iFI Audio Go Bar Kensei

iFI Audio Go Bar Kensei

Portable headphone amplifier and DAC

Kensei edition of the excellent Go Bar USB DAC from iFI Audio. Kensei edition comes in a stainless steel casing, a more precise clock and JVC/Victor K2-HD technology. 

According to iFI Audio, the Go Bar Kensei is the most powerful headphone amplifier in its category. We can’t say that we’ve tried ’em all, but this one is certainly powerful enough for most use cases, and drives IEM’s as well as large over-ear headphones.

The iFI Audio Go Bar Kensei has a compact form factor and weighs just 28 grams. It’s perfectly pocketable when you’re going out, travelling, or just hanging out at home with your phone, tablet or computer. The tiny Go Bar Kensei is compatible with Mac as well as Windows and can also be used with Android phones and iPhones. It even comes with cables that fit both types.

The DAC stage in the iFI Audio Go Bar Kensei is built around a 16 core XMOS micro controller that receives the audio data from your source. It works in tandem with the Cirrus Logic DAC that iFI Audio decided to equip the Go Bar Kensei with, to deliver excellent digital to analog conversion. A custom digital filter minimizes pre echo and ringing to ensure the best possible audio quality is delivered to your ears. With support for almost any type of audiophile format, or audio file format, including PCM up to 384kHz, 2x DXD, DSD256 and MQA, the Go Bar Kensei is compatible with more types than you can throw a stick at. The inclusion of four selectable filter, including Bit Perfect, Standard, Minimum Phase and GTO, even poorly mastered albums will sound a bit more palatable.

With a housing made from japanese stainless steel, the iFI Audio Go Bar is not just high-quality on the inside. With accessible buttons for adjusting volume and enabling features such as XBass+, XSpace and K2-HD upsampling, iFI Audio has made the Go Bar Kensei not just a breeze to listen to, but also to use. The asynchronous USB-C port takes in the audio data from your source, and at the other end of the Go Bar Kensei, a 3.5mm or 4.4mm balanced output, lets you connect your favorite IEM or headphone.

Despite its diminutive size, the Go Bar Kensei’s analog circuit uses a balanced design with symmetrical twin-channel output stage. This helps reduce cross-talk and noise in the signal path, by separating the right and left channels.