The BTR5 hits all the marks and is priced very nicely to boot, but the Go Link is ridiculously cheap and just as good sound-wise. Also included is iFi’s “IEMatch” technology for use with sensitive IEM’s. This is a very handy option if you are experiencing a bit hiss with your easy to drive IEMs. I ended up not needing it personally (my IEMs are not sensitive at all,) but it is there should you have a sensitive pair. It wasn't a straight up double-blind A/B-switch test setup, but spread out across the table for a few hours, this was overall a fun experiment and I enjoyed the time spent. It was also interesting to take notes on the items BEFORE seeing price or specs -- the inherent biases that I know I have get taken out of play. 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. 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).

Turbo Mode increases the gain by 6dB. To switch this on or off, press the + and – volume buttons together for ≥ 2s. Turbo Mode on is indicated by 2 white LEDs increasing to 6 lighting up at the same time for 2s. Normal gain is indicated by 6 white LEDs diminishing to 2 lighting up for 2s. The Go bar’s volume control works independently of its connected device, which is a pretty nice feature. The volume control is also quiet and precise, making it a pleasure to use. Conversely, you can also sync volume between the DAC and the connected device.

FAQ

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

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.The increase or decrease of volume can be synchronised with the volume of the mobile phone/computer. The connected device will indicate a change of volume on its display if synchronisation is on, and the device’s volume controls can additionally be used to adjust volume. The GO bar’s volume buttons are still operational. It’s not that the Cobalt didn’t sound good, but things were just much more fleshed out with the iFi Go bar.

By the way, you also get a USB-C to USB-A adapter for additional flexibility. There’s also a leather travel case included in the box to protect your DAC/Amp. The case also has room to hold a connection cable. Sound 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. 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 Note: I’ve since added the Go Link to this comparison, but not retaking all these pictures because I don’t have the Go Bar anymore.

I also threw in the Gryphon, hip-dac 1, and hip-dac 2 for good measure, and again, not much in the way of differences. I felt like I was hearing everything there was to hear through the iFi DAC, while I felt I was missing a lot of the audibility and directional cues when listening to the Cobalt. The Go bar also had a remarkable amount of headroom over the Audioquest DAC. The Wrap Up 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. Additionally, the Hugo 2 offers a four-function filter (warm, soft, transparent, and incisive) and a digital crossfeed function with three operation modes. Always divisive, users will either love or hate Chord’s distinctive styling and four spherical control buttons, which illuminate with color-coded information. Not quite as liquid and big and bold as the iFi Diablo, but it is certainly warm with some upper end clarity. Lows come through quite powerful, even without XBass, and top end is clean and harsh free. Very authoritative dynamic sound and very reminiscent of the Diablo, but on a smaller scale. It certainly is warm leaning and almost scooped in the mids like many PCM DAC’s, and the top end has a certain kind of sweetness. Very low fatigue, but still plenty of details.