never buy another Dongle again......simple. If ever there has been an example of getting what you pay for.......this is that exact time.



The Shanling UA3:
Crazy as this is the least loud of today's contestants. And yes, even though the MDR-Z1R is very easy to drive, we still do notice the reduction in dampening factor here. Where if the UA3 was all you had it would seem normal........and sure it gets to a good volume, except the dampening factor (which effects every Dongle here today, except one) means a slight less (again) physicality, except the DEW4X and Penon Audio Tail that was also associated with the tune, being more middle tones, with the DEW4X tilted slightly up. Where in its nature the UA3 is supposed to have a warmer bass, and a laid-back demeanor, yet here those attributes are downplayed due to the power requirements in MDR-Z1R use. Now again, if this was all you had, you could get by, except with a test song like Derezzed you are not totally feeling it, as it is simply slightly less involving........and the song almost seems farther away in clarity?



The MDR-Z7 and ifi GO bar:
Here is the amazing thing, I keep the Z7 around for exactly this bass heavy style of music. There are drops in bass from this TRON OST that are not even touched by the MDR-Z1R in comparison to the Z7. Now the MDR-Z7 stage is not as wide, nor is the midrange filled in with all the details the ZIR provides effortlessly, but there is a physical thing the Z7 does that it tickles your ears. You actually feel the bass vibrations physically. No headphone in my life has this feature, and believe it or not the GO bar is able to activate and turn-on this playback feature. As such this style of thick bass is rewarding in that we feel complete..........and fulfilled with-out want.

The GO bar with MDR-Z7 and MDR-Z1R:
The best and easiest way to understand what you get (with full-size headphones) is to describe the bass as layered. These layers are always there, yet the other Dongles today didn’t know how to pull them up, as there was a missing deepness to where these layers lived. Jumping off to a MacBook Air and plugging in the GO bar we are rewarded with again deep seated MDR-Z1R physicality. This playback actually takes a minute to get a grip on due to being ever so slightly dark, yet clear...........but not holding a tremendous difference in character of tone…….think of eating mash potatoes. It is true and fulfilling, yet with the MDR-Z1R the sound is always on the border of almost dark, and almost boring all the time. And that is in a way the good part, because we are owning a thickness that has its warmth, yet the above Dongles told of thinner emotional involvement, their stories were less dramatic, and were only matters of fact………not totally involving or containing as real of emotion as the GO bar. As such it takes (even me) an hour or so to adjust to the MDR-Z1R…….you have to get permission for your mind to give the MDR-Z1R a clean bill of retail, only because it really is on the darker side........all of the time. This darker side is like hearing music in a room with the extra room reflection effects getting their credit. You see in speaker life reflections bounce off the wall behind the speaker and off the sidewall to add a dB or two of bass/lower midrange, and as such those tones are added to the forward firing tones coming off the front of the speaker. This is not gossip, but tested as a true fact. This room ambiance is what you hear from the doorway of a night club.......and is the sound energy which encases you as you enter. Yet to balance it all..............Sony has thrown-in a V response of slightly spicy treble in both the MDR-Z7 and MDR-Z1R. And maybe what could be best today is how the GO bar somehow doesn’t emphasize that (brighter) treble arraignment?

The GO bar and IEMs:
As fate would have it the longer I used the Go bar the more I started to understand it better. Meaning the Go bar may or may not strike you first off as something totally out of the ordinary. Sure it is powerful and tiny and it does add girth to the midrange of full-size headphones, and just the fact of added dampening (authority power) makes full-size shine. Shine because dampening is (also) connected to imaging and pace. So this clarity from a well controlled low-end actually travels up into the midrange character and even affects the treble as far as a correct placement into the stage. The diaphragm starts and stops quickly due to the ability of the GO bar amplifier to take physical transient control over it. This stopping and starting in finite control means there is a more stable positioning of elements, think imaging and reverberations which (in detail) go to simply proclaim a more fleshed out stage and pace.

Imaging:
This is the very definition of the word transients.

You see this perception of pace is probably the very first thing that will get to you. As once the foggy lower imaging transients and blurry pace is adjusted, a noticeable pace is arrived at. The next thing which in-a-way is very good with all the dongles tested with full-size headphones is bass. Meaning if we try to use an Apple Dongle or similar low-power Dongles this bass will come off anemic. Now lucky we had no such power issue of this sort today.

1) Low bass amount
2) Correct (decent) bass amount but less imaging and detail
3) Imaging, detail and the perception of better pace

Really this bass hierarchy is pretty simple. Yet really also there can be better bass control as we move down the bass scale list. Meaning desktops will often show us there is still improvement a little continuing with how bass is controlled. And often there is the Psychoacoustic phenomena where better detailed bass is perceived like more bass. As such a sculptured and correctly separated powerful bass may in-fact measure like decent bass, only there is no denying this close-to-perfect bass is doing something. So not only does pace and imaging increase often with power and dampening, the lost details start to caress this bass signal and make it even appear louder, when it is simply better quality heard.

IEMs:
Obviously IEMs are different, except they can be persuaded to come alive at times from a better source. In my testing I come upon this everyday with a standard Samsung Phone use, with trying IEMs. So your question may be...........that maybe IEMs are less important to be driven well than full-size headphones? While each IEM is a different story finding the personality from each style of amplification to be slightly different with each and every IEM. Obviously this means many IEMs will sound better from a phone and some not. Yet every IEM I have tested in the last few years has ended with better replay once I departed from the phone. In fact that is one of the wide-spread popularity factors to all kinds of Dongles now, people do perceive a boost is separation and added pace and detail from most all IEMs once they are removed from a phone and a Dongle placed in-between. Each Dongle has its own sound profile, with some being closer to the same and others being wildly different. I don’t want to underestimate synergy here, which seems to come about from finding the right combination of gear. As such it is almost endless the levels of better or worse synergy found by attempting different sources and phones. Yet I am of the belief that everything matters, what this means is sure you will find good results from hooking a Dongle to a phone, and the convenience of such combinations is apparent. Yet finding a pure source like a DAP or even a computer can at times result in improvements......maybe due to clarity from pace? The clock ticking? Whatever it is, trying different digital sources is the key to understanding that the 1s and 0s are not all the same.

