iFi, one of the most popular portable and desktop source maker in the world and of all of their products the Zen lineup is very popular. These are capable of driving demanding headphones with ease while offering a few in-house enhancements to diversify the sound. Yes, they have more expensive AMPs sitting at the top with the mid range being handled by Neo lineup while the Zen series takes care of the lower mid range. Just a couple of years ago iFi has launched a portable wireless DAC/amps too in Go Blu. It was received with warmth by both consumers and reviewers. These aren’t dongles but wireless only products with focus on offering best possible wireless sound quality.
What I have here is their latest wireless DAC, Go Blu Air. Priced at 129 Euros this is one of the most capable portable wireless amplifier one can buy. Even though it is cheaper than the Go Blu, Air offers a bit more power and is equipped with Bluetooth 5.2, which is rare in our audiophile source market. Let me be very clear here, I haven’t heard wireless dac/amps in this price range but I have reviewed the Questyle M18i and have used DAPs as receivers and will be basing my comparisons on them.
Get one from these links:
UNBOXING AND ACCESSORIES:
Go Blu air comes in a small box. We have the DAC/amp placed up front and a cloth clip along with an USB cable can be found under the paper cover. This sounds minimal but this cloth clip is a thoughtful addition. We get an iFi sticker and that ends the list of accessories.
BUILD QUALITY AND OPERATION:
One of the biggest positives of iFi products is their build quality. Go Blu Air is not as premium as the OG’s metal body but it uses polycarbonate housing which looks a bit more intriguing and looks solid too. It retains the leatherette texture up front and the functional buttons. We get a power on/off button that doubles as the pairing button, placed on the left side. Power it on and the led placed aside the charging port starts blinking red and blue, ready to pair. Just like other iFi products it comes with X-bass and X-space too. We can set them with the button on right side and the indicator LED is placed on top. We get the signature volume wheel on right with a rubberized texture for improved grip.
If you are worries about operation time, no need to stress, I am getting around 8-10hrs of battery life and I only had to charge it once in 3 days which is respectable.
Another point to keep in mind is the mic quality. It is average to be precise. Not better than $50 TWS IEMs, it does get the job done but it doesn’t have the natural tonality or smoothness at the other end. So, basically, call function is a bonus here.
APP SUPPORT:
This does have app support but the problem is, this app is a bare basic one. It is basically a manager app that can toggle between NAS, media servers and USB devices when needed and plays music part timely. With the Air, all we get is codec, firmware update and device naming options. This is no EQ, no gain control, no L/R balance setting, nor has any filters to play with, leave PEQ alone. I hope iFi will invest a bit more on this app, soon.
SOUND QUALITY:
This is not my first review of an iFi product. I have been reviewing the Hip DACs, they are loved for their warm and comfortable presentation. They are smooth warm and thick, a bit mushy and less clarity oriented. It was tuned to be a musical, a more tranquil source but Go blu lineup has been a bit more consistent with energy and well extended and a bit more clarity oriented. This 2nd gen is a decent improvement when compared to power and accuracy too. Go Blu Air does forwards their in-house tuning (similar to Zen CAN 3) yet it has more finishing definition and resolution with a hint of warmth and comfort of wholesome bass notes while offering superb clarity when compared to the Hip DACs.
Go Blu Air is well balanced with a slightly dryish tonality and timber which translates into superior clarity without sounding overly sharp. Let’s expand.
I have used a handful of IEMs and headphones, mostly Sennheiser HD569, Sivga Nightingale Pro, and Tanchjim Force for this review.
BASS:
Hip DAC lineup, iFi’s most popular portable DAC/amps is warm and smooth, is this similar? It’s warmish, it’s not like it has lost all of its warmth but thankfully the overly thick notes that delivered heavier and slower notes are tightened and made to shed the extra weight. There is no leanness and it’s a notch over neutral, leaning marginally towards a warmer presentation.
It offers very good resolution and clarity with a comfortable feeling, this puts a smile on my face, especially with the Tri FongTong i2. We get excellent sub-bass extension and very good rumbles. The best thing is it can add a bit more oomph to balanced sounding IEMs. Mid bass is slightly fuller and meaty yet fairly clear of any bloating or muddy passages. Go Blu Air doesn’t add more area or change the flow of the notes but offers a bit more poise to the notes, giving them a small boost with weight and punch. So how’s the dynamics? It’s good, not as good as wired DAC/amps but has enough air and layered delivery. “Sucker for pain” shows its ability of keeping the upper bass notes reasonably clean. If the IEM has good layered delivery, Go Blu air will only add better resolution to them.
MIDS:
If your headphone is a bit soft and slightly on the smoother side, pairing it with Go Blu Air will bring out a bit more finishing energy and better definition without sounding thin or sharp.
