iFiGO bar Kensei - Portable DAC/Headphone Amp Featuring K2HD Technology - Hi-Res PCM 384kHz/DSD256 - Analogue XBass+ and XSpace Processing

Overall, this is a well made and extremely useful DAC and amplifier. Came with two dongles (one is for iPhone, which is what I use it with), along with a carrying case - nice touch! The unit itself is relatively easy to use, although figuring out the various modes, setting changes, and light meanings will require you to download the User Manual and take your time learning the set up options. The sound quality is excellent, and it translated everything in full detail, including MQA files. Even with the 6dB boost, it's not as loud as my Red Dragonfly DAC, but this should be plenty for most users in a variety of situations (note that I have not tried it with balanced 4.4mm headphones yet, only 3.5mm). A bit hard to figure out what all the lights and locations mean, but either way it sounds much better than the converters in your iPhone or iPad. Overall, definitely recommended for audiophiles.

I used a pair of campfire equinox IEMs and a balanced connection to review this DAC.Okay, when I got this DAC there was an issue where music would drop out while using Tidal. To start the music again, I would have to pause/unpause the song several times. It was a bummer, but I could not find any other complaints about this. Anyway, I started the return process when I realized that ifi has upgradeable firmware. The firmware upgrade process is a little ambiguous, but you download their firmware updater from their website. Updating the firmware to V2.2 completely resolved the issue!Anyway, to talk a little about the features...Pros:low noise floor: Campfire IEMS have a reputation for picking up noise like crazy. This DAC does VERY well lowering the noise floor (I can nearly hear static during soft instrumentals or vocals).small: lots of DACS are just to large to justify carrying around with you. This works great to carry with your phoneMQA: Works great with tidal, it picks up master tracks without hassle.built-in volume controls: one of the biggest problems with mac/ios and DACs is that volume control is terrible. The built-in volume buttons on this DAC eliminates the issue of over/under volume control on IOS/mac os devicescons:Charging: wish this was a simply pass through DAC, but I am willing to charge it to have built in volume controls

Before marrying a DAC, I dated a couple. Kensei was my final pick for several reasons: clarity and musicality, easy to learn and use, several options to enhance the sound quality, and it is just so easy to fall in love with it. It has all I was looking for in a DAC and more. I am using it with my MDR-MV1 SONY open-back headphones. I've tried the Mojo 2, I did not like it, it was so complicated to use, and the sound was not any better than the sound the Kensei offers. If anything, my ears enjoy the sound power even at a low volume setting, the Kensei offers. I also tried the Audio Engine DAC 3, even though it is a good one I kept going back to the Kensei; but music is very subjective, as the experts say, so if I were you, just give it a try. Make sure you buy it from a reputable store on Amazon with a good return policy, but me, I am staying with my Kensei :) BTW I place the cloth under so it does not scratch, I like to take care of things I buy because they cost money/effort, so I value them. But, I am hoping one day soon someone comes up with a nice case for the Kensei. Update: I just got the usb c to usbc cable DDHIFI And it’s the perfect match, cables matter. I feel like I’m in a concert. 🎵 enjoy it! I hope this helps. 😇

Overpriced not worth it

I bought the iFi GO Bar for its portability and quality components. So far, the sound is impressive with Sennheiser HD650 headphones, 3.5" S-BAL, modes MQA, PCM up to 176/192 and will be listening to more modes soon. It will support 4.4" BAL, once I purchase a headphone adapter.Positives:- High quality DAC- Very portable- USB CNegatives:- No battery backup, each time it's reconnected the volume returns to 0.- The lettering is black gloss on black matte. For me, it's hard to read unlike the pictures.

Ifi Go Bar sounds clean and detailed, fills out instruments and voice well, has plenty of punch and nicely avoids treble glare. Xbass and Xspace are both useful, bass for lower level listening and Xspace does exactly what it's supposed to do, for example, Patty Griffen's Moses from Living With Ghosts can easily sound shrill but with xspace I get much more of the room acoustics and and it's a pleasant listen. The Go Bar sound is spacious and shockingly articulate for something this small and inexpensive. I gave sound quality 4 stars but in a device this small it deserves 5. So far I have listened to Redbook ALAC and MQA from Tidal using MacBook Pro as a source and 256k AAC from my iPhone which also sounds good. The only slight irritation are the stiff cables which can make it awkward to get to the buttons, but longevity is probably the object here. In my opinion it's $330 extremely well spent.Update - 2 weeks in - The above stands, however the supplied Ifi cable for iPhone has stopped working. First I had a level drop which had me scratching my head but soon it started to glitch when the cable was moved, so I need a new cable. My first thought was just to buy another and use the replacement cable I expected they would send as a spare. Well that was stymied because they don't market that cable independently of the Go Bar. Also you just cant get a quick response from ifi. So now I am returning the Gobar in order to get a new cable. Pretty exasperating.Update May 2023: Ifi contacted me and replaced the cable within 10 days, no problems since. I must say I really appreciate this little DAC. Listening through Audirvana on my Mac, using a pair of Meze 109 Pro's the sound is so good, sometimes I have to pinch myself. While my main system ($3200 streaming DAC with headphones amp) is has better resolution, the GoBar is not that far off and I really appreciate the Xbass boost and Xspace options - no eq directly on my Wattson Madison! I have changed rating to 5 stars.