2022 Portable DAC/Amp Comparison: Questyle, iBasso, iFi Audio

[@hartgemini007]

I had the Audioquest Cobalt for over 2 years having had both the black & red which I thought was very good however just bought the IFI GO BAR & to be honest it makes the Cobalt sound very average. Detail, transparency & bass are on another level. Only criticism is it’s a bit of a faff to set up as it has so many different sound settings but once done it is truly epic- worth every penny.

[@WillieBloom]

IFi GO bar. Owning the iFi iDSD Signature, I’m sold on iFi’s analogue implementation of XBass+ and X3d+/XSpace and I just gotta have the balanced output. And the juice. Don’t forget the juice. Not part of my consideration is MQA support.

[@jaroslavfricek7772]

I really love besides the sound of M15 also the visual presentation...Thanks for the review 👍🙋‍♂️❤️

[@iikatinggangsengii2471]

ofc lul

[@axelfoley1768]

Yeah, but which one sounds more faithful to the original song? We need fidelity. Maybe just go up a level & purchase their next tier. I decided to go with the iFi Gryphon < that solved all the problems 😁 & the sound is top-class, better than the Mojo II

[@BloomAudio]

I'd say in terms of pure fidelity, the two Questyle's are the best in their respective classes, but the Gryphon is a huge upgrade on any of these, for sure.

[@adrianmorrish8494]

Thanks great review, the go bar has 460mw at 32 ohms and 7v at 600 ohms I believe so it’s substantially more powerful than most dongle dacs

[@bradhuskers]

Can they drive my hifiman edition xs headphones?

[@AlainKapture]

Would be like to see the answer

[@adrianmorrish8494]

@@AlainKapture yes they will drive them prob 70% at most unless you want to damage your ears

[@tommy-be-good6580]

What do you think ? Does a realy good DAC/Amp come relatively close to a inexpensive DAP in terms of soundquality ? Looking forward to read your answer. Bye the way....i just subscribed. :)

[@stormingelysium1996]

Would have loved it if you gave your opinion on which you would choose if you had to pick one. Obviously everyone has different preferences, but it's nice to hear the person you're getting a review from give their choice instead of leaving it to the replies.

[@BloomAudio]

Sorry - to be fair, part of the reason I don't do that is because often the one I would choose might vary from day to day. As an on the go with my IEMs or even a DAC for my car stereo (I currently use an iBasso DX160) I would probably choose the M12 on pure value judgement. I like the GO bar the most with over-ear headphones that need a little more juice, but I don't currently have any personal over-ear headphones that aren't incredibly portable friendly. So probably the M12 or M15 for IEMs, but the GO bar for something like an LCD-XC or similar slightly more demanding headphone on the go.

[@AlgerieHD]

which has the best bass?

[@vaibhavpisal]

M12 for me. I dont need balanced. If a dac is balanced I feel it almost always compromises on single ended. So a single ended only dongle is my choice.

[@enjoyunreality]

Thank you very much. Wich one has the biggest soundstage and biggest imaging?

[@udom64566]

ไม่รู้มี gain ohm jack autoมัยครับ!?

[@matusjurcik6974]

So do u like the sound of the m12 more than on the ifi go BAR? :D. Many described the m12 as buttery smooth, is it true?

[@BloomAudio]

"Buttery smooth" is a good descriptor. It just sounds "right" to me. It doesn't sound overly warm, nor does it sound too analytical or dry.

[@matusjurcik6974]

@@BloomAudio also did u use the newest firmware? It should upgrade the sound. It is a current mode amplifier so it needs some proper 5v 900 mA output from the 3.0 or 3.2 USB power Delivery, maybe even some hiby USB exclusive mode to sound the best. So only the new big battery phones are recommended with usbs 3.0 or higher...

[@CuauhRi7]

Which would you recommend for pairing with Letshouer S12?

[@DaPunkNdFunk]

Great video! I'd love to see a review of the Hiby FC5 as well!

