Mobile Accessories: What Apple Takes Away Creates Opportunity
Just because Apple decided that nobody needs a 3.5mm jack on what has become people's primary music device (and all of its competitors followed) doesn't make it universally true. If you have wired headphones, earbuds, or IEMs (in-ear monitors), you'll need an adapter. The thing is, when companies removed the headphone jack, they also bypassed the DAC (digital to analog converter) that the silicon typically provides. That means this has to be a more complicated adapter, as it is not just a connector, but the dongle needs to have its own DAC embedded in there as well.
Apple started the problem, and it offered a solution: a $9 dongle that converts from Lightning to 3.5mm. That makes it one of Apple's least expensive products of all time, but discerning consumers may well ask if it sounds any good, and how much they need to spend to get something noticeably better. (Spoiler: the Apple adapter is actually a bargain for what it is, but if you have good headphones you absolutely can do better.)
A while back, ifi Audio sent me their $329 GO bar, which is a great little DAC/headphone amp combo that has a plethora of features. It sounds great, and I will happily recommend it in its category, but if all you're trying to do is connect wired headphones to your phone, it's overkill. Recognizing the market opportunity to expand to mainstream buyers, ifi Audio announced a much simpler product, the GO link, for just $59.
The GO link nails the assignment of adding a good DAC to anything without a 3.5mm headphone jack at a price that makes it an audiophile impulse buy or an attainable luxury. It natively supports USB-C and ifi Audio includes little attachments for Lightning for the iPhone and USB-A to use as a better DAC than the one in most PCs. Unlike the GO bar, it lacks a case, but most people will leave it attached to their headphone cable so that's fine. ifi Audio can’t quite quit the audiophile marketing speak; the GO link features a, "Discrete ESS Sabre Hyperstream DAC chipset with time domain jitter eliminator, discrete oscillator and 112dB dynamic range for discerning listeners."
I started my discerning listening with the iPhone 14 Pro and Drop HIFIMAN HE-X4 headphones (budget planar magnetic headphones). The difference between Apple's dongle and the GO link was easy to hear: on the GO link, instruments had more separation and the noise floor was slightly lower. I found it easier to discern certain elements (a unique time signature on the drums, instrument tambre), and the music was more engaging overall. For $9, it's hard to complain about Apple's dongle. It's not bad! But if you are an active listener and have invested in high quality headphones, there is easily a significant enough difference to justify the expense of the GO link.
Next, I tested the ifi Audio GO link on a [embargoed upcoming Android phone] and compared it to Anker's $20 USB-C to 3.5mm dongle. On the relatively inefficient HIFIMAN headphones, the difference was stark: the GO link can play so much louder than the Anker that it isn't fair -- the Ankers are a poor match for these headphones. Apple and Anker do not specify output power on their adapters, but ifi Audio does: "power output of 70mW into 32 ohms, and a maximum voltage output of 2.05V into 600 ohms."
ifi Audio also claims that its S-Balanced circuit delivers better performance on IEMs, too, so I tested them with Ultimate Ear UE12 IEMs. These require minimum power to drive, so the Anker was much more competitive. The GO links still played louder, but on IEMs that's irrelevant unless you want to damage your hearing. At more reasonable volume levels, the GO link did sound a bit better than the Ankers -- bass drum kicks were a bit fuller -- but it's subtle. Whatever DAC Anker is using sounds fine and they are a third the price.
Overall, given the simplicity and versatility with both input (USB-C, USB-A, Lightning) and output (even on more demanding headphones), assuming that ifi Audio has the right marketing and distribution, the GO link should help it expand its reach in mobile.
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A consumer-oriented version of this report was published with permission on Home Theater View.