GO bar tone:
As this review matures I am finding a subtle personality to the GO bar. As such......you start to learn more about Dongles the more you interface different equipment with them…….and a generalization of demeanor starts to form. As such I started at first to hear the GO bar as neutral, with a boost in clarity, yet now I’m more face-to-face with that clarity and am starting to name it. Where I view the GO bar as slightly warm and friendly with natural clarity. As such we can count on this tone to be both constant and possibly more synergistic with certain combinations. As such I have a number of ideas which we will learn if they play-out or not? I will be testing both a detailed cable, as well as IEMs that are both on the bright side and the duller side of the street. I mean lets see just how well rounded the GO bar can become…….but more than that, lets see how much epic synergy we can drum-up here!

My baseline:
The Sony WM1A is many listeners favorite. Where this tone is taken with MrWalkman’s firmware into a more midrange centered device replay. Yet it can not be overlooked that the aftermarket software went to make the 1A more warm, and have a bigger stage. What this means today is the Walkman 1A is offering a faster bass and nibble pursuit of clarity through pace.


Hans Zimmer
Wonder Woman 1984
Apex Predator
44.1 kHz - 24 bit


Timestamp accuracy on digital file only, not YouTube video.

While using the WM1A and Penon Volt IEM there was notable wideness in the stage, even increased imaging. These features in WM1A were already (previously) recognized with playback characters. Switching over to the same track with the GO bar we are witnessing a slightly warmer playback, which still could be considered neutral and the WM1A is mid-centric. While even the upper mids and treble were found to be more relaxed, I can still say due to overall technicalities with a beautiful careful and acceptable tone! The GO bar is now in the top 4 units I get playback from.

My personal value/quality list
1) The Sony WM1Z DAP
2) The Sony TA-ZH1ES desktop
3) The Sony WM1A DAP
4) The iFi GO bar Dongle

The above list doesn't included specific synergies, only generalizations.

The WM1A and IEMs:
Where switching over to the ASOS cable and Noble Audio K-10 Encore…the Encore actually can become too energetic with the added energy and midrange girth supplied by the combo of WM1A and Encore…….not to mention the added details and subtle spice additives from the Penon ASOS Cable.

Where in place into the GO pro this slightly less trebly playback was the preferred route.

Finally the NiceHCK Himalaya was put into use, which totally surprised me as far as upper details, as often (to me) an IEM choice allowing upper treble details and even deep sub-bass will kind-of activate the GO bar’s mood, bringing us just that much closer to involvement. At 02:25 when the rhythm hits...........those drums out to the edge in position, in contrast to the violins, comes off as memorable. Sure this style of playback with the Himalaya and ASOS cable is some go the best it can be too. Does the WM1A win-out? Yes, it does, but this could only be almost a matter of opinion. Somehow the WM1A is both more midrange forward and still smooth? Yet switching to the song off this OST ’The Monkey Paw’ we are rewarded with a fun display of imaging as well as a dramatic display of mixing GO bar sound elements. Maybe I just like these IEMs a whole lot? So in ending these tests............the ifi GO bar never fails to amuse and will even go to proclaim a more balanced playback into which we find a bright upper midrange shelf like in use with the Noble Audio Encore K-10 Universal IEM to become sounding more accessible, even smoother in replay!


The Noble Audio K-10 Encore Universal IEM


The NiceHCK Audio Himalaya TOTL IEM


The Penon Audio past flagship Volt


The Sony WM1A and GO bar

Sony WM1Z/WM1A DAP v ifi GO bar Conclusion:
In comparison to the Sony WM1A the GO bar sound is warmer, yet in comparison to the WM1Z the ifi GO bar comes across as less V shaped and offering a tailored bass, and polite treble. Where the WM1Z broadcasts this halo around the inner head stage, thus projecting images against the walls of a fishbowl display through a higher, more finite treble response.

What this ends with providing is that the GO bar is small and fun, powerful and well controlled, offering-up a well balanced demeanor that goes with many IEMs and all styles of music.

This is my first exposure to an ifi tuning stance, and I would generalize here that there is a smoothness that counteracts against any bright treble or upper midrange detail glare. As such we are provided with a fast and clear bottom end with just enough smoothness at the top to create an accessible and rewarding listen!

While not offering up the biggest stage in the business, there is a lot to chew on, and this same goes for the found imaging, that while not the most separated and itemized, there is a careful and correct way the ifi GO bar performs which enables it to rise about every Dongle I have tried….to bask in the glory next to my favorite desktop and DAPs. It can’t be underestimated the power also included with GO bar output, seemingly being the most powerful Dongle I have tried.

The Penon ASOS 3-in-1 Cable:
You may be wondering why I chose this particular cable for testing today? Well even if you're not at all curious, I'm going to tell you anyway. There have been people who favored the ASOS more than 80 previous cables! Now I wouldn't go that far except to say that the way the ASOS works is through clarity. It doesn't exactly alter the sound too much, but goes ahead to provide extra clarity, though transparency. It brings you closer to your gear, that's all. And while somehow blackening the background, we are in a better position to perceive bass separation, as it is simply more bass textured. Next the ASOS does add slight midrange energy which goes forward to expand the midrange girth, which can excite some bright IEMs, taking them up-a-level into upper-end focus as oppose to a straight OFC copper cable. Yet today, and the way the ifi GO bar carries itself, it was basic synergy to be found, with all the IEMs used. With that said the ASOS reacted to supply detail in droves, and in contrast to the WM1A, the iFi GO bar went to smooth-out the Noble K-10 Encore upper frequency midrange shelf, which is uncommonly bright just by itself.