[@NZtechfreak]

I just pulled the trigger on the M15, from what I can gather it seems like it captures the same qualities as their desktop CAS192D/CMA800R which is my desktop setup (a pair of the CMA800R). Look forward to trying it out and comparing with my L&P W2. For full-sized headphones and desktop gear I've stopped looking for anything else, but I can't seem to resist these little portables.

[@Maver1ck911]

Do you have an RU6 to compare it to? I'm looking to grab one just cuz. (Have a qudelix 5k and RU6 now) Shanling also just released a true balanced portable 😪 it never ends.

[@NZtechfreak]

@@Maver1ck911 I don't have the RU6 I'm afraid. At some point you have to make a decision to stay with what you have 😂 I'm perfectly content with the W2, but because this is Questyle I'm giving it a go.

[@Maver1ck911]

@@NZtechfreak yeah the Bluetooth is a better use case for OTG to the gym and allows for listening and charging alternating. I'll also probably Crack my 5k open and swap the battery myself when it's charge capacity drops (benefits of having a roommate who is a solder tech)

[@NZtechfreak]

@@Maver1ck911 Yeah, at some point I'll likely want a Bluetooth one as well, different use-case

[@Maver1ck911]

@@NZtechfreak I think the 5k with its GEQ/PEQ for the money and a 9v battery footprint with LDAC support its the best you can do. But the Gryphon also exists for driving full sized cans with plenty of nice features (and nearly 5x the price). I don't think the go blue is a clear winner at the form factor since the apps between the two are the decider. Then again... 4.4 vs 2.5 format wars 🤣

[@DunSety]

Спасибо мужчина! Очень интересный и содержательный обзор

[@migurbimarq]

I really liked the clarity of the onyx thx and it's like the sound reference I'm looking for. Which of these 4 gorgeous portable Dacs could come close to and surpass that sound signature? Thank you my friend

[@BloomAudio]

For clarity and a detailed reference sound the iBasso DC06 is probably the best. If you want a slightly sense of musicality without compromising on a neutral overall sound, the M12 or M15 would be the way to go.

[@migurbimarq]

@@BloomAudio So, beyond the varied options that have the go bar and based only on the sound, the go bar would not be in the first place of your preference compared to the other 3? If anything, could you list all 4 in the order of your personal preferences?

[@Fred_73]

@BloomAudio Excellent!! Very good explanation. query? You will make some comparison in what remains of this 2022 on the following dongles: IBasso dc06 / hiby fc5 / hiby fc4 or the Tempotec Sonata Hd V? which would be the best and why? Thank you

[@Ben-bs4od]

It would have been helpful to include your channel's opinion on which is best!!!!!! Ie. which is best for a high impedence hard to drive headphone like Fostex TR50? What's best for easy to drive headphones?

[@BloomAudio]

For overall SQ I'd say M15, and for hard to drive headphones GO bar. M12 is probably all you need if you're just listening to IEMs with a 3.5mm termination, and DC06 is notable for giving you the 4.4mm at the lower price point if you want power/price.

[@Ben-bs4od]

@@BloomAudio Very helpful. thanks!!!!!!

[@JDOverclock]

Does the DC06 uses the dual DAC for both 4.4 and 3.5mm or is it one chip for each?

[@BloomAudio]

The dual DAC is used for both channels.

[@matusjurcik6974]

Do you plan to review also the new moondrop Dawn? :)

[@levynchannel]

Which can drive hungry headphones better? Ifi Go Bar or M15?

[@amanieux]

great review, all crucial informations are given without stereotyped audiophile BS, one thing lacked : how do these compare with a cheap well reviewed dongle like the $10 apple dongle dac

[@BloomAudio]

For a lot of uses, the Apple adapter or cheaper dongles are great. Typically the first big issue is that they only support up to24-bit/48 kHz and can't play back (or down-sample) higher res formats. Otherwise, if you like the way it sounds, don't need a balanced connection, or aren't using high res files/streaming they can be great.

