Hello, I’m Alexander, and today we are talking about iFi GO Blu, a fantastic portable Bluetooth DAC and headphone amplifier.
The iFi GO Blu is based on the Cirrus Logic CS43131 as a DAC chip. And Qualcomm QCC 5100 as a Bluetooth chip. It also has an impressive battery life, both 3.5 mm single-ended and 4.4 mm balanced headphone outputs, a surprising amount of output power, and very handy onboard features. Go Blu comes in a small carton box. There is an illustration of the device on the front of the box. The list of key technical specifications is on the back.
Inside the box:
- iFi GO Blu portable Bluetooth DAC/AMP
- iFi sticker
- Warranty card
- Quick-start guide
- USB Type C to Type A cable
- And velour pouch
🛒iFi GO Blu on Amazon
Design & build
The body of iFi GO Blu is made from soft black plastic. It also has brushed aluminum inserts on the front and top of the unit. The finish feels nice, but the soft plastic can sometimes be a fingerprint magnet. The Go Blu is 54mm high, 34mm wide, and 13mm deep. The unit weighs just 27 grams, making it a very compact unit.
In case you want to take additional steps to protect your device – you can purchase a leather case from iFi that also has a shirt clip.
On the front of the DAC, there is an iFi logo. On the top of the unit, there are 3.5mm and 4.4mm headphone outputs, a status LED, and a multifunctional volume knob. The 3.5 mm output uses a so-called S-Balanced technology that reduces the channel cross-talk. Please refer to the official iFi website if you are interested in how this technology works.
On the left of the unit there is a power button, on the right side there is a function button. On the button of the unit, there is a USB-Type C connector, battery indicator, and a microphone.
Overall, the unit feels solid in hand and I’m pleased with the build, product design, and choice of materials.
Technical specifications
The iFi GO Blu is based on Cirrus Logic CS43131 as DAC ship and the Bluetooth chip is Qualcomm QCC 5100 that supports a variety of codecs including AAC, aptX, LDAC, and many more. In the wired configuration, the device also supports PCM decoding up to 96Khz at 24 bits.
SNR is 111 dB at the balanced output and 106 db at the single-ended one. The dynamic range is 120 dB. The output power is 245mW @ 32 Ohm for the balanced output and 165mW @ 32 Ohm at a single-ended output, which is pretty impressive for a device of its size.
The device doesn’t have switchable gain settings, but the outputs adapt to the connected headphone impedance, hence increasing or decreasing the gain automatically, which is a pleasant feature to have.
The capacity of the built-in battery is 450mAh, which, according to the user manual, should last up to 8 hours. The battery indicator has 3 states: Green when the battery is above 60%, Yellow when the battery is above 10% and Red when the battery is below 10%. When the Go Blu is charging, the LED will flash, and it will turn off when the unit fully charges.
Functionality
I was mainly testing iFi GO Blu with my Samsung Galaxy S10 and iPhone 12 Pro Max. I used USB Audio Player PRO for FLAC files and Tidal for lossless streaming. And I need to admit, with both phones, the experience was very smooth and satisfying.
The Bluetooth connection in my case was stable, and I didn’t experience any interruptions or artifacts. The wired connection was stable too, but I didn’t do any comparisons with the dongles because the intended use of this device is still a Bluetooth wireless receiver. But in case you want to use it in a wired scenario – you absolutely can.
iFi Audio is well-known for making functional devices and the company has taken a smart approach to the buttons here as well. All the functions are really easy to learn and remember and this makes the Go Blu very simple to operate.
The power button is located on the left side of the unit and has 3 functions.
The long press powers on and off the unit. When the unit is on and you click the power button twice, a voice assistant will announce the Bluetooth codec and sample rate. You can also turn off this function and it’s explained in the manual.
If you press the power button three times, you can then select between two DAC filters. The standard one with modest filtering, modest pre and post-ringing, and a minimum phase filter with slow roll-off, minimum pre and post-ringing.
Liked this review? Read more DAC/AMP reviews here
During the filter selection, the LED on top of the device changes colors. Green is for a standard filer and purple is for the minimum filter. To exit the filter mode, you need to press the power button three times again.
The function button is located on the right side and has 3 functions as well. When you long press it, the device enters the pairing mode so the status indicator on top starts flashing blue and red. By the way, the Go Blu can store up to 8 paired Bluetooth devices.