With the Go Blu Air instruments have very good resolution and definition while offering very good agility and transparent notes, delivering high quality resolution and clarity with very good note height. I do find the decay to be very accurate, notes have a precise landing area making them a bit more cleaner without sacrificing tonality or timber. It maintains good back and foreground contrast and layering of instruments (if the IEM has it). On the other hand we get good texture, but the timber and tonality with vocals are slightly metallic. Male vocals sounds reasonably throaty and grunty while female vocals are accurate and sharp. There is no unwanted upper mid energy to worry about either so it’s an accurate and precise sailing with the Go Blu Air. If you are looking for a smooth sounding source, look into the Hip Dac 3.
HIGHS:
Unlike the Hip DAC 3, Go Blu Air is aptly energetic, sparkly, agile and lively, I am impressed with the extra resolution, transparency and energy. I like this clean and slightly precise presentation delivering open and engaging notes without getting aggressive or sharp. While doing all this, we get good extension and I won’t hold my words while appreciating the improved clarity and definition we get even when compared to the more expensive DAC/Amp like Fiio BTR7. We get class leading layering and separation with plenty of air between instruments ( for wired DAC/Amps). It even has a deeper Z-axis depth that offers a more developed contrast of back and foreground instruments. It handles synthetic genres like House and Trance without any issues. It barely has any flaw, the only down side I can see is, it could have been slightly more textured but that would have made it slow to respond to cymbal, violins and other percussion instruments.
PAIRING WITH HEADPHONES:
Sennheiser HD569:
Can it drive a full sized headphone? Yes, its not a demanding one but it still is a full sized HP with decent thirst for power and I am glad to report that Air is doing admirably good. Pairing a slightly analytical HP with a revealing source is not a great idea but it seems like the synergy matched and the whole presentation is a clear upgrade over the direct driving capabilities of both my PC and mobile phone. Yes, its wired SQ is slightly better when it comes to treble clarity and definition but Go air easily has better overall resolution, vocal clarity, finishing definition and bigger stage. Its sonic capabilities have improved too, we get better background instrumental transparency with improved Z-axis depth.
Symphonium Giant:
This is an excellent pairing to be precise. Giant sounds warmer and smoother while the Go Blu Air rescues the micro details as it offers better transparency and improved clarity.
This pairing is offering tighter cleaner bass with, better layered delivery and back and foreground separation too. It does loses a bit of weight as the decay is slightly tighter with a marginally smaller area of impact too. Air extracts better upper bass clarity too. Mid range is s a mixed bag though, Giant is a bit uneven here so while the vocals sound a bit more cleaner and resolving with good tonality and timbre, instruments are slightly on the aggressive side, especially at the upper mids. Highs on the Giant is calm and composed and that doesn’t change much but it definitely gets a bit more resolving, offering better air and improved separation.
COMPARISON:
VS iFi Go Blu:
Go Blu is nearly 2 years old and uses an older BT version, its slightly less power too but has a more premium build quality yet it doesn’t come with the cloth clip which the Air comes with. It’s hard to get hold of a unit of this but if you are thinking that you are missing out on something, let me tell you, you aren’t, not with wireless sound quality. The biggest advantage it has over the Air is wired capabilities which the Air lacks. This comparison is based on wireless connectivity only.
OG Blu sounds marginally warmer than the Air, it has slightly fuller bass body, has a bit more weight behind the notes, has decent layered delivery but the Air is a bit more cleaner. It doesn’t have Air like control hence lacking a bit with dynamics and technicalities. Decay is slightly on the slower side. Thanks to it’s slightly warmer nature it sounds a bit more organic and has a slightly more juicy tonality and timbre in comparison. It lacks a bit with finishing definition though. Instruments are slightly less clean and the air between instruments is not as good as the Air. It does offer a bit more texture which sounds a bit more comfortable thanks to the fuller body. Treble is a downer though, it’s not exactly great with upper treble energy while the agility and transparency is not better than the Air. Over all stage and imaging is cleaner and more accurate with the Air.
HIDIZS AP80 Pro Max (Wireless):
AP80 Pro Max is not a dongle, its a DAP which can be used as a receiver and I was not disappointed by its overall performance. Yes, it’s not as much resolving as the Air, nor has the driving capabilities but it sounds a bit more balanced and warmer. We get a bit less bass body and sub-bass rumbles but the mid bass matches the area and overall body of the Air but Air has better depth and a bit more weight behind the mid-bass notes. Mid range is more precise and cleaner with the Air but AP80 Pro Max sounds a bit more organics. Instruments have better finishing definition and better micro details with the Air. Treble is very much similar to the mid range. Air is cleaner and more precise with better air between instruments. Stage is taller and cleaner with the Air.
CONCLUSION:
Go Blu Air is simply outstanding when it comes to functionality and sheer sound quality irrespective of wired of wireless. Yes, it doesn’t hold up as well as a wired dongle with high paced and busy tracks but in every other scenario its more than good. Even though it’s powered by battery, it’s capable enough to drive most of the IEMs without any issues.
Air has its limitations. It can’t be used as an USB dongle but it excels at being a Bluetooth dongle and is easily one of the best at it. Nearly as good as wired, I know that’s not a realistic ask but it definitely has the clarity, macro dynamics, texture and definition to give a sense of that. If you are looking for a wireless dongle for your day to day use, Go Blu Air should top your list.
