GO BAR DAC Headphone Amplifier User Manual
- June 5, 2024
- ifi
Table of Contents
GO BAR DAC Headphone Amplifier
Thank you for purchasing the bar from the GO series. The bar is a balanced USB audio DAC amplifier.
OVERVIEW
Audio format, frequency, and sound effects LED
The LED color scheme indicates the current sampling frequency and audio format received by the GO bar from the music source., Sound effect modes are also indicated.
LED Mode
- White 44.1/48kHz
- White 88.2/96kHz
- White 176.4/192kHz
- White 352.8/384kHz
- White DSD 64/128
- White DSD 256
Sound effects
LED Status
- Blue X Space
- OrangeX Bass+
Tip: Sonically-hindering DSP is NOT used for XBass+ nor space systems. They use the highest-quality discrete components and operate purely in the analog domain. Hence all the clarity and resolution of the original music is retained.
MQA and Digital filter LED
MQA
- Green MQA
- Blue MQA Studio
- Magenta Original Sample Rate*
- MQB
Digital Filter for PCM Playback
LED Mode
- Cyan BP
- White GTO
- Red STD
- Yellow MIN
- Off DSD playback
iEMatch switch
iEMatch reduces the output level, so that even the most sensitive In-Ear- Monitors (IEMs) can be matched to the GO bar.
Tip: The GO bar and/or the headphone will not be damaged if the iEMatch switch is adjusted incorrectly, but the attenuation level will not be correct.
Volume control and gain
To increase volume, press the + button, and to decrease it, press the – button. Volume level is briefly displayed on the GO bar while pressing one of the volume buttons, shown by the number of white LEDs on at a time – from none to 6. The increase or decrease of volume can be synchronized with the volume of the mobile phone/computer. The connected device will indicate a change of volume on its display if synchronization is on, and the device’s volume controls can additionally be used to adjust the volume. The GO bar’s volume buttons are still operational. By default, the synchronization feature is off. To switch this on or off, press the settings button (5) for > 8s. On is indicated by the 6 white LEDs switching on in sequence from LEDs 1 and 6 to the center. Off is indicated by the 6 white LEDs switching off in the opposite direction. Turbo Mode increases the gain by 6dB. To switch this on or off, press the + and – volume buttons together for ≥ 2s. Turbo Mode on is indicated by 2 white LEDs increasing to 6 lighting up at theM same time for 2s. Normal gain is indicated by 6 white LEDs diminishing to 2 lighting up for 2s.
Tip: For sensitive headphones and earphones, leave Turbo Mode off. For less sensitive headphones, it may be appropriate to switch Turbo Mode on.
Settings and Digital filter mode
This button cycles between: Off > XSpace > XBass+ > XSpace and XBass+ (short click). Please refer to item 1 for sound effects LED indications. Digital filter setting mode (long press ≥2s). Please see below.
Digital filter
To enter digital filter setting mode, press and hold the button for ≥3s. The MQA LED will flash with the currently set digital filter color (as shown in item 2). Press the + or – buttons (4) to change the filter selection. A short press on the Settings button (5) will select and exit the filter setting mode.
The following 4 digital filters are available:
- ‘BP’ (Cyan) Bit-Perfect: no digital filtering, no pre or post ringing
- ‘STD’ (Red) Standard, modest filtering, modest pre and post ringing
- ‘MIN’ (Yellow) Minimum phase, slow roll-off, minimum pre and post ringing
- ‘GTO’ (White) Gibbs Transient-Optimised: upsampled to 352/384kHz, minimum filtering, no pre-ringing, minimum post ringing.
Note: If the GTO filter is selected, the only sample rate indicator showing will be 352.8/384kHz, indicating the upsampling operation of this filter.
S-Balanced 3.5mm headphone output
- For connecting 3.5mm headphones. This is a single-ended output.
Balanced 4.4mm headphone output
- For connecting balanced 4.4mm headphones. This is a fully balanced output.
USB-C input
- The USB-C socket plays up to 32-bit 384kHz, has full MQA decoding, and native DSD up to DSD256.
Tip: When the phone battery is low ( 30%), the Go bar on older i < Phones (6S or before) may not be able to operate.
Warning: If the GO bar’s volume synchronization function is on, and the music source is Tidal via Windows, please ensure that the Tidal setting of Forced Volume is off. With this function on, there is no volume control possible, and the volume will be at maximum. This has the potential to damage the connected headphone and/or your hearing.
Specifications
- input: USB-C
- Formats: PCM 384kHz
- DSD 256
- DXD 384kHz
- MQA Full Decoder
- DAC: Bit-Perfect DSD & DXD DAC by Cirrus Logic
- Headphone Outputs:
- Balanced: 4.4mm
- UnBAL: 3.5mm
- Power Output:
- Balanced: 475mW@32Ω; 7.2V@600Ω
- UnBAL: 300mW@32Ω; 3.8V@600Ω
- Output Impedance:
- Balanced: <1Ω
- UnBAL: <1Ω
- SNR:
- Balanced: 132dBA
- UnBAL: 108dBA
- DNR:
- Balanced: 109dB(A)
- UnBAL: 108dB(A)
- THD + N
- Balanced: <0.002% (6.5mW/2.0V @ 600Ω)
- UnBAL: <0.09% (100mW/1.27V @ 16Ω)
- Frequency Response: 20Hz – 45kHz (-3dB)
- Power Consumption: <4W max.
- Dimensions: 65 x 22 x 13.2 mm (2.6″ x 0.9″ x 0.5”)
- Net weight: 28.5g (1.0 oz)
- Limited Warranty: 12 months
- With iEMatch engaged: ＜3.6Ω
- 12 months typical or as permitted/required by local reseller laws.
- specification are subject to change without notice.