[iullian]

Also i want not to forget and say that before we start comparing with mojo, Gryphon or similar devices your phone (if you use it with a phone) needs to be able to provide the power.

I have 3 phones that i use : an iphone and 2 Samsungs. I use the iphone as a phone only and i can use my 2 samsungs at home alternatively with my dongles. So when my battery is depleting in one i can charge the other and vice versa and do not care about battery consumption too much.

Also my two samsungs have big batteries and do not have any restrictions on how much power can supply to my dongles and this is why i experience these results with Kensei and similar dongles.

The power supply of your phone can limit the experience and you need to have that in mind. But with ipads, macs or PCs i see no problems.

I use a Samsung S22 Ultra which should provide enough juice. But i am really interested in such comparisons. Even if I have the theoretical possibility to order/try/return devices, paying in advance for these just for the sake of comparisons is not a practical approach - even if the final goal would be to actually step up. So, I would rather read other people's opinions before jumping into orders.

 

[rafaelo]

Samsung S22 Ultra

That will do. Is sufficient enough.

 

[jsmiller58]

That will do. Is sufficient enough.

Agree wholeheartedly. That is the exact phone I use and I have no problems whatsoever with power while using the Kensei.

 

[KaiFi]

I noticed one little issue today: if I have it set to the GTO filter and I unplug the Go Bar from my laptop, there is a distinct unpleasant "pop" in the headphones. It doesn't happen when the other filters are active and it happens regardless of whether K2HD is enabled. I thought it was a coincidence at first, but the pattern is repeatable and I tested it many times. Not that I really care about the filters too much; I don't notice much sonic difference between them (if any), but something's going on with the GTO filter.

 

[brjoon1021]

Don't you think that burn-in occurs / is necessary ?
I would suggest that it is a pretty known and relatively non-controversial issue in Hi-Fi (which makes it tablets of stone worthy) and in pro audio.

I think it is important so I haven't listened to any of my dongles before 96 hours of looped burn in sounds: white, sine, pink, classical and Beatles(). It is definitely a patience builder because I want to try it sooo bad, but it is important, I think.?.?
Maybe we don't really know what the Kensei and other dongles that are still burning in really sound like yet as they might still be smoothing and maturing to their final state ?

I always put on a song and go get a beer / make coffee, etc.... (not listening is the point) because I don't like the sound of a dongle as much when it starts up as when it as played for a bit. I think the R2R more so.... RU6, RU7

 

[jsmiller58]

Don't you think that burn-in occurs / is necessary ?
I would suggest that it is a pretty known and relatively non-controversial issue in Hi-Fi (which makes it tablets of stone worthy) and in pro audio.

Yeah… I’m pretty sure many would disagree with this…

But, this is a forum about the Kensei. Let’s not distract it by bringing in cable or burn-in discussions… two topics sure to generate heated disagreements and the wrath of the moderators.

 

[brjoon1021]

I haven't noticed the moderators here to be that way

 

[jsmiller58]

I haven't noticed the moderators here to be that way

You misunderstand. It's not the mods being bad. It's those topics tend to generate a lot of passionate and often rude comments by others. Then the moderators have to come in and take a strong position, delete posts and more if needed. I've seen it on numerous threads.

Best to avoid from the beginning.

 

[brjoon1021]

Well... I didn't realize this forum had contributing or controlling corporate interests

 

[BS5711]

Yes one definitely doesn’t want to talk “off topic” especially in a thread that is directly associated with a sponsor to the Head Fi website.

 

[brjoon1021]

Ooooh....

 

[HeartByte]

I don’t own a ifi dongle yet and I was interested in the kensei dongle for having all 3 tech xbass xspace and the k2hd one but I could not find any hands on reviews out there that actually talk about the sound of it and comparisons with other dongles. I did find some of that on this thread but since people were saying the gold bar might sound slightly better even without k2hd that completely put me off buying it. As expensive as it is it has no display and does not look very user friendly which I can live without if the sound is the best in class at least out of ifi dongles but if that is not the case and they could do better with past limited editions then I am going to say pass for now and be content with my ru7 for now.

