ifi GO Pod vs. FiiO UTWS5 Wireless IEM Adapter Comparison Review

[@khhoaiii]

I have both and this is my analysis... I'm a mailman and I have been using Fiio UTWS5 for past year with my $6,000 UM Fabled Sound IEM...with Google 6pro, now Samsung S23 ultra (apple music, youtube broadcast, phonecalls). Both phones only support aptx 44/16 sound quality (not adaptive or HD). This little gem is fantastic in terms of Sounds Quality. The Fiio app is great, I can map the button layout, EQ, etc... Fiio negative includes: 5hr battery, but charges to 100% in about 50min. The mic is pretty terrible for phone calls since I find myself shouting for the other person to hear me. When I heard the announcement that ifi Go Pod supports LDAC, better amp, mic. I preorder it and received it last week. First, the good stuffs: Go Pod battery lasts 7 hours. Much better mic. LDAC 990k is fantastic. I am returning it because... There is no app to control this device. Ifi Go Pod claim to have higher power output than Fiio, wrong. With go pod, I have to turn up volume to 90% to have the same effect as the fiio where I listen at about 70%. LDAC 990k is nice but in order to get it, you have to go into developer settings everytime to change it to LDAC990k everytime you connect the device. Charging is wonky: once placing it the charging case, it does not always charging. After a week of usage, I see the charging metal contact ifi is starting to rust. Yes, I am serious. Also when the unit is inside the charger and not charging, there is no way to turn off the unit other than go into settings and disconnect. Ifi Go Pod shell is made of cheap plastic and after a week, there is a huge crack. I think it's from me trying to press it down to make sure it's charging. The physical button on the Fiio is so much nicer than the idiotic touch sensitive button on the go pod. I can't wait for Fiio to release their next gen hook. I want LDAC so badly for my pricey IEM and returning this ifi device. Total waste of time imo.

[@Viewer13128]

thanks. this was very helpful and I am skipping the ifi go pod for sure to wait for other products which are bound to compete with it in the next several months at hopefully a cheaper price. But even if not, the issues with the ifi go pod are not acceptable for the price. too fragile and unreliable for the price.

[@AbalMarius]

Now its ldac supported

[@Viewer13128]

@@AbalMarius which one is ldac supported now? UTWS5?

[@khhoaiii]

@@Viewer13128 no ldac for fiio with current 1.5 firmware.

[@boudewijndekemp3162]

There is a Bluetooth codec changer app for android that takes away all your downsides.

[@christiharris292]

Just received my IFI Go Pods yesterday with a set of Meze Advars. I have not yet used them, trying to get a feel for the IEMs first. I am going to try them as you suggest with all my higher end IEMs just to see how they sound. If they do have a little treble bump maybe a warmer set will work best - options - fun! Thanks for the comparison

[@Viewer13128]

can you share your findings after 10 days with them now?

[@Alepap.]

3:54 No you don't need 2 units, you just need an angled mmcx to 2 pin and vice versa, costs about 30 bucks, like the OE ones I use one with the mmcx version of UTWS5 and works perfectly fit wise 10:00 Different fit might also be the culprit, if the iem nozzle is pointed at a different angle inside the ear, it will reflect differently in your ear canal, boosting certain frequencies. I've definitely had that happen with different cables, that had different/ longer connectors.

[@gosukelee5]

actually tried the ifi go pod compared with shure tw2 and UTWS5, well first of all let me just say go pod is not my favourite for just one reason and I'm battling between shure and UTWS5. now let's move on to the review. Number 1 SOUND: in terms of sound let's just say if we were to compare these to the original wire that come with the IEM. GO POD is number 1, that's it. Let's say the sound 'quality' with the wire is 100%, the fiio would be 87 - 92% the shure would be 92-97% and GO POD would be 97-105% cos sometimes I'm thinking there's a slightly enhanced sound. They do say that the shure sound is low but i fixed the problem by picking the se215 (i believe) because that is the loudest and it is definitely a good boost so in terms of sound i'm happy. in terms of CONTROL: they all have volume control, next/prev song, play/pause, calls, ambient sound etc. i would say fiio and shure you can customise, ifi you can't but the controls are fine anyway so i would say they're all good, fiio last because it makes a sound everytime you press something not too bad but that might make it last place for some people. MIC/CALL:, UTWS5 decent in quiet but busy areas not so good, shure is better that fiio but still not great. ifi go is good but not great so ifi go pod wins Comfort/look: fiio are comfy could be worn for hours. but look like hearing aids kinda, so they're fine IFI GO are comfy they don't really look unique at all and kind of hang, still secure but not exactly a sport earbud can be worn for long, shure tw2 are tight and secure and the button looks hidden, tight enough to be used in gym so i'd say its good but i haven't used it for long long hours yet, was used for 3hrs and i was fine. but to me shure wins this battery/case: IFI GO wins SHURE is a close second but due to the case of the IFI being the best sturdy and spacious, and a nice light for a extra touch. SHURE is sturdy and does the job. the worst is fiio, nice easy case but theres been problems charging and for some reason sometimes still connects while its in the case. so IFI wins this. FEATURES: The main reason I didn't pick IFI GO POD is becuse it doesn't have multipoint connection, if you're £400 imo opinion you should have everything, I don't wanna hear the arguement of 0.78 or mmcx because i already have the mmcx to 0.78 adaptors and a few of them $7 each and i got $50 dollers worth of those so this doesn't affect anything. I was gonna keep them anyway if they could easy switch bluetooth connectors and they can't even do that id have to disconnect from one device then connect to the other. even though SHURE TW2 doesn't have multipoint all i need to do is connect to another device even when I'm connected to another and it will automatically diconnect from one and connect to the other. if the IFI GO was 180 I would let this slide bure the fact that shure isn't far was dissapointing. and yes fiio utws5 has multipoint.

