iFi Go Link DAC Review - A Tiny Powerhouse

The iFi Go Link DAC is tiny but packs a serious punch. It comes with everything you need to use it on Windows, Mac, iOS (Lightning adapter included), Android, and more. At $60 MSRP, is it worth the asking price?
Purchase Link (supports channel):
amzn.to/3MvHDjE
iFI Website to learn more:
ifi-audio.com/...
S-Bal Documentation: ifi-audio.com/...
Other products mentioned:
Youkamoo 3.5mm to 4.4mm balanced adapter: amzn.to/3WqmKes
Helm Bolt: amzn.to/3opxEVg
Truthear Shio: amzn.to/3oq5w4h
Focal Stellia: amzn.to/3oq2f52
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#hifi #audiophile #dac

[@knarrie1966]

I have bought it after your review. Thanks, I'm happy with it

[@mdicosmo]

Great review, but - from very quick checks only - I have to say I hear a difference compared to the Apple DAC (running on iPhone, Plexamp, FLAC 44/16, Shure SE846). Feeling sorry I haven't got this earlier.

[@rickgear2579]

I just bought this to hook up to my Sennheiser PC38X. I found that it the volume was too low at max when connected to my PC. I hope that this will increase the volume.

[@Noneya5555]

I've purchased 4 iFi products in the past, and had issues with 3 of them. I ended up returning 2 of them - and wishing I'd returned the 3rd one (and haven't bought any others since). The company seems to focus on making and selling feature-rich products that produce more power. But with the ones I bought, there were issues that seemed to stem from either insufficient QA, or an inability of the product (dac/amp combo) to work well when using both the features and higher-powered settings in tandem. And the issues you pointed out with build quality of the Go Link when plugging in a headphone, or into a source reminded me of the ones I experienced with my products. I would advice potential buyers to be wary of iFi products, and to purchase them only from vendors such as Amazon, that offer free and no-haggle returns of defective products. 😕

[@greccoox]

Perfect point, iFi Go link I bought, the usb conector and the 3.5 was so hard to connect and after listen music was hot with just simple gaming low impedance headphone. iFi Uno, I bought, fit good in my desk and was so nice, but small crack and pop sound when i watched youtube videos(when I skip time stamp). No more iFi products for me. Meanwhile i bought 2 Fiio products (Q11, K5) and worked perfect, i mean, perfect!

[@CB-bo3tm]

I bought this one today, but I am not able to find any difference with the audio quality. Probably I am doing something wrong. I just connected it to my Honor 8 Pro and iPhone 7 plus and played some music on VLC on both. The difference between connecting my KZ EDX Pro IEM directly to the phones or having the DAC in between made no difference to me. (My ear cannot perceive the difference!!??)

[@bharathbabur8559]

The DAC does not support the track, volume change and the mic function and however, I am making phone call using this. You can hear opposite person's voice through your IEM ear pieces and your voice pass to her/him through the phone's mic. Keep the phone nearest possible to your mouth. Following this you can manage the calls even if your earphone or IEM doesn't have the mic. The cons are (1) The type c usb plug case is larger than the type c plug. You need to remove the phone's case to use this DAC. (2) The LED indicator is very bright, and you will feel very annoying using at bed during night.

[@xPenitentOne]

Dashing fit Joe! Gonna check this one out now, gotta love it 🎉

[@GadgetryTech]

Lol thanks! I was feeling fresh

[@xPenitentOne]

@@GadgetryTech you're fresh my man🔥

[@jaymurphy6421]

awesome detailed but understandable and fair review.

[@myspace04]

Would love a review on Fiio KA11 DAC. And comparison with ifi go link.

[@vidalskyociosen3326]

Yes, if you one please send the link here, thank you.

[@izlord50]

Would love to see you review the new go bar kensei

[@pavelpavlov954]

The 3 pin jack is not balanced connection.Balanced connection is three pin but carry only single channel information but the three wires are used in completely different wiring.Balanced connection can be found mainly with XLR or TRS connectors not 3.6mm jack....

[@CrossoverClassic]

Will any of these work with ipod touch? My current dac does not power up when i plugged it into my dac

[@AndrewWardell]

If you buy this, I highly recommend updating the firmware to the latest version (1.8.0 as of July 2023).

[@bharathbabur8559]

I am using this with my smart phone. How to update the firmware

[@AndrewWardell]

@@bharathbabur8559 You need a Windows computer (because iFi haven’t implemented MacOS firmware updates). If you go to iFi’s download portal on said PC, pick the Go-Link from the drop-down menu that appears, then enter your serial number (on the little QR-code on the Go-Link’s main body) it’ll give you the Windows drivers, the three current available firmware packages, and a set of instructions to follow for applying them. 1.8.0 is still the most recent as of yesterday.

[@xodox2505]

How can i update?

[@oldrock80]

Will this produce good sound with Audio-Technica M40x ?

[@GadgetryTech]

absolutely. It's clean and get's pretty loud!

[@oldrock80]

Thank you. @@GadgetryTech

[@GadgetryTech]

@@oldrock80 you bet

[@divye.ruhela]

Just the question I was looking for! Thanks!

[@MrTee3three]

The Apple Lightning/3.5MM is an active DAC? Does high bitrate audio really make it as far as the cable for decoding? I assumed at this price the DAC was happening in software or hardware onboard the iPhone?

[@atpav7265]

I plan on buying a H6PRO Open so what amp should i get, for the open to have higher output volume, as i will probably need On Budget please

[@greccoox]

Joe thanks to never stop the videos, and always put hard work and consistency on it. One question, how do you handle with devices that don't turn off, apparently this to me is a big selling point, like I don't want disconnect my dacs/dongles all the time, but also I dont want see the lights on, even without headph. connected, so to me is a basic check mark if I buy something... has to have on/off feature. But how do you handle that?

