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). BTR3K: Unbalanced – 25mW into 32 Ohm, 50mW into 16 Ohm. Balanced– 78mW into 32 Ohm, 40mW into 16 Ohm. In terms of overall tonal balance, the GObar reminds me of the time I spent with the HipDacV2 from iFi. Its has that slight warmth to its mid range, but does seem slightly different from the traditional iFi “house sound” I have come to know very well. It’s a bit brighter and sharper than I am used to from iFi. This does work well with some headphones, but if you are perhaps using a bright pair of IEM’s for example, it may not be the best choice. The bass seems mostly neutral to me, not being bloated and sluggish in any way, but also not lean or cold. The mids, especially the lower mids, are again slightly warmer than neutral. The highs are slightly tipped up as I mentioned, but this does help things sound a bit lively and helps details in the top end come across easily. Basically, the iFi GO bar may not have many features, but what features it does have are, to all intents and purposes, uncompromised. Certainly, it seems set to bring the very best from any cost-appropriate partnering equipment, whether it’s the source or the headphones to which this dongle is attached. Sound Quality As you can see, the iEMatch feature turned down the gain by -6dB to accommodate sensitive IEMs and might increase the output impedance (presumably this is done through a voltage divider as per this ASR discussion, effectively reducing the efficiency of the amp). And the XBass+ feature basically gives a boost in the bass starting around 200Hz and up to +7dB at 20Hz; potentially a pleasant EQ for many headphones. Otherwise the DAC/amp has a nice and flat frequency response.

The higher capacity battery offsets the power-hungry THX amplifier, and battery life ranges from about 6-9 hours (about the same as the BTR5), depending on volume and output choice. 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. Input​GO Bar offers a single input, being the USB-C port which is therefore supposed to carry in both digital data and power. I do like how simple this device is AND the fact it remembers your last volume (something the other three don’t do). I also love the simplicity of this device. Mostly volume and a Mode button to change gain from low to high, change from OS to NOS, and change the screen timeout settings. Overall, I would say that the iFi power draw is reasonably efficient; in line with others. If I get a chance to play with it again, I'd take a reading specifically at 1.0Vrms or 1.5Vrms (into 20/75Ω) to get a more accurate point of comparison.

What do YOU think about the Go Bar and DACS in general? I would love to hear from you. Until next time…

Despite the need for a product like this to be as small and unobtrusive as realistically possible, iFi has nevertheless had a go at Doing Some Designing. The result is a USB ‘dongle’ DAC that’s a little bigger and heavier than the norm - but also one that’s very nicely built and finished. The only issue I have found till now is the visibility of what is printed on the body, but once you are used to which led means what, it is not a big issue. The rest of the design feels premium. There’s also full MQA decoding on board, plus iFi’s popular XBass+ and XSpace analog-based sound effects. In addition, you can select between four digital filter settings (Bit-Perfect; no filter, Standard; the factory setting, Min. Phase, Gibbs Transient Optimised) to further tailor the sound.

Certainly the more “pasticy” sounding out of the bunch. More closed off and all the instruments seem to be made out of plastic with this kind of low end puch going on. It is also the hazyiest of all 4 of these.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. 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 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. Output impedance on both BE and SE ports are declared to be equal, both < 1Ω. A nicely low value, although not a superlow one.