[@meaderanizer228]

Thank You Chris for your thoughtful and informative IEM Adapter review. Just what I was after 😊

[@danielbruckner8674]

The UTWS5 v.2 does support a samplerate of 96kHZ and a bit depth of max. 36 bit by using LDAC oder LHDC V3. Needs the newest Fiio-firmeware v1.74 and a LDAC/LHDC supported phone or player.

[@pappsa8]

You dont need to buy 2 fiio for the connections,there are pretty fine cheap adapters for mmcx or 2pin!

[@codyghind]

Exactly. What an argument 😂

[@Viewer13128]

100% agree. btw which adapters are nice?

[@focaltrip]

Oeaudio are awesome

[@leonardopapantoniou4227]

When Z reviewed with pride FIIO stuff he linked buying options for the adaptors. 400 USD is insane. OKok the have LDAC and FIIO APTX but the difference in audio is NO MORE than 10 % better at most if not less . It SHOULD lower price with time. And besides it is so chunkier ifi....

[@pappsa8]

@@leonardopapantoniou4227 he give other reasonably options but in the meantime he still selling those fiios too!!!

[@Sonikot]

Thanks, great review! only addition i would suggest would be talking about comfort, weight, long periods of wear vs short.

[@wilvanspaendonk]

Good day. A review of the Penon 10th anniversary would be greatly appreciated! Regards. WvS

[@slsmaster]

Would it be possible to use the Go Pod with not hard to drive over Ears when using a MMCX/2 pin to 3.5mm adapter?

[@barneyrubble9309]

Hope the ifi has better qc than my fiio which had to ho back due to a battery that refused to charge and the replacement still won't give anywhere near the 30hrs between charges.

[@JaJDoo]

3:46 - you can just buy a tiny mmcx to 2pin or the opposite

[@h1a8]

I hate when reviewers hear stuff I can't hear. I have the fiio utws5 and a mojo 2 and some other great dac amps dongle. And with aptx adaptive enabled on the fiio and listening to lossless apple music I'll say the the mojo 2 sounds slightly better (with a careful ear). Most people will not tell a difference though (because they are not experienced with premium sounding headphones and constantly doing AB comparisons). So if you say the ifi sounds significantly better than the fiio then that means it sounds significantly better than the mojo 2 (which I will bet is untrue). I do not hear the digital compressed sound you are talking about. It sounds natural and identical to a wired setup. Maybe your source is already lossy (like Spotify or aac apple music). Lossy to bt conversation (another lossy codec) is a significant difference (and noticeable degrade) from lossless to bt conversation (no human can tell the difference). Im running the newest fiio update (has full eq) and possibly improves the sq. I have other ifi dacs and none of them sound better (slightly different though) than the fiio (unless you prefer the warmer color they add to the sound).

[@Mykeoguns]

I'd rather go wired with say 7hz 71 dongle which cost 3-4x less the price of go pod. From your review 7hz 71 significantly sounds better than either of the BT adapter reviewed here.

[@mochammadhakimozora7691]

Im sorry asking out of the topic, but can you recommend me IEM-bluetooth module for me like AZ09 Pro, CCA BTX, or something else? Especially from the durability and water/sweatproof aspect Ill be grateful if you can help me 🙏😅

[@Granztolch]

ifi go pod is like trn bt modules chi-fi and fiiO is like kz az09

[@heyjoehandrix4182]

Sure for Lossless? Somebody in my community said thats so Bullxx... Dunno whats right tho...

