IFI AUDIO GO BAR KENSEI Portable USB DAC Headphone Amplifier

With the Go Bar Kensei, iFi Audio offers its most powerful USB DAC and ultraportable headphone amplifier. With its particularly compact format, it can accompany you on all your travels, providing high quality listening at all times, whether from a smartphone, tablet or computer.

Go Bar Kensei: An efficient design

The Go Bar Kensei's digital/analog conversion stage uses a 32bit DAC chip from Cirrus Logic, combined with a high-performance 16-core XMOS USB interface. The latter benefits from custom firmware, to deliver exceptional sound quality. This combination also supports high-resolution files, up to PCM 32bit 384kHz, DSD256 and even MQA (Master Quality Authenticated) and K2HD files.

There's also a digital filter to minimize audio artefacts that can alter listening quality, and a GMT (Global Master Timing) clock for extremely low jitter.

Go Bar Kensei: Sound that adapts to your listening

The Go Bar Kensei offers four digital filtering options to adapt its sound reproduction to your tastes and listening equipment:

• Bit Perfect: No digital filtering, pure audio signal
• Standard: Light filtering and treatment of pre/post ringing artifacts
• Minimum Phase: Slow roll-off, minimal pre/post ringing artifacts
• Gibbs Transient Optimised: Minimal filtering, no pre-ringing artifacts, minimal post-ringing artifacts

To this, the Go Bar Kensei adds two analog processing modes:

• XBass+: analog low-frequency boost
• XSpace: soundstage enhancement for greater immersion

Go Bar Kensei : Controls & connectors

The iFi Audio Go Bar Kensei features physical buttons for easy control. You can precisely adjust the volume level and quickly access the various filtering and processing options. In addition, a series of LEDs indicates the sampling rate of the file currently being played, as well as the options activated.

In terms of connectivity, input is via a USB-C port. For output, the Go Bar Kensei provides both a balanced 4.4mm jack and an S-Balanced 3.5mm jack, enabling you to enjoy the performance of a balanced connection with unbalanced headphones.