[@GadgetryTech]

Hi, and thanks so much! I usually use devices that turn off via a switch or have USB ports that shut off when the device is powered off. If you don't want to see the light, the cheap (not best looking) mod is to put a small piece of tape over it. You can also place a small black dot over it with a sharpie to dull the light. Typically my room is light up like a holiday special half the time so I don't notice the lights as much lol

[@minhn2888]

Might be a dumb question but would this improve headset mic quality?

[@martinvegas1327]

Just bought one thanks👍

[@dhuwdhuwdhuw]

hmm I dont get the lightning adapter in the box.

[@ahmadmatar2698]

Was willing to buy a fiio k3 for my focal elegia If i buy the ifi link instead do you think i would be missing something?

[@GadgetryTech]

The Fiio K3 has a gain switch, bass boost, and physical volume knob. Those are all features I love, so if you have the space and ability to use a unit like the K3, I would stick with that.

[@AdityaRaj-gh2jd]

does this DAC produces jitter while listening at full volumes on laptops at 32bit 384khz studio quality

[@MPaul-wm6vt]

im using the go bar With senhesier ie 900's, Pretty good sound

[@HiCZoK]

Is this still a good simple recommendation if I want to use with senns hd490 pro? (maybe, it's a50 vs hd490pro for now... I am looking for comfortable headset/headphone for ps5 and pc) I would just have it constantly plugged to the headphones and either connect to front of ps5 or front of pc. I like the simplicity of it

[@Ivanical]

Samsung phones are a bit picky on these things. Did you get to try it on a samsung phone?

[@GadgetryTech]

Unfortunately I was not able to try this as I know longer have a Samsung phone in the house. I tested on Android tablets. I'd suggest scouring a few customer reviews to see if anyone is reporting an issue with Samsung devices on this DAC, or considering purchasing at a place where a return is possible if it does not work for you. Best of luck!

[@c.carrillo7813]

It works fine on my Samsung fold 4 and all Android devices. Hope this helps!

[@veikkahakulinen6526]

Will not work on my Tab A8!

[@john8451]

You say that for $60 you are getting great sonic performance yet you also that say in a blind test you wouldn’t notice much difference from the standard Apple dongle!

[@robertfoster3214]

Joe good review

[@davidbarbour5153]

I have an ipod classic with a 40 pin connector. Can i use this with that ipod?

[@EarthSpank]

I'm listening on a 3.5mm to 2.5mm geekria balanced adapter. Like 8 bucks on amzon

[@Narcis.N]

Help pleaseee, my dac doesn’t show the magenta color when i play an MQA song anymore, i am using it on my phone..

[@ONESIXTHCAVE]

Anyone know how to get it to work with my iphone? I connected the lightning adapter and plugged it into my phone and all I get is the internal speakers playing the music NOT through my headphones?!

[@pistopit7142]

How does it compare to dragonfly cobalt?

[@mortus7591]

I know it is older video but i have question would this ifi dongle be upgrade over my meridian explorer 2

[@AssilAk]

Nice Review! Do you have a Recommendation for a amp for ps5 which isn’t all that expensive? Thanks!

[@GadgetryTech]

For a cheap one for PS5, this one is pretty nice: amzn.to/3MTXNEQ Otherwise if you want more features like a 10 band EQ, you can buy the new SteelSeries Game DAC separately now. It's the one that normally powers the Nova Pro headsets.

[@DamianNocun]

is it only me who can not use MQA (magenta light) on Tidal using Iphone 14 Pro ? Is there any fix please ?

[@HuggyBearHikes]

Would this be a good fit for plugging into my car stereo aux port?

[@m4nc1n1]

Can any of them you had in the video handle 300 Ohm headphones like the 6XX?

[@oskarizardgaming9884]

Hey I know this is a super old comment, but the Ifi Go Link works extremely well with my DT 770 Pros (250 Ohm). From my understanding, it should be able to power the Sennheiser 6XX series with ease :)

[@waggingtailluna]

I am an keen audio enthusiast. But, this lil dongle DAC(Ifi Go Link) didn't make any difference to my music quality listening from my phone(Asus Rog 5s + Apple Music + Truthear Hola). The inbuilt DAC in the phone I think it is of the same grade / class if not better. I was expecting greatly from it after hearing praises from prominent reviewers about it. What could be the issue here?

[@jaredtzp7466]

Necesitas una app que haga bit perfect para que realmente notes la diferencia como hiby music o usb player pro

[@waggingtailluna]

@@jaredtzp7466 Write in English please, my good man 🙏

[@adarshwhynot]

Can ifi go link drive Beyerdynamic Tygr 300r easily on windows and Android?

[@axelrivas2914]

Quick question can I connect this to a ps5 usb and 3.5mm jack to a pc so I can used a headset from the pc? PS. Sorry for my English I’m still learning

[@JB-kg9we]

Did you find an answer to this?

[@Lockke_]

Boosty boost cause quality

[@GadgetryTech]

Thank kind person :)

[@s7v7nfiv5]

Decent product but most definitely not worth it, bought their hip dac 2 and six months later their usb cable started to malfunction and here the kicker..their 'technical support" is non existent, about 7 emails later directly through their website (only way to reach their "support") still getting some robot named jesse to no conclusion, its just a usb cable! Just ship the dam thing! You have my address! Jesus crocks!

[@yuvper]

Does this works on ps5

[@jio-lito]

He said it on the video.

[@yuvper]

@@jio-lito need to watch it again

[@pablovaldez5550]

6:29

[@pistopit7142]

I have ifi Go Blu.The built quality is horrible. This one looks even worst, I can already see point of failure on cable ends over time.

[@Nordi1_0745]

Can Go Link drive my akg k701 and HD600 headphones? Thanks