What a beautiful dongle. The material looks like a Japanese knife.

Good review, mate!

"Yes the price is high but the quality is absolutely there and in spades. The 4 distinct filters, K2HD, Xbass, XSpace, Turbo mode, and IEMatch all somehow add up to something that is more than the sum of their parts. I understand that a lot of consumers will probably never consider spending $450 for a dongle DAC. However, for those that can afford the cost of entry, the iFi GO bar Kensei is one of the finest products I've had the pleasure of using..." (SEE COMMENT BELOW)

People think nothing of spending $1200 on a phone these days. You can command the price, IF, you deliver on quality with a unique product that your competitors haven't matched yet. I gave input in a piece iFi Audio published here at Head-Fi.org in January of this year: "Tell us what you think we should build next?" I gave them a link to the designer of Mark Levinson who started his own company and had a proprietary chipset/software that reconstructs the digital wave form. They thought it was a very interesting idea and link, but they found off-the-self tech at JVC-Kenwood that did the same thing.

Excellent review. While iFi can hurt the wallet, it's chicken soup for the soul and worth every penny.

Hi! As you gave this unit five stars, which in your words means „Best in class/buy it now“ my question would be: why didn’t you compare it to other similar priced dongles as the L&P W4, Cayin Ru7, iBasso DC elite etc.) And what about the higher priced ones (Quloos MUB1, Questyle CM18P). Because best in class - at least for me - means that you should know how the contenders sound and be able to compare them to your unit. I too am curious how the Kensei sounds but without any comparisons it’s a bit of a gamble to follow your recommendation and „buy it now“
That being said, nice review!

You make a very valid point but the truth is I don't have access to any other similarly priced products and I don't have the means to buy everything to compare. I do know that the Kensei is by far the best product I've tried to date but at the end of the day it may be outclassed by a competitor. Maybe I should change the rating system to reflect that. Thanks for your input.

Excellent review sir

I’ve had the Kenzei for about a week. I love it a lot.
I previously had the Cayin RU7 (sold it). In my ears the Kenzei sounds way better. I also compared it with my Ibasso DC04 pro. Sound wise I think they’re close, but the Kenzei excels by having so many configuration options (I’m running an Iphone, and then you can’t use the Ibasso app).

Do you think that if one had to give up their desktop sytem, that a dongle like this could suffice.... assuming your stable of headphones were all medium to high efficiency?

I don't have much experience with full sized cans and next to no experience with desktop amps so I wouldn't be a great one to answer this question. The devout desktop gear users would probably tell you that nothing like a dongle could replace that kind of setup and I'd be inclined to agree. However if you just need something small to use with fairly easy to drive iems/headphones the Kensei is definitely all you would need and be very happy for a long time.

I tried it and elected to spend a bit more and get Mojo2

I've heard great things about the Mojo2. Hopefully I can try one in the future.

I previously had dragonfly red and cobalt, Mojo2 the upgrade that made most sense to me

Mojo 2 is the best portable DAC in the world, IMHO

I assume that Hugo2 is better but it's also 4x or 5x the price

Have you tried fiio KA17? it's new ES sabre flagship chip sounds much better imo
And it's rediculous cheap also
I wasn't impressed with the mojo II and the ifi go bar / hip dac 2
Guess we all hear differently

I haven't tried the KA17 but I've read good things. I really enjoy the Kensei and the hipdac 3 is also superb. We do all hear differently that's true

Does anybody have listen to Hugo2?

Cool, thanks a lot for the great review. I'd love to hear how it sounds if I have a chance.

Regarding the K2HD processing, can it be enabled/disabled independently of the filter selected?

BTW, I am confused with 2x DXD.

Based on my understanding, DXD is 352.8kHz / 24 bit. For "2x DXD", I would expect "705.6kHz". Is my understanding of 2x DXD correct?

I've heard Mojo 2, Hugo2, and Chord TT2.

I'd say the Mojo 2 is 90% there. Hugo2 is 94%. TT2 is 96% (+ M Scaler = 98%).
Of course this scale means nothing but it's meant to demonstrate the diminishing value of returns as the price doubles/triples with each upgrade.

That being said, I'd buy a Mojo 2 over this iFi GO Bar any day.