In everyday phone use:
While the total output of the ifi GO bar is limited by the host. Meaning total power offered by USB 2.0 is 2.5 watts. Yet ifi says the GO bar can draw up to 4.0 watts. Thus to get the pull power posted by ifi the GO bar must be hooked up to USB 3.0 (or above) capable host. Still even at 2.5 watts draw is fine for most uses. I hooked the GO bar to my Samsung Phone and was met with ear shattering power levels. Yet really playback was fine from my NiceHCK Himalaya IEMs. Note though when hooked to the HiBy R3 II we are now supplying the full 4 watts needed from the HiBy R3 II Type-C plug due to USB 3.1 protocols. Though I tried to picture myself using a standard phone and the sound was totally great. What I mean by great is there was decent stage and separation, there was nice fast and authority in the bass, where this ended being the very best Dongle (ever) in phone use for regular USB 2.0 Type-C. Listening to this DEPECHE MODE album was fantastic? Simple regular 44.1 kHz - 16 bit was maximized in use. Probably the most beneficial thing was imagining how each instrument had its own place in the stage……….listening to ’STRANGLOVE’ with the Eddict player for Android. Now here is the big thing..........normally I don't really talk about phone use. I mean we are Audiophiles who pride ourselves taking this audio equipment thing always to the superlative level? Only here I was listening to a regular bit-rate file off my phone, and just happened to be throughly involved. In fact it was really a good replay, so much that I could have continued the rest of the day listening? It was the best I had ever heard a phone sound, ever...............and that is saying something.

Go bar Features:

• Native playback up to DSD256​
• Ultra-res PCM up to 32-bit/384kHz via USB ​
• 2x DXD​
• Full MQA decoding​
• 32-bit Cirrus Logic DAC chipset​
• 6-core XMOS micro controller​
• GMT (Global Master Timing) precision clock ​

Four filters:
1) Bit Perfect: No digital filtering
2) Standard: Modest filtering, modest pre and post ringing
3) Minimum Phase: Slow roll-off, minimum pre and post ringing
4) Gibbs Transient Optimized (GTO): Named after ‘Gibbs phenomenon’ in mathematics. Research this if wanted.

Two analogue processing modes:
1) XBass+ bass boost
2) XSpace increased soundstage

Two outputs:
1) 4.4mm balanced output
2) 3.5mm S-balanced output



The rarity of S-balanced:
Balanced 3.5mm is an attempt to use an S-3.5mm to eliminate 50% of crosstalk from regular 3.5mm single ended plugs. But the question here arises, as to why you would even seek-out such plugs, as they are incredibly rare? You would simply go forward with the regular 4.4mm cables you already own, or are yet to purchase here.

3 position slider switch: 4.4mm/off/3.5mm
iEMatch: Attenuates power for power sensitive IEMs.

Double volume button activation:
Tubo Mode: Adds 6dB of power for power hungry headphones.



Key to features:
Top:
44/48
88/96
176/192
352/384
DSD 64/128
MQA
XSpace
XBass




Packaging:



Included with the GO bar is a USB Type A to USB Type C, two cables for USB Type C and Apple Lightning, an ifi sticker, a case, a quck guide, an after purchase guide and user manual.


USB Type A to USB Type C adapter for notebook or PC use

The included case:
Sure I’m into cases, as how else do we protect the device while on the road? The thing is, I have found such a case here with two compartments inside to fit all the accessories. Included is the smell and feel are of genuine leather. Really, the materials used and finish set this simple case apart from the competition. A magnetic latch holds the flap down, and a belt loop provided helps if you want to go into 100% nerd fashion. The question is will it fit (that’s what she said) and strangely it all goes in?






Conclusion:
Simple really……as I don’t foresee any Dongle coming along and taking over this top performance position any time soon. Really my assessment job here was easy, just listen to it in place and come to conclusions. As results were so profound that it wasn’t really a question of subjectivity…..…nope. The GO bar was objectively the best Dongle I have ever heard. While the stage was not the absolute biggest (in comparison to the Sony DAPs) it was still very well positioned, involving and paced. There is a smoothness about the ifi GO bar that begs for your best gear. Probably the most surprising thing was the provocative neutral imaging which lived inside of that stage. The deep bass that went to provide both dampening factor and ultimately transient response with any and all IEMs and headphones I tested. As such this kind-of opens positioning and details clarity, but not the kind of fake clarity from too much treble, as this clarity is from good old fashioned technicalities and clock timing.

You have a choice of XBass and/or XSpace......even a Hi-Res Audio sticker! But in all seriousness here, that sticker goes on to proclaim you can decode your favorite format on-the-fly. You have color coded lights to prove the bit-rate, and the IEMatch switch on the side to arrange a correct output impedance without any distracting extra noise. The ifi GO bar was hooked up to my MacBook Air, also hooked up to the different phones I have, along with the TypeC USB 3.01 from my HiBy R3 II, gaining full power. As such I could take advantage of Hi-Res files, as well as an incredibly small HiBy R3 II form factor. This set-up made my Sony MDR-Z7 headphones wake-up and provide a thorough audiophile experience, adding a physical bass that I could feel with my ears as well as hear with my eardrums. All these features..........all this functionality from a very small bar, one that you can feel free to take anywhere. Just for fun I hooked up my iPod Touch to the Lighting connector and I was instantly met with some of the best tone from watching YouTube Rock videos? As expected (once again) we are met with a style of plug-and-play simplicity…….to where you have better things to do than to have to worry about (doing anything else) but putting the ifi GO bar in action, and GOing places!

The GO bar retails at $329.00 USD.
https://ifi-audio.com/products/go-bar/

https://www.amazon.com/iFi-Audio/s?k=iFi+Audio

Disclaimer:
I want to thank Lawrence at ifi for the GO bar review sample.

Disclaimer:
These are one person's ideas and concepts, your results may vary.

Equipment Used:
Sony WM1A Walkman DAP MrWalkman Firmware 4.4mm
Sony WM1Z Walkman DAP MrWalkman Firmware 4.4mm
Sony TA-ZH1ES DAC/AMP Firmware 1.03
Electra Glide Audio Reference Glide-Reference Standard "Fatboy" Power Cord
Sony Walkman Cradle BCR-NWH10
AudioQuest Carbon USB
HiBy R3 II DAP in 4.4mm balanced and 3.1 TypeC USB digital output
Samsung Phone 3.5mm analogue output, USB TypeC USB digital output
Apple MacBook Air USB TypeA digital output
Apple iPod Touch Lighting digital output


Sony IER-Z1R and ifi GO bar doing its thing.......

