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Description
Whether you’re commuting, working remotely or simply traveling for pleasure, the iFi Audio GO Bar is designed to be the perfectly portable way to make headphones sound great whether they are connected to a desktop PC, laptop, phone, tablet or any other digital source that has a USB port
Pocketsize, ultraportable hi-res USB DAC, preamp and headphone amp. The iFi Audio GO bar is the world's most powerful headphone amp of its size.
Highlights
- Pocketsize hi-res USB DAC, preamp, and headphone amp
- True balanced circuit design with symmetrical twin-channel output stage
- Advanced hi-res digital audio support: 32-bit/384kHz PCM, native DSD and full MQA decoding
- Four digital Filter options, XBass+ and XSpace analogue processing modes – tailor sound to suit your music and headphone type
- iEMatch and Turbo power tuning – perfect output matching for sensitive earphones or power-hungry headphones
- Two ultra-low noise headphone outputs – 4.4mm fully balanced and 3.5mm S-Balanced
- Robust and lightweight alloy enclosure with precision volume control and format/sample rate LED indicators
- Leather travel case included, with pockets for GO bar and connecting cable
- Sensational sound at home, in the office, on the move – everywhere you go, the GO bar goes too
Most ultraportable USB DAC/headphone amps offer little or no control on the actual device, with volume adjustable only via software running on the connected source device. The GO bar is different. Its alloy case has physical buttons for precise volume adjustment which can be synchronized with the volume controls on the source device – together with controls to select between the various sonic tuning options. A column of colored LEDs provides a handy guide to the format and sample rate of the digital audio currently playing, plus whether XBass+ and/or XSpace are engaged.
X Bass+ is a sophisticated form of ‘bass boost’ that enhances low frequencies without muddying the midrange. It’s useful for use with earphones and open-back headphones that may lack deep bass. XSpace is designed to compensate for the ‘in-head localization’ effect that can occur when using headphones to listen to music that was mixed using a pair of speakers, effectively widening the headphone soundstage to create a more spacious and speaker-like experience.
The GO bar is our top-of-the-line ultraportable USB DAC/headphone amp.
Whether you are commuting, working remotely or at your desk or simply travelling for pleasure, the GO bar is the perfectly portable way to make headphones sound heavenly.
Connect to your laptop, MacBook, tablet or smartphone or any other digital device with a USB port for sensational sound at home, in the office, or on the move.
Accessories include a leather travel case and a Lightening to USB-C, no need to buy a Camera Connection Kit, plus a USB-C OTG cable and a USB-C to USB-A adapter.
Small. But mighty.
The DAC section of the GO bar uses a powerful 16-core XMOS micro controller to process the audio data received at the USB input. Our in-house team has programmed the XMOS firmware to optimise sound quality and ensure a perfect partnership with the GO bar‘s 32-bit Cirrus Logic DAC chipset.
A customised digital filter minimises pre-echoes and ringing artefacts. Our GMT (Global Master Timing) precision clock system ensures ultra-low jitter.
- Ultra-res PCM up to 32-bit/384kHz via USB
- Native playback up to DSD256
- 2x DXD
- Full MQA decoding
Four bespoke digital filtering options:
- Bit Perfect – no digital filtering, no pre or post ringing
- Standard – modest filtering, modest pre and posting ringing
- Minimum Phase – slow roll-off, minimum pre and post ringing
- Gibbs Transient Optimised – minimum filtering, no pre-ringing and minimum post ringing
Two analogue processing modes:
- XBass+ – an analogue bass boost to ‘add back’ lost bass response for more accurate reproduction of the original
- XSpace – a holographic sound field to open up your music to give you the spaciousness of a live concert
External affairs
The GO bar’s smart alloy case sports physical buttons for precise volume adjustment plus controls to select between various sonic tuning options. A column of coloured LEDs provides a handy guide to the format and sample rate of the digital audio currently playing, and whether XBass+ and/or XSpace are engaged.
At one end is an asynchronous USB-C input and at the other a pair of headphone outputs.
- 4.4mm fully balanced output – headphones with a balanced cable/connector can benefit from the fully balanced circuitry of the GO bar
- 3.5mm S-Balanced output – our S-Balanced tech cuts crosstalk and noise by 50% with regular single-ended headphones.
Balance of power
Despite its diminutive size, the GO bar’s analogue circuitry sports a balanced circuit design with symmetrical twin-channel output stage. This reduces noise and crosstalk in the signal path by fully separating the left and right channels. This is usually found in larger and more expensive amplifiers.
The circuitry is packed full of high quality discrete components and special attention has been paid to power supply filtering too, dramatically reducing signal noise introduced through the USB input.
Purity and power
The amp’s design combines sonic purity with power.
- 475mW into 32 ohms
- 7.5V into 600 ohms
No headphone amp of such a diminutive size can match the GO bar’s ability to drive tricky headphone loads or work with a wider variety of headphones.
The GO bar also incorporates two power tuning technologies:
- iEMatch – attenuates power to suit high-sensitivity headphones and IEMs, it removes background noise and increases usable volume range
- Turbo – ramps up the gain by 6dB to satisfy more power-hungry headphones
*Please note that the GO bar may not work with iPhones up to and including 6S when the phone battery is low (<30%).
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