 

[Polky74]

@HeartByte

I own many dongles including the ifi GO bar but not the Kensei version, in my experience I no longer think in terms of which dongle is better than another. They all have peculiar characteristics and the synergy with the various IEMs is different from one dongle to another. Nowadays when I buy a new dongle I never ask myself the question of whether it is better than another but rather whether it has a different sound. This is what interests me... because I consider it the true added value of dongles... being able to change the sound signature in less than thirty seconds by taking the dongle I want to try out of the drawer with the IEM I want to listen to at that moment. The ifi GO bar Kensei is certainly better than my ifo GO bar OG, but I don't know if it really has a different nature from what I have (I don't think so) and in any case if I had to compare the RU7 with the ifi GO bar OG I wouldn't know say which one I prefer... for me they just have different sound signatures and this, for me, is what matters. Want to experience the sound of an ifi GO bar? The Kensei is probably the best to date also because the GOLD series was a limited edition and therefore no longer available if not used and probably with a good reason to be sold. Saying this is better than that seems a bit anachronistic to me now... if you've never listened to an ifi GO bar I think that purchasing a Kensei will remove your doubts about how it sounds compared to the RU7 and honestly I don't trust it too much anymore not even what others write because I believe that each of us has our own way of listening and has different IEMs which inevitably lead to different results. It's not uncommon to read reviews of the same dongle where the first accuses it of having a narrow soundstage while the other praises its soundstage... who's right? Only you can know by trying it. That said, I find myself pulling the ifi GO bar out of my drawer much more often than the RU7... for what it's worth.

 

[jsmiller58]

@HeartByte

I own many dongles including the ifi GO bar but not the Kensei version, in my experience I no longer think in terms of which dongle is better than another. They all have peculiar characteristics and the synergy with the various IEMs is different from one dongle to another. Nowadays when I buy a new dongle I never ask myself the question of whether it is better than another but rather whether it has a different sound. This is what interests me... because I consider it the true added value of dongles... being able to change the sound signature in less than thirty seconds by taking the dongle I want to try out of the drawer with the IEM I want to listen to at that moment. The ifi GO bar Kensei is certainly better than my ifo GO bar OG, but I don't know if it really has a different nature from what I have (I don't think so) and in any case if I had to compare the RU7 with the ifi GO bar OG I wouldn't know say which one I prefer... for me they just have different sound signatures and this, for me, is what matters. Want to experience the sound of an ifi GO bar? The Kensei is probably the best to date also because the GOLD series was a limited edition and therefore no longer available if not used and probably with a good reason to be sold. Saying this is better than that seems a bit anachronistic to me now... if you've never listened to an ifi GO bar I think that purchasing a Kensei will remove your doubts about how it sounds compared to the RU7 and honestly I don't trust it too much anymore not even what others write because I believe that each of us has our own way of listening and has different IEMs which inevitably lead to different results. It's not uncommon to read reviews of the same dongle where the first accuses it of having a narrow soundstage while the other praises its soundstage... who's right? Only you can know by trying it. That said, I find myself pulling the ifi GO bar out of my drawer much more often than the RU7... for what it's worth.

Well said. The Kensei is quite special. Other than not having a display it has amazing versatility- K2HD, XSpace, and XBass features allow for much more customization of the sound than the typical dongle.

 

[wolfen68]

As expensive as it is it has no display and does not look very user friendly which I can live without if the sound is the best in class at least out of ifi dongles but if that is not the case and they could do better with past limited editions then I am going to say pass for now and be content with my ru7 for now.

I have owned both the Go Bar and the Gold Bar (which is my current daily use dongle). I find the ifi user interface pretty straight forward and I've never felt the need for an additional display.

The biggest problem with the original Go Bar was the hard to read lettering on the back, but this was fixed with the Gold Bar (or if outfit your unit with one of the widely available leather sleeves).