Several months ago, I did a Dongle Discourse Shoot-Out and I crowned the Cayin RU-6 my champion at the time. 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 I am reviewing is actually from Headphones.com and was sent to me from Precogvision of their team many months ago, but I still have it here for now.

Accessories​

For this premium dongle, iFi included a very nice leather case that can carry both the unit and the USB cable(s). 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. This should fit most use cases for digital transports, whether that be a computer, laptop, tablets, an Android phone or an iPhone.

Buttons & Features​

The iFi Go Bar has a couple features that are controlled with 3 side buttons. 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. The default is off.

Holding the third button, and then using the volume controls will toggle through the various filters iFi has put into the Go Bar. 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.

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. The GTO filter reduces the taps in total, making it a short filter, and minimizes the pre and post-ringing, while also being asymmetrical. Typically, most DACs default to a symmetric filter with both pre- and post-ringing with a steep cut-off. What is best is sort of up to the user to decide.

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. 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. It's barely legible, if at all for me, as someone who doesn't require eyeglasses for anything.




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. I am going to go on a quick soapbox here, because iFi could, you know, just make their default circuitry less noisy, but they choose not to. At least in this case, they added IEMatch to the setup, instead of making you buy their rather overpriced standalone attenuators. But, if you use output impedance-sensitive IEMs, typically ones with multi-BA setups and high sensitivity, you may run into problems with the tonality of your IEM changing with the extra impedance added. For many IEMs, it could be nothing or minimal, but some products from Vision Ears or Campfire can be rather drastic changes in either bass, treble, or both.

Sound Impressions​

For sound, I primarily used this product attached to my laptop and used Roon as the software source, playing both local files and music streamed from Qobuz and Tidal via Roon. For IEMs, I used a variety of different products like the Empire Ears Odin, Hidition Viento, Xenns Mangird Top, UM Mest, and the 7th Acoustics Supernova, among others. I also used it with the Sennheiser HD600 headphones. For all cases, I stuck to 4.4mm balanced for output.

Quickly going back to the IEMatch and amp noise. Yes, the Go Bar can be noisy. There was audible hiss on many of my IEMs when I had audio active, and in quieter parts of music or general playback. It was a bit annoying, but this wasn't a problem with the Sennheiser HD600. I tried to stray away from using IEMatch because some of my IEMs may be sensitive to changes in impedance.

Using the iFi GTO filter (white LED), I found the sound rather bright and a bit digitized when listening to Mipso's self-titled release. Switching filters while playing music was rather simple, and quick, and surprisingly, I felt going to any of the other filters provided gave a more warm and enjoyable listen - whether that be the standard linear filter, the minimum phase filter, or the "bit-perfect" filter (no digital filtering).

I stuck with the linear filter, as that's the most standard for the rest of my listening along with the HD600 headphone, since using IEMs gave an audible hissing noise.

For the most part, the Go Bar doesn't do anything wrong. It's quite neutral sounding to my ears, with no real emphasis in any part of the spectrum, unless you enable one of the digital processing effects. XBass+ gives a big boost to the bass region, with what I believe is a +10dB down-sloping curve through the bass region.

The XSpace plays with phase and cross-feed to give a more 3D-ish holographic sound, but does make the overall sound much more lean and seemingly strange. Adding both effects enabled provides a better tonal balance and gives a slightly larger soundstage, and is what I'd recommend using for brighter headphones.

With that said, I preferred sticking it out without the effects on. And with that I found the iFi Go Bar to provide a clean, and resolving playback presentation, and perhaps the best iFi portable presentation I heard yet -- all from memory of course. While soundstage wasn't large and more intimate without XSpace enabled, I didn't find it glaring or too forward that it became a claustrophobic mess. Technically, it handles busy passages and simple ones quite well, and outside of the noise issues and preference of filters, I don't have any negatives to say about its sound.

Wrap-Up​

The Go Bar is every bit iFi in my opinion. It packs a lot of features and is built pretty well. Unfortunately, as many iFi portable products have, it makes a lot of amp noise that is audible in higher sensitive products like many IEMs, which can be a killer. Luckily, this product does include the attenuating IEMatch feature, although it can also change the frequency response of some IEMs when enabled.

With that in mind, it does work well, and has enough features that sets it apart from the crowded dongle space, but it is also the most expensive that I am aware of on the market, making it a bit hard to recommend overall.

GO Bar is iFi Audio’s first and long awaited take on a battery-less mobile dac-amp (a “dongle”).

As I will try to outline, from multiple standpoints GO Bar fully partakes into iFi’s overall general product philosophy both in terms of components and general application. It promises outstanding results, and surely comes with a price tag (€ 329 in EU) positioning it at the top market level. It can as always be purchased directly from iFi, on their Amazon space, or from one of their distributors around the world.

Features and description​

Externals​

GO Bar’s housing shape recalls that of their Nano / Micro iDSD line – just many times smaller. Within the “dongle” category, GO Bar falls more or less midway in terms of dimensions and weight: 65x22x13mm and most of all 28.5g are not certainly huge yet not entirely disregardable either when I have GO Bar connected to my transport. It’s more than twice the size and weight than an E1DA 9038S, yet much smaller and lighter compared to a Groove.

On one small ends we find two phone outs, on the opposite end a USB-C connector. On one of the long sides there are two + and – buttons, another multifunction button, and a microswitch dedicated to IEMatch.

Finally, on the bottom face there’s a raw of 9 little holes corresponding to as many LEDs, with engravings already hinting about those being dedicated to signaling which PCM sample rate is being played, or if DSD is being received, whether MQA is being detected and finally wheter XSpace and/or XBass+ are activated.

GO Bar is supplied in a small size carton box with adequate internal protections. The bundle is quite generous insofar as it includes a USBC-USBC short cable, a Lightning-USBC cable, a USBC-USBA adapter and a black leather pouch with enough room for the GO Bar itself plus at least one of such cables.

