iFi Audio GoBar Kensei - Best Dongle I've Ever Heard?! - Honest Audiophile Impressions

A BIG thank you to iFi Audio for providing the GoBar Kensei for review, much appreciated.
The ifI Audio GoBar Kensei has a steep price tag of $450 but is it worth it? Is the Kensei the best iFi Audio dongle? Is the Kensei the best dongle I have heard?
Purchase/More Information:
ifi-audio.com/products/go-bar...
Chapters:
00:00 Introduction/Specs
02:00 Build/Design/Hi-Res Sticker
03:40 Box/Accessories
07:30 Initial Sonic Impressions/K2HD/X Space/X Bass
10:40 Bass
12:05 Mids
13:05 Treble
14:10 Technical Abilities
15:45 Output Power
17:35 IE Match/Turbo Mode/Buttons
18:45 Conclusion
20:33 Exiting
I am not a professional sound engineer, producer, musician, or vocalist, etc. I have not done any scientific research, measurements, or in-depth testing of any kind; just my own listening, comparing and internet reading/research. I have limited, real-life experience with recording, mixing and mastering gear. I have been involved since my teenage years with various churches as an amateur sound booth technician.
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[@TheCujo1956]

Have you tried the Shanling Onix XI1 dongle at $109. It is getting high praise for bang for the buck sound and has been called a possible end game dongle by some respect hifi critics.

[@TheHonestAudiophile]

Thanks for the suggestion.

[@paulgal]

I agree I would like a review of this as it more affordable.

[@TheHonestAudiophile]

Plenty of budget friendly reviews on the channel and more to come.

[@jb678901]

@@TheHonestAudiophile I figured you haven't yet tried the ONIX Alpha XI1, given the title to this video. Fair enough. Rome wasn't built in a day. 500mW into 32Ohms (4.4mm Bal) + LCD panel + APP. 2 X CS43198. Regardless of it's

[@TheHonestAudiophile]

@@jb678901 Thanks for the impressions

[@nemesis91101]

IFI is one those _we charge this much cause we proud of it_ company. I know this because i paid what i paid for my idsd signature only for it to get almost a 50% price cut now. Wait for it to come down to normie price. This is dap pricing

[@STR82DVD]

Dave lad, I'm not interested in paying for a bamboo box or useless leather belt case. I'm more interested in paying for quality sound and do you know how many periodic rhodiums I can purchase for the same price as this silly dongle? The bloody thing is $650 Canadian. Dave, that's bloody insane.

[@Jacob1451_Kapnobatai]

Agreed

[@superspeeder]

I was interested until I heard the price. I’m in 🇨🇦 too and this would cost nearly as much as my whole desktop system electronics (DAC, pre/headphone amp, three amplifiers) and I doubt I could hear the difference.

[@STR82DVD]

@@superspeeder Agreed.

[@STR82DVD]

@@superspeeder An entire Topping desktop rig would cost less and give more.

[@TheHonestAudiophile]

I understand about the bamboo box and belt case. The price is steep for sure. The Rhodium is fantastic value but not on the same level as the Kensei. Thanks for watching and commenting.

[@SoundMike]

Hi Dave! I have the regular ifi go Bar and can say it sounds incredible. While I can cannot say how much better the Kensei is because of its JVC implementation, I think, based on my own experience and your review that it is a Worthwhile purchase if you can afford it. A tip I would give for someone considering this device though is it sounds better when plugged into a high power usb C outlet. It sounds very good on phones and tablets but the extra current and power give it more dynamics and bigger soundstage. Also, if you need more power, pressing and holding the volume up and Down at the same time will toggle between high power and normal power. The balanced output on this device sounds better and has more power which is not necessarily because of the balanced output. It is just the way this device was projected. Finally, on my devices it was a battery hog like many other dongles of this type. Great review. All the best!!

[@TheHonestAudiophile]

Thanks for the comparison. I completely forgot to mention that the Kensei is a bit of a battery hog in comparison to others. Not terrible but about an hour less listening than others.