[@ikejennings1154]

Nice review on these 2 bt, hook adapters....That is alot of cheddar for an adapter....I was lucky!! Now!! It's not the earhook design, but it's a wireless, bt adapter, that has a wireless connection....I bought the ,revonext b02 adapter, / sbc/ aac codecs, which it works fantastic...only paid 10 bucks for it, Also have tbe fiio btr dac / amp, which works nice ...Anywho!! Nice review on both of these ,earhook design bt adapterz....

[@ES60Hz]

Hi, LDAC is lossy. Thanks for the video.

[@h1a8]

Codecs are irrelevant If you are listening to hi res or lossless music that is streamed to lossy (aptx, aac, or even sbc) then no human can tell the difference if they did a blind test. Better Codecs seem to give people a placebo effect. I would advice to not talk about Codecs in detail (and relate them to any difference in sound quality). Nor think about Codecs when you are doing critical listening. I can name many tws sets with inferior Codecs that sound better than sets with superior Codecs. Difference in sound quality has nothing to with Codecs but other factors. What about long term comfort? I heard the ifi wasn't comfortable in long term cases. What about max volume? Which one gets louder? Ronan? There are a billion iems that sound better and are well known. Why not use something more well known? Lastly by default LDAC is worst than aptx because the bit rate is about 330kbps. You have to enable developer options and choose optimized for audio (990kbps). Aptx has significantly less lag as well.

[@miwanrochman9243]

I can hear the difference when using aptx then switch to aptx adaptive. Aptx adaptive is bettter

[@h1a8]

@@miwanrochman9243 We all can hear a difference (even me) when initially switching Codecs the 1st few times. But when streaming from lossless file to a lossy bt codec (not lossy to lossy) and doing a random blind test (double blind test) where your partner flips a coin and switches the codec according to the flip (heads is codec 1 and tails is codec 2) then we all fail statistically. Unless for some odd reason one codec plays significantly louder than another. Then it's then obvious. Apt is supposedly better than 256kbps acc. From hundreds of tests, no human has successfully ABX (double blind test) a 256kbps aac file converted from a lossless file from the original lossless file. Now if you stream acc (apple music) or mp3 (Spotify) over to Bluetooth (acc BT or aptx BT) then some of us (not a lot) can successfully ABX the files. That's because the degradation going from lossy to lossy is significantly greater than going from lossless to lossy.

[@neogenesus]

​@@h1a8 For me whichever codec can deliver under 100ms latency is a winner and that happened to be AptX adaptive.

[@AjI-zp7cq]

Hallo Sir, But is "FIIO UTWS5 V2.0" strong enough to drive/(use) the earphone planer???

[@Ricer-b4n]

Spend $400 to make your $15 IEM sound even worst? Why didn't I think of that?

[@arup_en]

Fiio UTWS5 have ldac now

[@leonardopapantoniou4227]

Really?

[@arup_en]

@@leonardopapantoniou4227 yepp just search or check out head-fi or just utws5 firmware update section

[@involuntarysoul3867]

man you are trying too hard to shill for the go pod

[@MrDjillest303]

Why isn't anyone comparing the gopod to Shures wireless adapters?

[@h1a8]

Don't get those. I have them and the fiio is miles better. The biggest difference is the volume (much higher on the fiio). The shure is too quiet and is a deal breaker if you are using not so efficient iems.

[@jacobbruner1]

they make mmcx to 2pin adapters

[@anatol1204]

Next step is adding ANC.. FIIO ARE YOU LISTENING????

[@dragonsofnorway]

Fiio Utws 5 has now ldac.

[@BarelyAverageDude]

Are we suggesting people buy a whole 2nd unit instead of a two pin adapter? 🤔😳🤦🏽‍♂️

[@myqrics]

Utws5 actually has adapters so you would just need the adapter for which ever connection that you have opposite of the w5

[@leonardopapantoniou4227]

When You Buy go pod do they come with BOTH MMCX AND .78adaptors? Or do You have to choose?

[@billj2229]

Do these adpters supports the Fidelity+ MMCX solution?

[@KS_1990]

can u tell me a bit about the mic quality between the 2?

[@congeeSTAR]

Or buy an mmcx -> 2 pin adaptor for $10

[@sanciscorivera8918]

Thanks for the review and video, it definitely helped me. Just one thing: your voice is a little bit hard to listen, the info was interesting but probably the things like “Amm” “yeah” the pause talk, I believe if you make little changes your channel can be actually pretty good.