Internals​

iFi traditionally offers quite some macroscopical information about the contents of their devices, but scarce or no fine details about them.

USB communication is taken care by a XMOS 16bit chip, which I would call an obviously good – for quality – and at the same time brave choice – when I think to the power that element alone requires to operate.

Unlike many other iFi DAC devices, “traditionally” equipped with Burr-Brown DAC chips, GO Bar is built around a 32bit Cirrus Logic DAC chip. The rest of the components are coming from the usual manufacturers normally enlisted by iFi: Murata and TDK capacitors, and Texas Instruments power supplies. I won’t go too much down through this as, in lack of better specifications coming from the manufacturers, I find this information to be useful essentially at the marketing level only.

Input​

GO Bar offers a single input, being the USB-C port which is therefore supposed to carry in both digital data and power.

The range of accepted digital resolutions is nothing short of extended:

• PCM up to 32bit / 384MHz (ASIO drivers required on Windows to exceed 24bit / 192KHz)
• DSD direct up to 256 (DSD-direct requires ASIO drivers on Windows)

GO Bar is also an MQA full decoder. That means that it can both unfold non-authenticated MQA tracks, and (automatically) pre-authenticate with the MQA provider to guaranteer even higher quality and especially fidelity vs the digital content distributed by the publisher.

On the housing’s bottom face there’s a generous stripe of LEDs flanked by engraved markings.

One of the topmost 6 LEDs of the stripe will light up in white to indicate which digital resolution is being received by GO Bar: 44/48, 88/96, 172/192, 352/384, DSD64/128 or DSD256.

The 7th LED will light up of different colours depending on the situation:

• when an MQA stream is being received : green for MQA, blue for MQA Studio and magenta for “MQB” (Original Sample Rate).
• when a PCM stream is being received: cyan for BP filter, white for GTO, red for STD, yellow for MIN and off in case of DSD stream. (Read more down below about filters).

Output​

GO Bar offers 2 distinct phone out ports: a 4.4mm Balanced and a 3.5mm Single Ended one.

iFi’s web site is quite stingy on information about GO Bar’s output power so I asked them directly. Here’s two tables giving a much more complete picture of the situation:

Balanced output


Single ended output


So it’s quite clear that GO Bar offers very nice output power on high impedance loads, while it is severely limited in terms of current delivery which turns into not particularly enticing figures from 16Ω down.

Don’t take me wrong here: GO Bar is still more powerful on low impedance loads, and delivers more current on medium impedance loads than many other “dongles” out there. However, GO Bar’s marketing tag line (“World’s most powerful headphone amp of its size”) is, simply, not true when taken in the absolute terms used by its very wordage.

Looking at the figures, it comes out that the device has a hard max current cap around 130mA which it reaches on a 32Ω (or thereabout) load, and to stay at safe distance from that it’s tuned such that drawn current is progressively reduced as load impedance goes down.

Running some simple math it’s also quite clear that GO Bar issues its max power on Balanced Ended output vs circa 55Ω impedance, that being a bit less than 1W, and from there on down it rapidly starts winding down both voltage and current flow.

Neither of the two output connections is configurable as a pure Line Out.

Output impedance on both BE and SE ports are declared to be equal, both < 1Ω. A nicely low value, although not a superlow one.

I also find it interesting to note that SNR and THD+N promised values on BE and SE ports are dramatically different. On BE port iFi declares 132dB(A) SNR and <0.002% THD+N. The former value in particular is really outstanding.

On the SE port they instead declare SNR at 108dB(A) and <0.09% THD+N which I would both call “unimpressive” to be generous. And match unenticing subjective audition experience (more below).

Lastly, the 3.5mm phone out on GO Bar offers iFi’s proprietary “S-Balanced” connectivity – which is a sort of superset of the usual 3.5mm Single Ended standards, offering some more cleanness, and full backwards compatibility to all existing 3.5mm terminated drivers.


If we except the case of fixed-cables earphones carrying TRRS 3.5mm plugs from factory (I don’t personally know of one), exploiting GO Bar’s 3.5 TRRS option would require swapping cables, and as such pretty much anybody at that point would swap onto a 2.5mm or 4.4mm terminated one, and exploit the full-blown Balanced port (the 4.4mm one) on the GO Bar.

So in the case of GO Bar – much the same as in the case of Micro iDSD Signature or GO Blu – I guess that the practical value of the S-Balanced technology applied behind the 3.5mm port is limited to the xtalk improvement – which is nevertheless nothing to bin.

Host power requirements​

I didn’t analythically measure GO Bar’s power requirements, yet there are quite a few things that can be said based on iFi’s published data, and subjective experience.

First: iFi declares a (maximum) host power draw of 4W. That’s huge. It corresponds to 800mA which is far beyoned USB 2.0 limits.

That’s a maximum absorbtion figure – GO Bar will work on usual smartphones and tablets, and even on iPhones, but if the host (the smartphone, the tablet, or the PC) is not capable of delivering up to 800mA current / 4W power then GO Bar’s effective powering capabilities will be limited by the host’s cap. Or oppositely stated: to get the full power “promised” by its specs, GO Bar must be hooked onto a USB3-capable host, or a smartphone compliant with USB PowerDelivery standard.

Second: GO Bar does drain the smartphone’s battery quite fast, even when not “pumped to the max” power by the way.

As my FifteenReaderstm know, the above is no big concern to me as I don’t use my general purpose smartphone as a transport, rather a separate dedicated device, paired to a dedicated small powerbank and wired with an appropriate custom cable. Nevertheless my personal use case is quite evidently not so common, so the average user looking into adopting GO Bar as a classic “dongle” to be paired to his main phone while commuting should keep its power absorbtion needs in due count.

Volume and gain control​

GO Bar offers the user both the option to control volume by pressing the + and – buttons on its housing, and software syncing with the host’s OS.

When changing volume via +/- buttons the LEDs on GO Bar’s bottom faceplate briefly light up to give a visual representation of the volume level.

