The GO Bar is iFi’s new answer to the portable USB DAC/Amp market. iFi is once again assertive about its new portable product, and they claim that this is the most powerful portable headphone amp of its size. iFi also claims that this is a premium USB DAC. But there’s a more premium one just below.

In the end, there was no free lunch - just gratefulness to be immersed in some unique sound for a few hours. Hopefully highlighting some deltas is all I can try here. I know for myself, Goldfinger had me reaching for the next song on play (and having been gone a week as I first wrote this, was a sound I would miss): So the differences: Build Quality on Go Bar is standard dongle hard plastic thingy (dunno the build quality) that is better for outdoor use (but still use the included case), while the GOld Bar is in its stupid gold that get marks on it super easy is terrible to look at it. It isn't an OAFAS product, but it looks like one. Really hate the look of the GOld Bar and I would personally never get it since it looks dumb. 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.

Build/Features

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. Internals​iFi traditionally offers quite some macroscopical information about the contents of their devices, but scarce or no fine details about them. Disclaimer: The iFi GO bar was sent to us by iFi Audio in exchange for an honest, unbiased review. The company gave no input regarding the content included in this evaluation. iFi Audio is a sponsor of Hifitrends. Build/Features

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. All but one utilize a USB Type-C Connection, with the odd man out being the somewhat older AudioQuest DragonFly Red; a DAC that sports the Type-A connection traditionally seen in the standard flash drives of the past.of iFi’s offerings, the Go Blu and Go Bar, contain their XBass and XSpace features (basically bass boost and Soundstage enhancer) while the Go Link, S9 Pro, DragonFly Red, BTR3K, and BTR5 do not have any extras. 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. I am currently using the ifi Go Bar and want to share some of my experiences with it . I agree that it is essentially a Go Blue with stronger amplification and using the same Cirrus Logic DAC, minus the Bluetooth features. I choose the GoBar over the Go Blue for a few reasons, first I cannot fathom the Go Blue playing nice with my HD800S with its power output, it will definitely be loud enough but might not sound good. all are DACS, Amps, and preamps, meaning you can connect any of them to some active speakers like the Presonus Eris e3.5 via RCA to 3.5mm. DACS Compared: iFi Go Bar, iFi Go Link, iFi Go Blu, FiiO BTR3K, FiiO BTR5, DragonFly Red, Hidizs S9 Pro. Weight

Sometimes, mostly when comparing new products side by side, using it as just a DAC into a separate amp, or using it as a preamp into speakers. Hidizs S9 Pro The DACS we’re comparing today are all small, portable, and share similar weights, sizes, and dimensions.

Weight

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.

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. 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.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.