iFi Audio GO link - Portable DAC Dongle - USB-C to 3.5mm Headphone Amplifier, High-Resolution Audio, ESS ES9219MQ Chip, Supports PCM 32bit/384kHz, DSD256, MQA

I had an LG phone in the past that had an ESS DAC built in and it sounded great with MQA files and Hi Res Audio. I wanted to be able to listen to Hi-Res audio again and found support built into modern phones virtually non existent. I bought a HIDIZ USB C headphone DAC that I thought would mean I could listen to high quality again but alas no. It required putting my phone in developer mode with USB debugging enabled to work, it was very hit and miss sometimes not working at all. Very poor.I bought a Sony phone that supported Hi-Res audio. It was good but the headphone amp on it was rubbish. Not good enough to drive decent headphones. Both of these went on eBay.I then decided to buy the GO Link to listen with my new iPhone having switched from Android. Really wanted to listen to Apple HiRes Lossless properly. It comes with a USB C to lightning adapter included. I plugged it in and added a pair of good quality wired headphones then went into the settings in Apple Music and switched on being able to listen to HiRes Lossless. It worked perfectly without any problems.The sound was very impressive. The first album I managed to find that was Hi Res was Iggy Pop’s “The Idiot” I found the stereo separation excellent. Hearing subtle nuances in the sound field I hadn’t heard before. All the different components of the opening track Sister Midnight could be heard individually rather than blending into the entire sound of the song. I did notice bits I hadn’t heard before. Even Iggy’s backup vocals behind his own main track could be heard quite clearly. Tried lots of other albums in high res quality and all sounded excellent. Apple Music on the iPhone iOS can’t seem to do gapless properly which is a bit annoying. It can on Android apparently. No fault of the GO (come on Apple) Listening to the Go Link with Qobuz I had no gapless worries and LP’s like Floyds Dark Side of The Moon or a bit of Jean Michel Jarre all worked fine and sounded REALLY good! I’ve also used it whilst working plugged into my MacBook Air and can listen to my own HD Audio collection. All in all a well built great little headphone DAC at a very reasonable price. Finally I can listen to HD Audio again. Very pleased, can’t fault it.

I got the iFi Uno for my PC but wanted something a bit more portable that I could use my headphones with my A16 iPad. Sound quality is very good. Hard to do a comparison but I o really like the sound compared to my earpod pros. The build quality seems fine but the braided cable could be where any problems could arise. The LED on the unit also seems to be really bright - enough that it may need some tape to cover it!Was surprised and pleased to see that you also get a lightning and USB A adapter in the box. Tried the lightning adapter and thought it wasn't working but it seems to need the volume up quite high using that.Will need to see of things go but initial,impression is that the sound is very good.

Had to return this dac/amp from iFi. After plugging into my Xiaomi smartphone and then pressed play, a very loud distorted noise blasted from my wired headphones, which nearly blew my eardrums away!Presumably I had received a faulty one. I did eventually manage to hear music played from it after plugging and replugging the cable. However after half an hour the unit got very hot. I had the same loud distorted sound after I plugged it in again. So not very impressed with the quality of this 5 star What Hi Fi reviewed dac/amp. I consider it not fit for purpose.I've now bought a Fosi Audio DS2, to replace the iFi, which is brilliant and IMHO a much better sounding quality product, which is more substantial and doesn't blow my ear drums away and become too hot.

Great value, well made and compact, with phone adapter included.

Works as intended. This device allowed use of my Sennheiser h/phones on the phone using the wired connection in place of Bluetooth, and the improvement is significant. Well worth the minimal outlay.Minor complaint is that the twisted cable is quite short so appears to place more strain than is necessary where the wire joins the two parts of this device, when the headphone cable is weighing down the trailing end. Trivial? Probably, but that doesn’t inspire confidence that it’ll still be fine after a lot of use.

So out of the box, this product is good enough, no need to go around inside looking for firmware updates as I think the default driver is great. When I download the firmware and driver from ifi, I feel as if the soundstage got thin, so I stuck with the default drivers.Talking about the default drivers. Wide soundstage, good dynamics, intrument seperation is amazing. The voices, they're bright, but certainly not harsh to the ears. I love it! Whenever I listen to my favourite Jazz artist, it certainly does give me all the details I want.Whilst I was listening, I could hear the harp clearly, the quiet classical guitar that was playing in the background of the recording was giving me the "WOW" moment as it was so much clearer than before. It was pretty satisfying to my ears.The bass is very good, I can say that this DAC didn't overwhelm the bass whilst it was still pretty thumpy. I do like thumpy bass and this does a brilliant job, this one is not overwhelmingly thumpy. It has a pretty V-shaped sound that I kinda like too.I like this product and would totally recommend it to any person who wants to get the music quality they love.

Sound is amazing, build quality is great too.But I now have to unplug to use my mic, or buttons on my headphones. Which is a shame as I use these a lot!

Great enhancement to any streaming device