Host Volume Syncing is supposed to make such that when moving the system volume slider on the host (the machine onto which GO Bar is connected, be it on Windows, MacOS, Android…) then GO Bar’s internal volume changes, and viceversa changing Go Bar’s volume by pushing the +/- buttons will change the host’s volume.

Host Volume Sync is off by default. To turn it on one needs to keep the multifunction button pressed >5 seconds. The switch on is confirmed by an animation played on the upper 6 LEDs on the bottom faceplate. Same procedure to turn it off : keep button pressed >5 seconds, and a (different) animation gets played on the LEDs to confirm.

For my direct experience, Host Volume Sync works as intended on my Android devices, and on my proprietary-Linux small transport, the Tempotec V1. It works “erratically” on my Windows 10 laptop. It does not work at all on any of my different-distro Linux boxes.

After inquiring with iFi’s tech support I got no fix for the Windows problems, and I got confirmed that Linux is indeed not supported “by design”. This is bad, as this de facto prevents GO Bar to be used in pretty much any Linux Client-Server configuration e.g. in a Roon, or LMS, or similar infrastructure, unless by slamming its volume to 100% via its HW buttons, and then actionate on host’s Digital Volume which is of course far from ideal in terms of output quality.

GO Bar also has a +6dB High Gain mode. Unlike what happens e.g. on the GO Blu where gain selection follows an automatic system, on GO Bar it’s the user who has to manually set the device on High or Low Gain mode.

To toggle Gain H / L one needs to push both + and – volume buttons at the same time for >2 seconds. Similarly to the Host Volume Sync case, the “usual” uppermost 6 LEDs on the device’s bottom faceplate will play an animation to indicate the action has been carried out.

Other features​

MQA Full Decoding​

I won’t spend a word on what MQA itself is, of course. Google around if you wish and you’ll be overflooded with info.

What matters here is: GO Bar is a “MQA Full Decoder”. This means that GO Bar not only can (like any “MQA Renderer”) fully unfold MQA tracks on its own hardware, but that it can also:

• Authenticate the provenance of MQA tracks.
• Authenticate the Original Bit Rate of the MQA tracks.

Ifi GO Bar, Gryphon, HipDac-2 are all Full Decoder devices. Ifi HipDac, Micro iDSD Signature, Nano iDSD Black Label are Renderers.

Between parentheses: HipDac and HipDac-2 being virtually identical in terms of sound capabilities, power, etc, with the sole major difference represented by their different MQA capabilities, offered me the interesting opportunity to check the differences on a quite similar if not virtually identical situation and I could tell a quite obvious SQ improvement when listening to a few particular tracks just Rendered (HipDac) or Full Decoded (HipDac-2).

That said, I don’t personally care about MQA, nor about any of the existing digital distribution catalogues for that matter, due to the fundamental lack of good editions of the music I prefer on there.

XBass+ and XSpace​

“XBass+” behaves like what an EQ expert would call a low shelf positive filter. By ear I would say it pushes lows up by 2dB-ish from 100Hz down.

“XSpace” is a “crossfeed filter”, i.e. a function that puts “some” of the right channel output into the left one and viceversa, simulating on headphones what happens when listening to loudspeakers. Within its limits (it’s not parametric, configurable etc – just a mere on/off) and situationality (effects are totally evident on some tracks, minimal on others) the trick is really nice, and I use it quite often.

My main application for XSpace are those original jazz masters from the 60ies where mixing tended to be executed by hard panning each instrument on a single channel only: crossfeed is almost magical in those cases.

Both features are according to iFi’s documentation entirely implemented in the analog domain. No DSPs are involved which promises the minimal impact on sound quality.

To turn either or both features ON or OFF all is needed is short pressing the Multifunction button on GO Bar in sequence. The two bottom LEDs on the stripe on GO Bar’s bottom faceplate will light up or down accordingly.

Alternative reconstruction filters​

Reconstruction filters are an extremely technical topic and some fundamental knowledge needs to be acquired to even start to understand what the heck are they about.

If you are technically inclined a good starting point for your homework about what are Reconstruction Filters is actually this Wikipedia page.

If you alternatively would love a more vulgarised approach, there’s my article about this (or many others on the web).

Assuming you are at least somewhat familiar with these concepts, let me say that GO Bar offers the user 4 options :

• BP (“Bit Perfect”) – this actually corresponds to not applying any digital filtering. No pre nor post ringing is involved (of course).
• STD (“Standard”) – a modestly fast filter with modest pre and post ringing
• MIN (“Minimum Phase”) – a slow minimum phase filter, with minimum pre and post ringing
• GTO (“Gibbs-transient optimised”) – iFi’s proprietary filter, very fast, with no pre ringing and little post ringing. When GTO filter is applied all digital input is automatically up sampled to 352 or 384KHz prior to decoding c/o GO Bar’s internal hw.

To set the preferred filter, hold the Multifunction button down >3 seconds. The MQA LED on GO Bar’s backplate will start flashing of a specific colour. Short pressing the Multifunction botton once will cycle through the 4 possible filters, and the LED will start flashing of a different colour. Long pressing the Multifunction button again >3 sec will “set” the filter and keep it selected until the procedure is done again.

LED color codes are as follows:

• Cyan – BP filter
• Red – STD filter
• Yellow – MIN filter
• White – GTO filter

The first 3 options really sound like 3 of the 5 standard options made available on stock Cirrus CS43131 chips (full spec sheet here)

The “BP” option (Cirrus’ “NOS” filter) – will of course avoid the slightest risk of introducing any ringing, at the cost, however, of leaving artifacts all there where they are. Conceptually not recommended for redbook (44.1/48KHz) tracks, becomes a viable alternative to assess for highres (>96KHz++) tracks. But that’s theory if you ask me: you *do* want to cut the high frequency crap out. Always. I am not using this option myself.

The “MIN” option is a minimum phase, slow filter. More recommended on high(er) res tracks than Redbook ones, it introduces very modest pre and post ringing.

The “STD” option is a step in the direction of a faster filter. More recommended on Redbook tracks, although not really “vertical” as other fast filters are. Ringing is a tad more important then MIN’s one.

