IEM - ? - iPhone or computer - Roon

In the EU:

Chord Mojo 2 = 599 EURO
iFi Go Bar = 329 EURO
Luxury & Precision W2-131 = 332 EURO

You get what you pay for.

Not necessarily. I also have a Mojo 2 (along with a Poly), and it is definitely a step up from the original Mojo but it is not hands down better from a sound perspective than the W2… especially considering the price.

We all hear a little differently so what is great to you may not be great for me. Price will never be the reason why one is “better.”

1 Like

A small Q - Does it work with Roon and Windows 11? It seems that some users have problems with Roon, Windows 11 and USB DAC’s (See Fiio KA3 - Link)

As I don’t use Windows for anything, it’s hard for me to answer that question.

Purple Rain just came up on an Apple Music playlist. It sounded so good, I thought this has got to be 24/192. It was. This little KA1 does a good job.

2 Likes

I take it now you forgive me for recommending that Amazon cable which did not work for you :sweat_smile:

2 Likes

Did get this info from ifi support:


"The iFi Go Bar works fine with Roon. Please download the iFi driver v5.12 Download Hub | Software and firmware for your iFi audio devices

It may show up as iFi(by AMR ) HD USB Audio. The Go Bar is currently not Roon Certified but will work."


Time for you to order something.

YES :slight_smile: It is going to be iFi Go Bar :slight_smile:

But what will be the IEM? :slight_smile: Max 1.500 EURO

Maybee:

  • Meze Rai Penta
  • 64 Audio U6t
1 Like

I’d audition if I were you, if the possibility is there of course. Reviews only go so far.

1 Like

A lot of reviewers seem to like the Campfire Audio Solaris …

This product has been discontinued:slight_smile:

I have Thieaudio Monarchs and I absolutely love the sound.

I use a A&K Dap, so it’s a fairly straight forward plug and play, but the Monarchs are nice, and under your budget.

2 Likes

I like that the iFi Go Bar has self-contained volume control so you don’t have to use DSP volume control, even if it is OK to use. I do wonder if it’s any better than this little FiiO KA1 for $50?

No I didn’t! What sort of issues have you been experiencing?

I had my iFi GO BAR and iFi GOLD BAR returned after a week of use. It is largely overpriced beta product. And iFI was not able to explain how to use some of its features in DSD playback. My ticket with iFi still opened - two months already, no sign of answer, not that I am bothered anymore.

iFi advertise a “bit perfect” mode - it’s game of words, “bit perfect” is just another internal DSP filter in cirrus logic chip with good looking impulse response. Frankly it sounds decent, but all other modes/filters do not make sense - i found them fatiguing.

For my liking ROON playback (with proper PEQ of course) upsampled to DSD was better than PCM, however on my Apple devices it (GO/GOLD) only could do DSD128 - limitation that i did not understand, as competitor device was easily making DSD256 via ROON with my iphone and ipad. Seems like issues with DoP implementation.

Default lightning cable fell apart after few days of use for GO BAR which is barely 30 grams, i used FiiO cable after. GOLD BAR is very heavy for a “dangling” dongle and thus very uncomfortable on use, well it looks good if you keep it on a table for example…

If you already have it - pay extra attention to headphones sensitivity. Even with its extra gain feature it had issues driving my Audeze SINE for example, where at max volume you already can hear noise.

@IgorSki - what are you using instead?

As alternative I happen to have FiiO Q3, it is 3 times cheaper than iFi GO BAR, build on AKM DAC chip, and more capable from the specs perspective (PCM768 / DSD512). And had not any compatibility or performance issue of GO/GOLD bar nature.

This is certainly not “apples to apples” comparison also from form-factor perspective. Comparing Q3 with “GOLD” I found it more practical/comfortable in use with iPhone than heavy GOLD BAR.

However I personally have put on hold the same “project” as yours, as I don’t really have a use case for it. I needed a portable DAC for a laptop and I think that would be rather different to looking for iPhone DAC/dongle. For the latter I found that weight and form of the device plays very important role actually. When I got more familiar with a subject I figured there are dozens of competing dongle devices in a category. A lot if not all of them are discussed on Head Fi forum.

If/when I go back to my “portable” project I think of xDSD Gryphon, but my experience with iFi support does not get me excited.

I got generally interested in a light-weight dongle topic, so from now on I keep an eye in it, just for fun.

As for the headphones I always refer to two projects:

Oratory1990

AutoEQ

Very much interested in this model, but don’t really need it now: FiiO FH5s 2 Dynamic Drivers 2 Balanced Armatures In-Ear Monitors

1 Like

For purely light weight “dongle” to use with Apples this was my “tempting” thought:

This one uses Cirrus Logic dual CS43131 DAC chip. While iFi keeps unnecessary secrecy about what chip is used in GO BAR, there are not so many choices (akhm… like… one?) in that line from cirrus.

But KA2 did not seem to make it to Europe yet… I may actually buy it when it’s here. Don’t think it will be expensive.