[McCol]

can anyone compore ifi gold bar to ifi gryphon ?

I personally prefer the Gold Bar to the Gryphon but obviously only on sound alone, to my ears it just sounds a little more musical overall.

 

[McCol]

Not the greatest of reviews but my write up of the go and go gold bar

https://www.head-fi.org/showcase/ifi-go-bar.25909/

 

[ayang02]

From my dealer: “We have an update from iFi.

The first batch of Gold Bar we received has an issue with drawing excess power from iPhone devices.

They are therefore expediting us a new shipment that will fix this issue.”

@iFi audio hey is there an official statement about this? I feel like my Gold Bar sucks quite a bit of power as well, wondering if there’s an actual defect.

 

[iFi audio]

@iFi audio hey is there an official statement about this? I feel like my Gold Bar sucks quite a bit of power as well, wondering if there’s an actual defect.

Yup and yes, we have noticed that some iPhones don't allow the power handshake (PCs and Androids are unaffected). Therefore, we have offered to bring them back and personally inspect each unit's power draw as each capacitor has an ever so slightly different tolerance...and if need be, we will rematch the power supply capacitance. Thanks!

 

[rkyle1717]

I just received my Go Bar, loaded the newest firmware (tried 1.7A and 1.70) and am finding a pronounced hiss / background fffff with HD660s headphones at all volumes. Its like the hiss I'd expect with full gain, max volume, is present at the first click off mute with the music barely audible. Its very distracting at low volume, soft piano music. It seems like the volume is not hardware based and does not have overall noise reduction at decreasing volume levels. Is this just a result of the design? Its not bad when the music is turned up and full band stuff. Gain is on normal, not turbo. Thanks.

 

[McCol]

I just received my Go Bar, loaded the newest firmware (tried 1.7A and 1.70) and am finding a pronounced hiss / background fffff with HD660s headphones at all volumes. Its like the hiss I'd expect with full gain, max volume, is present at the first click off mute with the music barely audible. Its very distracting at low volume, soft piano music. It seems like the volume is not hardware based and does not have overall noise reduction at decreasing volume levels. Is this just a result of the design? Its not bad when the music is turned up and full band stuff. Gain is on normal, not turbo. Thanks.

Not sure if I've misread but do you have your source volume at 100%?

I have my smartphone set to 100% then control the volume with the Go Bar, I use the 660s and have no hiss

 

[rkyle1717]

Not sure if I've misread but do you have your source volume at 100%?

I have my smartphone set to 100% then control the volume with the Go Bar, I use the 660s and have no hiss

I fiddled around with that. I'm running off an ipad air 4. With the volume sync mode on, I am controlling the GoBar volume with the ipad buttons or the GoBar buttons and they are tethered, staying in sync. The background noise is full immediately going to the first click up via the GoBar or Ipad. When the sync mode is off, the ipad volume has no effect on anything.

 

[ayang02]

Yup and yes, we have noticed that some iPhones don't allow the power handshake (PCs and Androids are unaffected). Therefore, we have offered to bring them back and personally inspect each unit's power draw as each capacitor has an ever so slightly different tolerance...and if need be, we will rematch the power supply capacitance. Thanks!

Just wondering, did the "fix" actually help much with battery drain? I am noticing significant battery drain with my iPhone 11 Pro Max when using the Gold Bar. If this issue has been broadcasted to all iFi distributors, I'll probably send my unit back to them for inspection as well. Thanks!

 

[littlexx26]

if iPhone is so restrictive regarding power draw, will go bar output won't reach the stated max 475mw 32ohm when connecting iphone?
I wonder this will in turn affecting sound quality such as dynamic and bass.
and like sony volume cap implementation in their eu walkmans

 

[YellowHatMan]

Yup and yes, we have noticed that some iPhones don't allow the power handshake (PCs and Androids are unaffected). Therefore, we have offered to bring them back and personally inspect each unit's power draw as each capacitor has an ever so slightly different tolerance...and if need be, we will rematch the power supply capacitance. Thanks!

Does it mean that I should send my GOld bar back to you through local dealer to fix the hardware? Thank you very much!

 

[Sebastien Chiu]

Does it mean that I should send my GOld bar back to you through local dealer to fix the hardware? Thank you very much!

Yes, that would be great!

 

[RIGATIO]

Guys, have a question. My Gold Bar comes tomorrow and I'm curious if it will sound better when using it with a good dap instead of a smartphone?
I have Samsung s20 but also old unused Pioneer xdp-300r dap which sounds very good. The only caveat is that the Pioneer uses micro USB connection. Will the Gold Bar work with micro USB and which cable would you recommend?

 

[Ichos]

Guys, have a question. My Gold Bar comes tomorrow and I'm curious if it will sound better when using it with a good dap instead of a smartphone?
I have Samsung s20 but also old unused Pioneer xdp-300r dap which sounds very good. The only caveat is that the Pioneer uses micro USB connection. Will the Gold Bar work with micro USB and which cable would you recommend?

Digital source is always critical regarding the sound performance.
Yes the Gold bar benefits from a quality transport.
You will need a micro USB to type C cable but your player must also support USB out function.

 

[iFi audio]

Folks, user @McCol just published his take on GOld Bar here:

https://www.head-fi.org/showcase/ifi-go-bar.25909/reviews

It's a very cool read!

 

[RIGATIO]

Just compared Ifi gold bar to the iBasso dx320. And there is no way to campare them. Gold bar sounds digital, narrower, with worse dynamics. I know that the price differece is quite large but the difference in sound is even larger. Its a bit like comparing a good bluetooth earphones to the stationary rig.
Dont get me wrong- the Gold bar is an amazing sounding device, but i made a definite mistake thinking that it could replace the 1500 dol+ dap. NO WAY! Its just inferior in EVERY regard.