Finally, “GTO” is ifi’s proprietary filter called “Gibbs-Transient Optimised. It’s a very fast, minimum phase filter. I strongly recommend you read iFi’s whitepaper about why and how this may be technically desireable, or not.

As mentioned above, selecting the GTO filter also adds a pre-reconstruction systematic up-sampling passage, executed by GO Bar’s internal hardware. All incoming PCM tracks get up sampled to GO Bar’s maximum sample rate of 384KHz (if the original track’s sample rate is 48, 96, or 192Khz) or 352.8 KHz (if the original track’s sample rate is 44.1, 88.2 or 176.4KHz).

In general on higher resolution tracks one tends to prefer slower filters as those don’t risk to cut out on treble air nor spatial cues, their slowness not being a problem thanks to the higher sampling rate. iFi’s GTO filter is a special implementation offering super-fast operation, zero pre ringing and minimal post ringing. This, in addition to the up sampling conducted on the incoming stream, results in very sharp transients and “sculpted” notes. Which – as everything in audio – will then be subject to personal preference!

For my personal experience with iFi devices, and for my tastes, I found the GTO filter viable on all iFi models I tried it onto, including GO Bar, with the sole exception of Micro iDSD Signature, where I found it “excessive”. You may want to read my take about that case here.

IEMatch​

For a through description of what IEMatch is, there’s my article which I recommend you to read if you are unfamiliar with the concept or I guarantee you won’t understand what follows.

Much like it happens on many other iFi’s models, GO Bar carries built-in IEMatch circuitry. The implementation does not exactly follow the same specs as the standalone IEMatch devices though.

Firstly, next to the IEMatch switch on GO Bar we don’t find the usual “Ultra” / “High” engravings, but rather “3.5” and “4.4”. The GO Bar manual quite smokily says that “iEMatch reduces the output level, so that even the most sensitive In-Ear-Monitors (IEMs) can be matched to the GO bar”. Which is only a part of what a full-blown IEMatch does. And does not offer precise figures in terms of attenuations nor output impedances to help the user anticipate what he will get by plugging IEMs of specific impedance or sensitivity.

Long story short, I asked iFi’s tech support and they provided me with the following table:


In spite of my repeated requests, iFi didn’t supply me with the other relevant information which is the Input impedance value on all those cases. Or at least they didn’t yet at the time of this article’s publishing. Looking at the figures, and comparing them with those of the standalone IEMatch models, I can only “guess” that input impedances might be in the ballpark of those featured by IEMatch 4.4, so around 40-50Ω.

Such “guess” is also corroborated looking at the Single Ended output figures: there, the lower output impedance option does not feature a much higher attenuation as it usually is the case on IEMatch devices, but rather a slightly lower one, with a phase flip involved.

Going back to GO Bar manual’s recommendation to use the IEMatch switch to attenuate output in order to cope with extrasensitive drivers, looking at the figures it’s quite clear that the rec stands as stated only when the drivers also carry a not very low impedance (ideally, no lower than 30-ish ohm). Low or very low Z drivers (Dunu ZEN, Oriveti OH500…) will show some midbass bump due to reduced dampening, which shall have to be compensated by EQing – or just avoided by plugging a “regular” IEMAtch-2.5 onto GO Bar’s balanced output (via a 2.5-4.4 adapter of course).

Firmware​

Like for most if not really all iFi devices, for GO Bar too iFi makes firmware package availables for the user to download and easily apply.

At the current time there’s only one package available, version 1.7 (in two sub-versions with just a minimal, almost “aesthetic” difference). I do recommend checking that is the version installed on the device when you get it, as the previous one (v1.48) which was installed on my review sample when I got it was quite buggy.

I won’t be surprised if iFi will make more alternative fw packages available going forward, e.g. offering different filtering options as it happens on other iFi models.

Package​

GO Bar comes in a small box but with the right bundle accessories, and premium quality ones at that too.

Cables include:

• USBC-USBC 10cm cable
• USBC-Lightning 10cm cable
• USBC-USBA passthrough adapter

Cable quality is apparently top notch.

Same can be said of the black leather travel case, offering enough space for the GO Bar device itself and one or actually both of its USB cables.

Sound and power​

GO Bar sounds well, and I should actually remark “very well” indeed, from its balanced output port.

As for voicing GO Bar definitely marks a diversion from that warm and midbass-accented iFi’s “house sound” typical of many other models e.g. Hip Dac, Nano iDSD BL, etc.

GO Bar is much closer to neutrality (although still somewhat into warm-ish territory). Its sound is well bilaterally extended, with very good note body accross the board, good clarity and good detail, with very good but not over-accented bass presence and a good treble rendering.

About trebles it should definitely be noted that GO Bar delivers unoffensive high notes, and a nice, unfatiguing and nicely musical experience on one hand, while staying south of some competitor’s last mile in terms of treble energy and detail retrieval on the other. Pick your poison I guess, and as for all compromises appreciation for iFi’s choices on this will strongly depend on users’ preferences.

From the power delivery standapoint GO Bar is definitely a musclar device, although some notes are in order on this respect.

Regarding voltage swing into very high impedance drivers (600Ω) GO Bar easily promises (and delivers) the highest figure on the “dongles” market today, a whopping 7,2V. That’s significantly higher even compared to Apogee Groove’s 5V on 600Ω. Ifi does not declare (and I couldn’t measure) the swing on 300Ω (Groove’s stays just a bit below 5V there).

Truth be told, as most if not all high impedance cans are equipped with dynamic drivers, I’m not sure to understand what the purpose of a 7V+ swing really is (“stunning” spec sheet figure apart, I mean…).

GO Bar delivers circa 1W onto a 55Ω load (always talking about the Balanced Ended output), which is definitely a huge lot for a dongle, and why it drives the likes of Shure SRH1540 wonderfully well, and SRH1840 near perfectly, too.

It delivers circa half Watt into a 32Ω driver, which is really a lot in a sense, indeed overkill for most DD, BA or other technology IEMS out there, yet (!…) not enough for higher demanding planars, which require even more current and/or they require it at lower load impedance values.