[@Fatih-xl7yn]

Thanks for the video. Did you had any problems with the M15 because of interference with a smartphone ?

[@BloomAudio]

Hey, so one time I did get some interference, but I couldn't reproduce it later. I'm guessing that might be related to some kind of interference from a smartphone, so you might be right.

[@ThiefJack]

If you shield it using EMI tape to create a faraday cage on the bar and the cable, it fixes it. Don’t use the apple camera kit either. It’s poorly shielded; use the Agvee OTG USB-C female to Lightning male.

[@Fatih-xl7yn]

@@ThiefJack Mine went straight back, got some big interference issues. I use OTG cables from ddHifi, they are shielded very well. Instead of experimenting with tape, I ordered the ddHifi TC44C, no issues with it. Works very well.

[@BloomAudio]

@@ThiefJack Thanks! I'll check out that Agvee cable. I've started recommending the Fiio one, but it's always good to have more options.

[@jsuno23]

can the ifi go bar drive zmf atriums or HD800s?

[@Viewer13128]

does DC06 of M15 have better soundstage and imaging?

[@BloomAudio]

The M15 has better soundstage and imaging.

[@livetips2491]

DC06 vs M12?

[@eduastra01]

hi, can i use a balanced 4.4mm to 2 rca cable from my ibasso DC06 to the rca input of my Denon receiver? If I do that, will I lose balance? Another question, does it work on Motorola Moto Z Power and iPhone X?

[@BloomAudio]

RCA is unbalanced, so it won't be truly balanced going from 4.4mm to RCA, but it should work from a connection perspective. I also have tested on a handful of recent iPhone and Android phones, but not a Moto Z in particular.

[@eduastra01]

@@BloomAudio I already use my Moto Z with the Original Dongle that came with it. The sound is good, but I wanted to improve.

[@TheSFFV]

No optical out though right? Also any luck transmitting Hi-Res 192khz/24bit from any apple device to optical? I have been looking for a unit for 6 months.

[@BloomAudio]

No optical on any of these. You'll probably going to need a somewhat specialized device to convert the Mac output to optical.

[@marcpatrickbehar5098]

Hi a stupid question for an Iphone and using wire less ear bugs apple or sony or others ...does a portable dac exists ? thanks

[@BloomAudio]

For wireless headphones and ear buds, you're limited to the DSP/DAC built into the device itself, so you'd be unable to use an external device to upgrade that.

[@pianoman1973]

If I'm looking to drive the Sennheiser HD660S2 (300 Omhs impedance) with my smartphone would any of this be adequate or do I need another model ? Thanks !

[@BloomAudio]

The M15 or Go Bar will do really well with the balanced connection, but you might want to step up to more in the range of the iFi Gryphon or Fiio Q7 to really get the best out of them.

[@pianoman1973]

@@BloomAudio Thanks !

[@pianoman1973]

@@BloomAudio Thanks a lot for your reply- Since I'm quite novice in the amps world - could you please explain what attributes or technical specifications of an amp should I look for to know it would properly match my headphones ? Thanks a lot again :)

[@pianoman1973]

@@BloomAudio I looked up the specs and found that actually Go Bar has more power than the iFi Gryphon ( 7.2 compared to 6.7 at 600 ohms ) - do you find this difference meaningful ?

[@marchaberberger4464]

Which one would you recommend for a Focal Stellia?

[@BloomAudio]

My personal pick is the Questyle M15, but any of these will do pretty well with the Stellia.

[@marchaberberger4464]

@@BloomAudio Thank you very much 👍

[@kk-xw3ii]

How long does it take to Charge the dc06?

[@BloomAudio]

There's no battery, and the unit draws power directly from the phone/laptop/source, so there's no charge time.

