[shuto77]

I like the Go Blu, though the hiss is bothering me a bit with my iems (FiiO FH7) from the 4.4 input. Will switch back to 3.5mm today. Slightly disappointed since I bought a 4.4 cable specifically for this iem. Serves me right for not researching enough. Fwiw, the FH7 sounds way better from the Go Blu than it does from my FiiO UTWS3 Bluetooth adapter, as expected.

Is the hiss a problem with over-ears, with something like a Drop/Hifiman He5xx? I'm assuming no, since they'll need more power to get going. (sensitivity: 93 dB; impedance: 35 ohms)

 

[newworld666]

I like the Go Blu, though the hiss is bothering me a bit with my iems (FiiO FH7) from the 4.4 input. Will switch back to 3.5mm today. Slightly disappointed since I bought a 4.4 cable specifically for this iem. Serves me right for not researching enough. Fwiw, the FH7 sounds way better from the Go Blu than it does from my FiiO UTWS3 Bluetooth adapter, as expected.

Is the hiss a problem with over-ears, with something like a Drop/Hifiman He5xx? I'm assuming no, since they'll need more power to get going. (sensitivity: 93 dB; impedance: 35 ohms)

I was using these last months the IE600 and IE900 and hiss was not really annoying, but yesterday I used a Xelento... and hiss was really annoying with it. With sensitive IEM, it can be a real trouble, the BTR7 is 100% blank.... but ultra short battery playing time (a bit more than 1/2 working day which is not sufficient for me).

 

[rocketron]

I like the Go Blu, though the hiss is bothering me a bit with my iems (FiiO FH7) from the 4.4 input. Will switch back to 3.5mm today. Slightly disappointed since I bought a 4.4 cable specifically for this iem. Serves me right for not researching enough. Fwiw, the FH7 sounds way better from the Go Blu than it does from my FiiO UTWS3 Bluetooth adapter, as expected.

Is the hiss a problem with over-ears, with something like a Drop/Hifiman He5xx? I'm assuming no, since they'll need more power to get going. (sensitivity: 93 dB; impedance: 35 ohms)

I use Go Blu with HD800s, AK T5P and various Grado headphones and the hiss doesn’t bother me .
All of the above from 4.4mm.
Iems I use 3.5mm no problem.

It’s a great little unit and I find myself using more than other dongles I have.
Battery life is especially good even with harder to drive headphones.

 

[shuto77]

I use Go Blu with HD800s, AK T5P and various Grado headphones and the hiss doesn’t bother me .
All of the above from 4.4mm.
Iems I use 3.5mm no problem.

It’s a great little unit and I find myself using more than other dongles I have.
Battery life is especially good even with harder to drive headphones.

I find it plays great with my Grado Hemp from the 3.5mm input as well, with volume around 50-60%. I've also heard it does well with other Grados.

 

[marekm]

Straight out of the box

 

[ddlo]

was looking to get a portable bluetooth/usb dongle as the usb dongles seems burning too much precious battery life of my phone. i was skeptical about the idea of using bluetooth dongle at first as my experience with AK XB10 a few years back then was not so great (a lot of hiss! temperamental connection, poor battery life and not much power available). but the rave reviews for btr5/btr7/utws5 and the urgent need to conserve my phone battery life made me decided to test how much technology has advanced since 2016.

the topping g5 looks great on paper but the >260g and iphone size forbid me to go for it. fiio btr7 looks a much more sensible compromise so i went out shopping this weekend. unexpectedly, most shops said no stock! when i decided to shop gunpla instead i accidentally saw the ifi go blu on sale (cheaper than btr7 and same price of a utws5!)

i did a quick check on google and found the power is on par with btr7 yet it's much lighter, smaller and similar battery life (10hrs is amazing!) so i took this home instead.

right out of the box, it paired swiftly with my phone (zfold4) via LDAC. connection is strong and reliable within my apartment. i tried with hs2000mx, ie900, TG335 and justear listening. all played very well and i didnt feel any major deficiency comparing with the usb dongles i used (L&P W2/ddhifi TC44C). i read quite a few reports on hiss but so far i didn't have such problem. i've yet to test with EA zeus or campfire solaris which are plauged with hiss with many sources.

there's ample power to drive the iems i tested: hs2000mx (vol. 70 on SE out), ie900 (vol. 55 on Bal out), TG335 (vol. 55 on Bal out) and justear listening (vol. 62 on Bal out). i'll try going out to shopping arcades/subway to see if the connection remains reliable the next few days.

all in all, a very pleasant surprise that technology really advanced a lot since 2016 (another supporting case for buying latest electronic instead of discounted old ones) and i'm entirely satisfactory with what this little gadget could offer for such affordable price.

