iFi Audio GO link Review: Supercharge Wired Headphones for Cheap [CNET]

Bluetooth headphones are cool and all, but is wireless really the way to go? The answer may surprise you! Actually, no it won’t. Yes, for most people and in most situations, wireless headphones and earbuds are the peak of convenience and sound fantastic. However, despite constant and impressive improvements over the last few years, the real pinnacle of headphone sound quality remains solely in the realm of the wired. The problem is, most modern phones don’t have a headphone jack. What to do? 

The cheap, and often freely included, dongle that converts USB-C or Lightning to a headphone jack offers such meager power that it constrains many decent headphones. Without ample power, the best headphones won’t sound nearly as good as their potential allows. However, there are some high-end dongles that offer more power, better digital-to-analog converters, or DACs, and can give all but the most power-hungry headphones what they need. 

A few months ago we checked out the AudioQuest DragonFly Cobalt, which was a good, if pricey, option. The iFi Audio GO link is of a similar notion, but for far less money. Its two-piece design is easy to live with in the real world, it has an ESS ES9219MQ/Q DAC, and it comes with both Lightning and USB-A adapters so you can use it with just about everything. Oh, and it sounds good too.

Specs and such

• DAC chip: ESS ES9219MQ/Q
• Max sampling rate/frequency: 32-bit/384kHz
• Power (claimed): 70mW into 32 ohms, 14mW into 300 ohms, 2.05V into 600 ohms
• Weight: 0.4 ounces (11 grams)

The main body of the GO link is roughly half the width of a USB thumb drive (anyone still use those?). From this extends a short, 2.8-inch twisted cable which has “silver-plated copper conductors with individual polymer insulation.” Not sure how necessary that is in general, and especially for something that short, but it’s a nice looking cable anyway. At the other end of that cable is the USB-C connection with a small box that’s less than half the size of the main body. 

If there was anything about the design that gives me concern it’s that cable. It’s thin and flexible, which makes it easy to live with when connected to a phone in your pocket. Far easier than the rather bulky DragonFly Cobalt with its various adapters. I think as long as you’re careful with the GO link there shouldn’t be a problem, but more than anything I’ve owned in my life, frequently handled cables die faster than all other gear. So I wouldn’t toss the GO link in the bottom of a bag on the regular and expect it to last. The biggest downside is that if that captive cable dies, you do need to replace the whole thing.

While the amount of audio you can find recorded at the iFi’s native 32bit/384kHz is very slim, there’s quite a lot at 24/192. Both are higher sampling rates than the competitive Cobalt can decode, which maxes out at 24/96. A huge difference? Certainly not, but buying a DAC which is able to play tracks at the maximum resolution available is not a bad thing.

In the box are two adapters barely bigger than the connection they enable. The first is a USB-C-to-Lightning, the other is USB-C-to-USB-A. With these two, you can connect to just about every USB device of the modern era: Hook the GO up to your phone during your commute, connect to your desktop when you get to work.

In the growing category of portable headphone amps, some feature apps with different digital filters or EQs which let you fine-tune the sound of your headphones. The fact that the GO link doesn’t have one is not a dealbreaker. Generally speaking, apps like these are an added bonus, since the sound of the dongle is the main selling point. Still, added bonuses are, well, added bonuses.

Sound quality comparisons

• AudioQuest DragonFly Cobalt ($199)
• Sony NW-A306 ($348)

I compared the GO link to the DragonFly Cobalt, a logical comparison in terms of purpose if not price. I also compared the sound to the analog output of the Sony NW-A306, which has its own audiophile innards, though it’s a bit underpowered. For a baseline comparison, I used the $10 Apple USB-C-to-3.5mm adapter. I used the same big, over-ear and open-back headphones I used to test the Cobalt: the Audeze LCD-3 ($1,945) and the Sendy Audio Apollo ($500). 

A quick note about headphone amps in general. The main point of a headphone amp is to provide more power than is possible from either the built-in headphone jack or the inexpensive dongle included with an iPhone. If your headphones are easy to drive, you might not notice any difference at all with an amp. If they are hard to drive, the difference should be fairly noticeable. More volume is the most obvious change. Better sound at high volume is another potential improvement, as is a more realistic transient response from the initial hit on a drum or the pluck of an acoustic guitar string.

Starting with the big Audeze LCD-3s, I cued up the track Light from Maria Chiara Argiró’s Closer. The GO link powered the LCD-3s quite well, with a sharp attack to the percussion and full, controlled bass even at higher volumes. With the volume cranked all the way up, I was quite surprised at how loud I could get the LCD-3s. Well above what I’d call “exuberant listening” and easily into the range of “you should really turn this down.” That’s no small feat for massive planar magnetic headphones. At this high volume the sound was a little harsher than it was at a normal listening volume, but only a little.

The Cobalt, running the same track, wasn’t able to get quite as much volume out of the LCD-3s. It was still above a normal comfortable listening level, but not as loud as what I got with the GO link. It was quite close, though. The Sony Walkman, conversely, could barely get to a reasonable listening volume from the LCD-3s. This is with its volume limiter turned off. If anything, the Apple dongle was even worse, maxing out at a volume that’s scientifically referred to as “needs more volume.” Since these latter two weren’t competitive in the slightest, I focused on the Cobalt and the GO link. 

Switching to One Night/All Night by Justice, from Hyperdrama, the percussion once again had an immediate snap through the GO link. The Cobalt was very close, perhaps slightly harsher at maximum volume. The Sendy Apollos are easier to drive than the LCD-3s, and as such were even louder with both amps. This track has a snare sound that really cuts through the mix — via the GO link it seemed a bit snappier than with the Cobalt, but again, they were very close. With other tracks and genres the results were similar.

Delightful dongle

I really liked the iFi Audio GO link, especially for $59. In terms of overall power and sound, it performed very similarly to the far more expensive, and older, DragonFly Cobalt. The Cobalt was designed in an age where the most common connection was the wider USB-A standard, so to work with a smartphone it requires a dongle. The adapter which came with our sample significantly increased the size of the Cobalt and was fairly inflexible, making it a little annoying to use. It functionally makes your phone bigger and more unwieldy, and the dongle usually hangs out of your pocket.

The GO link, on the other hand, is barely noticeable as an extension to the cable of your headphones. That greater livability comes with the concern of potential damage to the connecting cable. If you take care of your gear, it shouldn’t be a problem, but the cable doesn’t feel particularly robust.

Given the price difference, the iFi Audio GO link seems an easy choice over the Cobalt. Similar performance, lower price, and easier to live with. If you have wired headphones whose volume you’d like to pump up, or to have them sound better when you do, the GO link is an inexpensive and easy-to-integrate way to do that.

As well as covering audio and display tech, Geoff does photo tours of cool museums and locations around the world, including nuclear submarines, aircraft carriers, medieval castles, epic 10,000-mile road trips and more.

Also, check out Budget Travel for Dummies, his travel book, and his bestselling sci-fi novel about city-size submarines. You can follow him on Instagram and YouTube.