Going further down with load impedance GO Bar’s power drops rapidly (as noted above the device has a sort of hard cap on output current at approx 115mA), thus delivering “only” circa 200mW on 14Ω and circa 140mW on 10Ω. Again, such figures are higher than those on most of the direct competition, yet not quite at dongle market’s top (E1DA’s 9038SG3 delivers something similar to 600mW onto 10ohm…).

Consistently to this, GO Bar drives the likes of Final A3000, Tanchjim Darling, and even Final E5000 waaaay better then most other dongles, but does not have enough power for RHA CL2, nor of course any demanding planar overear.

As I repeatedly mentioned, all the above refers to GO Bar’s Balanced Ended output. The Single Ended output is not at the same level, neither in terms of output power nor – most of all – in terms of sound quality. Even on easy to drive loads GO Bar Single Ended Out is perceivably duller, much scarcer in microdynamics and more closed-in on space reconstruction.

Simply put, if you ask me GO Bar’s Single Ended output is to be disregarded, in favour of its Balanced Ended sibling.

Comparisons​

Cayin RU6 ($250)​

GO Bar is by far better than RU6 on pretty much every single count, although this is much more due to RU6 being an overall disappointing device to be honest – which makes the comparison meaningful only due to RU6’s ungrounded hype than anything else really.

Won’t spend more time on this for now, stay tuned if you wish for my piece about RU6, due Soontm.

E1DA 9038SG3 (€126)​

The first big difference that pops to the eyes comparing GO Bar with 9038SG3 is the price of course: GO Bar is almost 3 times as much.

Another thing is power. GO Bar is more powerful on high and medium impedance loads, 9038SG3 wins big on loads from 20Ω down. In more practical words, GO Bar’s edge on mid/high impedance drivers proves useless (9038SG3’s power is enough for most drivers, and for those where it is not, GO Bar’s higher power is not enough either), while 9038SG3’s higher power on low and superlow impedance drivers allows translates in E1DA’s dongle being much more agile in driving certain “difficult” IEMs then GO Bar is.

Probably due to its performances on higher impedances, or to lesser efficiency, or both, GO Bar, unlike 9038SG3 or 9038D, is a power w**re (it absorbs up to 4W while working, which is 800mA – so it is not USB2 compliant and by far so). Oppositely, 9038SG3 is modest in terms of power needs vs its output power capabilities, and fully USB2 compliant.

GO Bar misses the harmonic compensation and masterclock customisation infrastructure available on 9038SG3, and that’s not small stuff, and offers only 4 different FIR filters to choose from instead of 7. On the flip side GO Bar literally covers the user with features one nicer and/or sexyer than the other, all of which are totally missing on 9038SG3: XBass and XSpace analog-domain effects, selectable low/high gain, integrated IEMatch, high quality integrated power filtering, and (for Tidal’s aficionados) MQA full decoding.

Sound quality wise 9038SG3 out of the box is definitely cleaner and comes across as more analythical and more energetic compared to GO Bar, which sounds more musical and more relaxing. Actionating upon its multiple tweaks 9038SG3 can be made “sweeter/smoother” though.

In the end GO Bar does give more than 9038SG3 especially in terms of overall features package in return for that much higher purchase price and much higher host power need. On the flip side 9038SG3 can power some IEM drivers which GO Bar can’t trigger well enough.

Apogee Groove ($220)​

As extensively reported on my piece about it, Apogee Groove is an oddball. A badass of an oddball if you wish, but still an uncommon device, with the pros and cons one may after all expect from oddity.

Groove’s output stage is based on proprietary technology and does not support crossover filters or similar circuitry, and all too often it also powers Balanced Architecture drivers (even single-driver models) very quirkily. To cut it short, Groove is mainly if not solely intended for Dynamic Drivers, which is of course an apriori fact to seriously consider when looking instead for a “universal application” DAC/AMP dongle.

Groove swings 5V into 600Ω impedance cans which is a lot. It is indeed way short of GO Bar’s huge 7,2V although it’s worth noting that per se there’s little need for those extra 2V when driving high impedance dynamic divers.

On the opposite end Groove is less powerful than GO Bar onto 32Ω loads, but its current cap is a bit higher than GO Bar’s so it ends up delivering more power vs very low impedances like 14Ω or even 10Ω. As a consequence, GO Bar is (power wise) more agile than Groove when paired to the likes of Shure SRH1840, but the coin flips when considering Final E5000.

Groove is quite demanding in terms of host power (340mA, circa 1.5W) but with that it still stays well within USB2 compliance limits, unlike GO Bar which requires almost 3 times as much at full power levels. Beyond these differences, at the end of the day for both sticking an external powerbank onto one’s own preferred transport, and using a suitable single-leg-powered Y-USB cable is the right way to go.

Power profiles aside, Groove and GO Bar are quite different in terms of sound presentation.

Groove is way superior in terms of micro-dynamics and even more so in terms of spatial drawing: I hardly can name a single mobile DAC device better than Groove on this. GO Bar is less colored and may deliver some more subtlety in terms of sheer detail retrieval. Groove is no doubt “more musical”, GO Bar is “more neutral” (just in comparison to Groove – it’s not a “dry neutral” device taken per se).

Lastly, GO Bar’s additional features (selectable reconstruction filters, high gain option, MQA decoding, Xbass, Xspace) are totally alien to Groove.

Conclusions​

In terms of their product line, GO Bar covers an evident lack in iFi Audio’s range which never offered a battery-less device before. Now they do and quite expectably their first attempt is definitely a hit.

GO Bar is a very good device. It’s in facts very powerful. While nitpickingly maybe not the single most powerful dongle around (yet still one of the top… three?) I can hardly name a direct competitor offering half of the extra features GO Bar makes readily available under the users’ fingeritps.

GO Bar is superbly designed, solid, and – last in the list, but of course first for importance – sounds very well.

At the end of the day I guess its single relevant downside is the price – which is not low at all. A few other downsides are also there, but none of those seriously shadows its positives.

This article previously appared on www.audioreviews.org, here.