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. The former value in particular is really outstanding. On BE port iFi declares 132dB(A) SNR and <0.002% THD+N. I also find it interesting to note that SNR and THD+N promised values on BE and SE ports are dramatically different. A nicely low value, although not a superlow one. Output impedance on both BE and SE ports are declared to be equal, both < 1Ω. Neither of the two output connections is configurable as a pure Line Out. Running some simple math it’s also quite clear that GO Bar issues its max power on Balanced Ended output vs circa 55Ω impedance, that being a bit less than 1W, and from there on down it rapidly starts winding down both voltage and current flow. Looking at the figures, it comes out that the device has a hard max current cap around 130mA which it reaches on a 32Ω (or thereabout) load, and to stay at safe distance from that it’s tuned such that drawn current is progressively reduced as load impedance goes down. However, GO Bar’s marketing tag line (“World’s most powerful headphone amp of its size”) is, simply, not true when taken in the absolute terms used by its very wordage. 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.ĭon’t take me wrong here: GO Bar is still more powerful on low impedance loads, and delivers more current on medium impedance loads than many other “dongles” out there. Here’s two tables giving a much more complete picture of the situation: IFi’s web site is quite stingy on information about GO Bar’s output power so I asked them directly. GO Bar offers 2 distinct phone out ports: a 4.4mm Balanced and a 3.5mm Single Ended one. when a PCM stream is being received: cyan for BP filter, white for GTO, red for STD, yellow for MIN and off in case of DSD stream.when an MQA stream is being received : green for MQA, blue for MQA Studio and magenta for “MQB” (Original Sample Rate).The 7th LED will light up of different colours depending on the situation: One of the topmost 6 LEDs of the stripe will light up in white to indicate which digital resolution is being received by GO Bar: 44/48, 88/96, 172/192, 352/384, DSD64/128 or DSD256. On the housing’s bottom face there’s a generous stripe of LEDs flanked by engraved markings. That means that it can both unfold non-authenticated MQA tracks, and (automatically) pre-authenticate with the MQA provider to guaranteer even higher quality and especially fidelity vs the digital content distributed by the publisher. DSD direct up to 256 (DSD-direct requires ASIO drivers on Windows).PCM up to 32bit / 384MHz (ASIO drivers required on Windows to exceed 24bit / 192KHz).The range of accepted digital resolutions is nothing short of extended: GO Bar offers a single input, being the USB-C port which is therefore supposed to carry in both digital data and power. The bundle is quite generous insofar as it includes a USBC-USBC short cable, a Lightning-USBC cable, a USBC-USBA adapter and a black leather pouch with enough room for the GO Bar itself plus at least one of such cables. GO Bar is supplied in a small size carton box with adequate internal protections. On one of the long sides there are two + and – buttons, another multifunction button, and a microswitch dedicated to IEMatch.įinally, on the bottom face there’s a raw of 9 little holes corresponding to as many LEDs, with engravings already hinting about those being dedicated to signaling which PCM sample rate is being played, or if DSD is being received, whether MQA is being detected and finally wheter XSpace and/or XBass+ are activated. On one small ends we find two phone outs, on the opposite end a USB-C connector. It’s more than twice the size and weight than an E1DA 9038S, yet much smaller and lighter compared to a Groove. Within the “dongle” category, GO Bar falls more or less midway in terms of dimensions and weight: 65x22x13mm and most of all 28.5g are not certainly huge yet not entirely disregardable either when I have GO Bar connected to my transport. GO Bar’s housing shape recalls that of their Nano / Micro iDSD line – just many times smaller.
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