[@guybrushtwood]

It it pronounced “Ken-Say” for future reference. Nice review as per usual

[@carminedesanto6746]

GM ☕️ On our way to a wedding 💒 today. Good people,good food and hopefully decent music …anyway back to the subject at hand ….its a bit of a chunky boi ..I personally have the IFI Go Blue..I don’t like something that chunky attached to another device (iPhone )and then to my wired headphones/iems ..yes with the Effects cable 😆 Of late ,IFI has been making some strange design choices on a lot of their gear ⚙️ ..I don’t think they’ve made a dud ..but there’s always something. I think as a portable unit it’s bit of a fail ..but a micro desktop unit ..and at its level of performance..a definite consideration for IEM’s . A great review as usual. Take care and enjoy the weekend. Also ,given the exchange rate

[@ScottoGrotto]

Happy to see you review this dongle! Really wanted a review that could discern the merits of the K2HD! That you picked the K2 mode as the way you liked it the best says a lot! Is the Kensei better than an og chord mojo? Hiby FC6? Are you adding a Kensei to your reference collection? Hope to hear this at the next CanJam!

[@TheHonestAudiophile]

Thanks for the kind words. I've not heard the Hiby FC6. Chord Mojo been a long time since I heard it. I don't remember enough to give a fair comparison.

[@matusjurcik6974]

good job Dave

[@TheHonestAudiophile]

Thanks

[@troupsterT]

Good review! I'm not trying to nitpick, but the name of this company is Eye-Fi, rhyming with "hi-fi". Anyway, love your channel! Good stuff.

[@yds1133]

Thank you for the review. Wow this Kensei K2HD sounds very impressive. I remember you rated Hiby FC3 slightly better than FC4. How would you compare the GO Bar with FC3 for IEMs? Is the difference significant?

[@TheHonestAudiophile]

FC3 doesn't have as much body, impact, texture, details, resolution. The Kensei is a significant upgrade.

[@DragnetSound]

How is Kinsei compared to the Mojo 2 and Xduoo xdo5 pro? Even though the later is more cost comparison which one would you recommend to get for preferred sound quality? Thanks Bye the way great review.

[@TheHonestAudiophile]

Sorry haven't heard either the Mojo 2 or XDO5 Pro.

[@herb601]

Hi Dave, sure miss seeing you. Love to watch this review because I am a fan of iFi Audio however, no point, since this is waaaaaay out of my budget. Stay well.❤

[@TheHonestAudiophile]

Thanks for watching. I totally understand about the price.

[@johnserpo9267]

You can pay $10 for the Onkyo HF Player on your iPhone. It can convert all your pcm music to dsd in real-time and output it to your external dac. As long as your dac supports dsd256, it will work. Much cheaper than this kensei dongle.

[@TheHonestAudiophile]

Interesting. Thanks for the information. i will look into it.

[@JRVick]

Hi Dave, great review. Is this tech a sort of DSD DXD conversion of PCM files?

[@TheHonestAudiophile]

Yeah kinda. I'd read the link in the description, it explains it a lot better.

[@sunnytang740]

Hi Dave, Thanks for sharing... Any chance if this dongle beat an entry level DAP - Fiio m11+, A&K SR35 etc? 🤟🤟

[@TheHonestAudiophile]

Sonically it's good competition but power wise both beat it. But I'm going off memory as I haven't heard either of those DAP in a long time.

[@michaelmacvittie6977]

IFI is a generally pricy company, but everything I’ve purchased from them has always seemed to justify its price. This seems like that “stepping into actual audiophilia” first step that someone is gonna need.

[@TheHonestAudiophile]

💯 This is so true. The quality in build and sound from iFi puts them on another level.

[@marlowe1537]

I have the original iFi Go bar and it's pretty good if overpriced. But whoever designed and whoever approved its absolutely unreadable black on black markings should never have another job ever. The Kensei does fix that lunacy, and I'd bet that it's a more significant change than any SQ upgrade. I also have reservations about iFi, which has been shown to manipulate stated specs of some products. At the same price, I'd be more interested in the iBasso DC-Elite dongle, a miniaturization of a $3500 iBasso DAP with much of the same tech, including the same flagship Rohm DAC, which has drawn favorable comparisons to much more expensive DAPs and the Mojo 2. I can afford one purchase in July and an dithering between the DC-Elite and the I/O Volare IEM.

[@TheHonestAudiophile]

Interesting. Thanks for the information on the iBasso DC-Elite

[@tedthomas9809]

How does it compare to hipdac 3?

[@TheHonestAudiophile]

Sorry haven't heard Hip DAC 3

[@bernaquinonezreveles2952]

Pls do a review of the FIIO KA17 it’s so powerful

[@TheHonestAudiophile]

I have a KA17 in the review schedule.

[@bernaquinonezreveles2952]

@@TheHonestAudiophile I don’t found :c Can you put the link of your video? Pls

[@TheHonestAudiophile]

The review of the KA17 hasn't been done yet.