[@michaelpastoral3957]

Which is the best sound quality of them

[@HirakChoudharygudduji2003]

They all different sound graphs, it totally depends what you want to hear i.e bass heavy, acoustic, treble heavy. Iems and dacs all different feel and flavor and you have to choose by your demand

[@The_lastfallen]

Hi There can somebody help me?!! i will finally choose between "go bar" & "M15" & i will be happy if someone help me🙏🏻🙏🏻 i have two questions : 1)my only concern about "go bar" is the battery charge consumption !! does "go bar" have high battery charge consumption?? because i heard that it consumes a lot of battery charge!!! how much mAh does it use for one hour? (of course just for iem use & my iem has 18Ω) 2) & a more important question, considering that the output sound of "go bar" is warm, does it make v-shaped, u-shaped, w-shaped sounds worse & fully color? because my iem(FH9) is a little bit v-shaped, u-shaped or w-shaped & because the sound of "go bar" is warmer, I'm afraid that it will make this happen worse !!!

[@BloomAudio]

Hi, so yes, all of these will decrease your battery life and while I didn't do any scientific measurements, reports indicate the GO bar might drain a little bit more than others. In terms of the tonality, I'd say "warm" in terms of a slight emphasis in the low mids into the upper/midbass. The warmth is fairly light, and I don't think it will cause too much of a synergy issue with V or W-shaped IEMs. If you want to go more neutral though, the Questyle M15 might be the way to go.

[@The_lastfallen]

@@BloomAudio Thanks🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻 considering that i just listen to trance, electric, Ambient style music, do you think which one is better for these styles?? M15 or Go bar ??

[@BloomAudio]

@@The_lastfallen I think we the XBass option, GO Bar would have the edge with more electric genres like that.

[@yooanto9465]

How you would rank them? My main issony IER-Z1R and 64 Audio U18T.

[@BloomAudio]

I'd probably rank the M15 as my favorite, and the GO Bar as number 2. If you're just using IEMs, the M12 is solid, and if you prefer a little bit of a brighter sound, the iBasso might be a little stronger.

[@ElNINETEENTH]

@@BloomAudiowould you say the M15 is better than UA5 too ?

[@BloomAudio]

@@ElNINETEENTH I haven't done extensive testing with UA5, so I can't make a definitive comparison. IIRC from briefly hearing it at CanJam UA5 is a little warmer and closer to the Go Bar than M15, so my preference in most cases would be for the more neutral feeling of M15.

[@ElNINETEENTH]

@@BloomAudio both should be fully compatible with iPhones and IOS devices in general ?

[@BloomAudio]

@@ElNINETEENTH M15 is compatible with the iPhone/iOS, but doesn't include an OTG Lightning cable in the box, so you would need to buy one separately for most iPhone models.

[@surdzo]

Pls anyone, newb here. I’m about to order IFI GoBar. Could anyone tell me if IFI Go Bar drive Beyerdynamic DT 1990 Pro 250ohm 102bB headset on iPhone 11 ProMax.

[@alp786]

Great Information

[@sf2explus184]

i have a mid range laptop, and a sony midrange headphone which cost £40 can these dacs make movie experience sound better on amazon prime

[@BloomAudio]

For movies, you will definitely have an improvement in the audio quality. I would lean towards the iBasso or Questyle DACs as those have a more neutral sound, and while a warmer tone can improve your enjoyment of some music genres, it can muddy the dialog in movies.

[@sf2explus184]

@@BloomAudio thank you very much. great advice

[@sf2explus184]

@@BloomAudio thank you the sound quality since i purchased the amp is day and night. everything has a bite to the sound and the 40 pounds sony headphones sound much better. i have since also upgraded my in ears to shure iem 215 for a more balanced setup as the bass heavy sony becomes even more bassy with the amp although some people will love that i tend to get fatigue with too much bass or too sharp treble. everything with the amp has more detail. all my in ears regardless how cheap sound better

[@jeremymiller3305]

Steve I have a question. If you had to own one of the 4 dac/headphone amplifier which one would you pick for yourself and tell me why that is. I am looking to buy a portable amp myself so I want to hear no distortion on my full size headphones. I own a Meze Elite, abyss ab-1266 which is a low impedance, low sensitivity planar magnetic headphone, and a high impedance dynamic driver headphone called sivga. Could you please help me choose the right one.