(edited)
just tested with EA x Drop Zeus - audible hiss from the 3.5mm out at vol. 42 but not really terrible. neither the hiss became noticeable during normal music passage though i can still hear it from silence to very quite passages. strangely the hiss was silent when i stopped the music when the ifi go blu remains connected to my phone. seems it stopped the PO out when there's no signal. hiss is even less of a problem with campfire solaris OG on 3.5mm out (vol. 42 also). i also enjoyed LiSA's catch the moment with layla aion. had to dial up the vol a bit to 55 on SE out. no hiss problem at all. but with tia fourte, i heard very faint hiss which i didnt notice in other sources before.

found some aspects which ifi may consider to improve in next version:

• a clip will help a lot to carry around!
• the unit won't go into sleep or turn off even no music is playing for prolonged period. this seems quite uncommon for bluetooth devices nowadays.
• both 3.5mm and 4.4mm jacks seem to be quite tight - i had to pull quite hard with most of the cables i plugged in (definitely much harder than my other DAPs or dongles. worrying excessive scratching to the plugs . . .)

 

[ddlo]

Straight out of the box

swollen battery? if that's the case, be careful and better stop using or exerting pressure on the battery. there could be quite serious potential hazards.

my fiio m17 had the same problem a while ago. when i shared the photo here in headfi, some even advised me to move it out of my apartment. so i took to the distributor to replace the other day.

 

[marekm]

swollen battery?

No, just crappy build. Never plugged it. The shop took it back, but informed me that they will not be able to replace it any time soon. Apparently, upon inspection, the entire stock of Go Blu's turned out ot be "falling apart" and will be sent back to iFi Audio.

It appears that iFi Audio was not happy with just crappy BT range and decided to add crappy build to the equation

 

[Rowan94]

Every now and then batteries turn out to be faulty and they get swollen, but that has nothing to do with how the product is made. In any such accident we replace GO Blus with no questions asked, thanks!

 

[marekm]

Every now and then batteries turn out to be faulty and they get swollen

The case I described has nothing to do with battery swelling. This is a clear case of sloppy production, lousy materials and poor QC. Don't try to blame third party battery manufacturer.

Just like crapy BT range is a consequence of poor design and execution.

All curtesy of iFi Audio.

 

[elwappo99]

Has anyone else had an issue of their unit "popping" open. I can only assume the worst, but I'm wondering how widespread this is.

 

[ddlo]

Has anyone else had an issue of their unit "popping" open. I can only assume the worst, but I'm wondering how widespread this is.

this really looks like swollen battery! be careful!

i dont have this problem with my newly acquired go blu. but i've experienced the same for my fiio m17 recently and a portable power bank long, long time ago. given most electronics are equipped with lithium battery, most people will likely experience this first hand someday.

 

[rlw6534]

Has anyone else had an issue of their unit "popping" open. I can only assume the worst, but I'm wondering how widespread this is.

I guess Chinese QC still has occasional issues these days...

 

[elwappo99]

this really looks like swollen battery! be careful!

i dont have this problem with my newly acquired go blu. but i've experienced the same for my fiio m17 recently and a portable power bank long, long time ago. given most electronics are equipped with lithium battery, most people will likely experience this first hand someday.

I guess Chinese QC still has occasional issues these days...

I really like the GO Blu, so I'm wondering if it's worth rolling the dice again. I've also got an issue with the volume knob skipping all over the place.

 

[Rowan94]

Has anyone else had an issue of their unit "popping" open. I can only assume the worst, but I'm wondering how widespread this is.

Please can you open up a ticket with our support team, they will assist you promptly! https://support.ifi-audio.com
Our apologies for the inconvenience.