[@bernaquinonezreveles2952]

@@TheHonestAudiophile Oohh that’s explain why I don’t see it xD srry my bad I wanna see a good review of the KA17 cuz i want a good dongle for planar iem

[@carminedesanto6746]

18:58 $450 U.S. is $615 CAD 😳

[@TheHonestAudiophile]

Ouchie

[@DragnetSound]

I would say rather expensive for a Dongle another $100-200 you can get a portable powered Dac.

[@TheHonestAudiophile]

@DragnetSound yes that's true, the Fiio Q15 is fantastic but doesn't sound like the Kensei.

[@TheCujo1956]

Issues with weight and fit in pocket plus high price tag make this dongle a no go dongle. 😩

[@TheHonestAudiophile]

I understand. The price tag is for sure an issue.

[@paultomaszewski1964]

Nice review as always, looked on their web page and they say it's a 32-bit Cirrus Logic DAC chipset. What version/model, they don't say. And they still push the MQA thing which I thought is dead at the moment. Way to much for this type of dongle.

[@TheHonestAudiophile]

I don't care about the MQA but people do have MQA files so why not include it?

[@JoUtan01]

Subscribed for commenting "Android and PC user"... fuck apple!

[@scorpioassmodeusgtx1811]

That K2HD feature is just throwing in a bunch of garbage data above 20k Hz, which you can’t hear anyway. Maybe it’s also having some effect on the upper treble frequencies, but it’s basically acting like an EQ then and is not an accurate representation of the original music. It’s a gimmick to convince you to spend $500 on a freaking dongle.

[@TheHonestAudiophile]

😂😂😂😂 I recommend you do some research by reading about the JVC Kenwood process. I hope you get to hear the differences at some point.

[@scorpioassmodeusgtx1811]

@@TheHonestAudiophile I pulled this from iFi's own documentation: "This advanced processing optionally upscales a file to 192kHz/24-bit" Every modern DAC can do this. "The unparalleled originality of K2HD lies in its advanced high-frequency extension, enabling the restoration of natural harmonics and overtones beyond 22kHz, delivering audio quality that is close to the original master." Objectively inaudible frequencies unless you're a bat. Sorry, but unless I'm missing something, I don't see how this is anything more than snake oil.

[@TheHonestAudiophile]

@scorpioassmodeusgtx1811 You're free to believe whatever you want. I know what I hear and stated it in the video. Thanks for watching and commenting.

[@scorpioassmodeusgtx1811]

@@TheHonestAudiophile I don’t doubt that you hear something, I’m just not sure what part of the technology it is, because their marketing copy seems rather empty-worded. My best guess is that it could be acting like a super late high frequency roll off filter, but I’d really need to hear it for myself. Unfortunately I don’t see myself ever being in a scenario to do so.

[@ReverendDr.Thomas]

iFi customer service is NON-EXISTENT in my experience. 😔 SHABBAT SHALOM! 🕎 HAPPY SABBATH! ✡️

[@TheHonestAudiophile]

Sorry to hear that.

[@realitykicksin8755]

How is that a dongle?

[@endody9519]

Because it dongles

[@bigbuckoramma]

Cirrus, is "Sear-Us" not "serious". Although, for $450 for an unknown CS DAC (one that can be had for pennies on the dollar), and an unknown Op Amp...charging $450 for a dongle DAC does beg the question... "Are you Serious, and where is the Logic?" So, perhaps your mispronunciation was a clever Freudian Slip? Also, Kensei is not "Kensy", its "Ken-Say". But, to be honest, i stopped watching after the first 3 minutes, because any company that wont spec their hardware, and wants to charge 4 times the going rate of other Dongle DAC's, itsnt worth the time. IFI used to be a qualityh company with good hardware at a reasonable price. Now it seems like they have hired a marketing exec from Bose. Real shame. I will be avoiding IFI in the future, as this is the third product in recent memory, where they have jacked the price up, and hidden the specs. Sorry IFI, yur'dun.

[@TheHonestAudiophile]

Can you watch the entire video please and inform me of all my errors, I need an editor 😉 Thanks.

[@bigbuckoramma]

@@TheHonestAudiophile Unfortunately, KZbin comments are limited on their size. ;)

[@TheHonestAudiophile]

Thanks for watching, commenting and subscribing 😘

[@ghostjacker]

Sure is one of the biggest dongs. Have they dropped the price now that MQA is kaput?

[@TheHonestAudiophile]

MQA is included because people have MQA files plus MQA is still available, not kaput.