When you short press the function button, Go Blu will cycle between four sound presets – EQ off, X-Bass, X-Space, and X-Bass plus X-Space
The X-Bass is a bass shelf, and it’s really fun to use, especially with the headphones that have a lean and neutral bass response. It makes any bass-light headphones sound more fun and thick. When engaged, the indicator color is yellow.
X-Space is also quite an interesting function, that reduces the bass, but boosts the upper midrange and treble, making the overall perception of the sound stage larger. I found this function very useful with dark-sounding headphones & IEMs. When engaged, the indicator color is Cyan.
When both X-Bass and X-space are engaged, the status indicator will become white.
Now to another impressive feature of Go Blu – the volume wheel with a multi-function button. The wheel itself is very tactile, made out of metal, has clicks, and is a joy to use. Turning the wheel will increase and decrease the volume in smaller steps and I loved the material and the feel of the wheel.
The multi-function button with the iFi logo is placed inside the volume wheel and has a few functions as well. A short click is play/pause, two short clicks – skip tracks forward, three short clicks – skip tracks back, and a long press activates the voice assistant.
If you receive a call while listening to music, a short click will answer the phone while a long click will end the call. The quality of the microphone is surprisingly good and during the calls people on the other side heard me clearly and I never received any complaints regarding my voice.
Overall, from the usability standpoint, Go Blu gets 5 stars out of 5 from me.
iFi GO Blu pairings & sound impressions
I need to mention that I don’t believe that DACs can have a significant impact on the sound. However, the amplifier section of the DAC can still introduce some changes to the sound. To me, the Go Blu sounds natural, musical, and slightly warm.
With its impressive power, the iFi GO Blu can drive probably all the IEMs on the market today. I tested it with ThieAudio Hype 4, Moondrop Blessing 2, Kiwi Ears Quintet, Letshuoer S12 Pro, and a few more, and I was surprised by how well the pairings worked. Particularly pairing it with Blessing 2 and turning the X-Bass function on was fantastic.
The next important aspect for me was how it would drive my full-size headphones. I tried it with several full-size headphones, both dynamic and planar magnetic, ranging from 32 to 300 Ohm, both with single-ended connections and balanced ones (when possible). The Go Blu has shown fantastic results in this department too.
Overall Go Blu handled both IEMs and full-size headphones with authority, good dynamics, and a great tonality with a pinch of additional warmth. While it can’t compete with more expensive desktop DACs and amplifiers in terms of sheer resolution, dynamics, and output power, the Go Blu performance is spectacular for its price. I also prefer it over the Qudelix 5K any day.
In terms of battery life and according to the user manual, the Go Blue should last you up to 8 hours. But I was easily getting from 9 to 11 hours depending on the volume, headphones, codecs, and EQ profiles. And that’s a significant result for such a small device.
Conclusions
The iFi GO Blu is a great and stylish little device that makes your portable configuration a breeze. To me, it strikes the perfect balance between design, price, performance, features and output power.
What did I like?
- Excellent design and a good build
- Well thought-out functionality
- Great user interface
- 3.5mm and 4.4mm headphone outputs
- There is enough power to drive a lot of full-size headphones, let alone the IEMs
- X-bass and X-space functions bring a lot of flexibility during pairing with different headphones
- Impressive battery life
- And a natural and musical sound signature
What I didn’t like?
I don’t think this unit has any real cons. But I will add that I wish that the battery life indicator was more intuitive and that the iFi GO Blu came with a built-in clip, but that’s a mere nothing. I also understand that some people may find the lack of a smartphone application disappointing.
But in my case, it was an advantage, as I immersed myself in my music without the need to check the app on my phone to control Go Blu.
With all the features and flexibility it brings to the table, I think it’s an amazing portable Bluetooth DAC/AMP. In addition, if design, aesthetics, user experience, and features are important to you and you are not ready to cut any corners, do yourself a favor and get yourself iFi Go Blu.
🛒iFi GO Blu on Amazon
And that concludes my review for today. If you want to see more content like this, consider subscribing to my YouTube channel. Thank you for joining me, and until next time, goodbye!
** As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Some of the links in my reviews are affiliate links, which means at no extra cost to you, I will make a small commission if you click them and make a qualifying purchase.