[@BloomAudio]

Hey Jeremy, I would lean towards the GO bar in that case, with the M15 as the second pick. You're really going to want to run either of those out of a 4.4mm balanced. The GO bar does have an edge in volume, which is probably the deciding factor with planars - even high sensitivity ones - and both have higher SQ than the iBasso.

[@jeremymiller3305]

@@BloomAudio Thank you.

[@NZtechfreak]

As a Phi TC owner I can't imagine willingly running it from any of these (well, perhaps briefly just to sate curiosity).

[@bradhuskers]

@@BloomAudio Is the "go bar" sufficient to drive my hifiman edition xs headphones?

[@gustavocapretz5154]

ibasso dc06 for sure :D

[@marlowe1537]

An overall good and informative review, but I'd have to disagree with your apparent conclusion that these devices are roughly equal power wise. Looking at power output alone (and assuming that the makers' stated power outputs are accurate), the iFi Go bar is significantly more powerful than the other devices--indeed, that is the Go bar's main marketing calling card. The Go bar's stated single ended 3.5mm output of 300mW should handily beat the other device's balanced 4.4mm output, while it's stated 4.4 output is in another league at 475mW. I'm not an iFi fanboy (I've never owned any of their products), and haven't heard these devices so I can't comment on their other aspects, but was surprised that these facts were omitted. TBH, I am seriously considering picking up a Go bar to complement my Cayin RU6 (which I'm happy with) in part for the extra power, but more importantly for MQA decoding (which the Cayin lacks) since Tidal is my primary music source.

[@BloomAudio]

You're right, I should have been more specific with the specs in that section. I did do some practical tests that I didn't talk about, and my experience was that GO bar could get louder than the other 3, but not without noticeable distortion on the signal. I didn't want to get too far into the weeds in the video, but there are some physical limitations to the power output and while GO bar can coax more output out of the same input voltage, I didn't feel like it provided a qualitative improvement in the listening experience with most headphones.

[@marlowe1537]

@@BloomAudio I appreciate the detailed reply, thanks. After reading more on the Questyle M15, I find it very intriguing, though the lack of any independent volume control on the dongle is a major negative for me. I'm primarily going to use the dongle with the Thieaudio Monarch MK II, which it should power just fine. (Though I find the Monarch MK II likes a lot of power. The Cayin RU6, which has less than half the power of the Go bar, powers it fine, though I'm generally on high gain with volume at 40-50% from the 4.4mm output. Even on the Gustard H16 desktop amp, I'm on the middle of three gain settings with volume around 50% out of its 4.4mm output. I confess I like it loud.)

[@BloomAudio]

@@marlowe1537 I personally liked the Monarch MKII with the M15 (4.4mm balanced) quite a bit. I didn't get a chance to listen to the Monarch with the GO bar though. I'm sort of the opposite on the volume control. I would typically prefer to just have volume control on my phone since I'll have that handy for switching tracks and stuff.

[@bradhuskers]

Can anyone verify that one of these dac amps is sufficient to drive my hifiman edition xs headphones?

[@BloomAudio]

The Edition XS should be fine with any of these, and is excellent if you have a 4.4mm balanced cable available for it.

[@deveshdwivedi3321]

Very good and to the point content but the opening music makes you wanna quit the hobby!

[@jeffong66]

iBasso DC06 sound is dangerously loud. There is no way anyone can listen music on this. Tested on two different headphones. Returned it after less than 1 min of testing.

[@tonyjohnson3752]

Did you use the UAC app? What else did you use that did not allow adjusting the level? I'm close to buying a DC06 to replace an aging DC01

[@udom64566]

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