At a look
Skilled’s Score
Professionals
- Excellent audio efficiency
- Helps many of the high-res audio codecs, together with MQA
- Consists of adapters for USB-A and Lightning connections
Cons
- USB-C connector may be too giant to slot in most Android cellphone instances
- Construct high quality isn’t stellar
- Solely helps 3.5mm headphone jacks
Our Verdict
The iFi Go Hyperlink is a steal, a stellar piece of drugs that delivers a really high-res audio expertise at a knockout value.
Finest Costs At the moment: iFi Go Hyperlink
£59.00
The iFi Go Hyperlink is a bargain-priced transportable USB DAC and headphone amplifier that punches thus far above its class you’re pressured to surprise how the corporate has managed to ship such a fantastic gadget for simply 60 bucks.
In case you have wired headphones, there’s not a music supply in your cellphone or pill that gained’t be improved in some significant approach by utilizing this DAC and bypassing your gadget’s built-in digital-to-analog converter.
It’s arduous to consider the iFi Go Hyperlink sounds this good and prices so little.
The iFi Go Hyperlink is sufficiently small to slot in your pocket, and low cost sufficient that you just gained’t freak out in case you lose it when you’re on the highway.
What’s contained in the iFi Go Hyperlink
James Barber/Foundry
The iFi Go Hyperlink measures 5.75 inches from nostril to tail, and its connector cable is 2.8 inches lengthy. The DAC/amplifier unit is simply 1.75 inches lengthy, and all the unit weights lower than half an oz. This can be a actually tiny piece of drugs. It has a single 3.5mm headphone jack.
The packaging and promotional materials say the Go Hyperlink comes with a USB-C to USB-A adapter, however they don’t announce that iFi has determined to additionally embrace a USB-C to Lightning connector within the package deal. The corporate assured me that iPhone customers ought to look forward to finding the adapter within the package deal even when the location they order from doesn’t announce the actual fact.
There’s a 32-bit ESS Know-how Sabre HiFi ES9219MQ/Q DAC inside, and iFi credit that half’s Quad DAC+ and Time Area Jitter Eliminator applied sciences, together with devoted clock circuitry that makes use of a specialised crystal oscillator, for delivering “ultra-low distortion, glorious readability and spectacular dynamic vary.”
The package deal doesn’t announce it, however there’s a Lightning adapter included with the iFi Go Hyperlink DAC/headphone amp.
James Barber/Foundry
The ES9219MQ/Q DAC can course of PCM streams as much as 32-bit/384kHz, DSD to 11.2MHz (DSD256), and it delivers full assist for the MQA format. An LED on the DAC adjustments colour based mostly on the audio stream it’s processing, glowing inexperienced for PCM 44.1/48/88.2/96kHz, cyan for DSD 64/128, yellow for PCM 176.4/192/352.8/384kHz, blue for DSD256, and magenta for the MQA renderer.
Costliest DACs will glow totally different colours for the varied resolutions inside a specific audio format, however I’m impressed {that a} DAC at this value has any form of indicator gentle.
iFi Go Hyperlink audio efficiency
The iFi Go Hyperlink’s playback high quality is gorgeous for a tool this small and this cheap.
James Barber/Foundry
I made a decision to choose one music for particular comparisons between an array of music sources and landed on the 2018 remaster of “Good Occasions” by Stylish, a legendarily well-recorded 1979 observe written and produced by band leaders Bernard Edwards and Nile Rodgers. It’s accessible as a high-resolution observe on varied music companies, so it appeared like a fantastic check. Plus, listening to “Good Occasions” 25 occasions in a row is a supremely gratifying expertise.
I used an iPhone 13 Professional Max and a OnePlus 10T Android cellphone for playback. Each units have been updated with the present variations of their respective working techniques. To maintain within the spirit of a $59 dongle, I used my pair of Sony MDR-7506 headphones, that are nonetheless the very best wired headphones underneath $250, although they promote for lower than $100.
Listening to the iFi Go Hyperlink with an iPhone
I began with Qobuz, which is streaming a 192kHz model of the observe. I first plugged in through Apple’s Lightning-to-3.5mm adapter after which switched to the iFi Go Hyperlink utilizing the included Lightning to USB-C adapter. The outcomes have been startling. The soundstage widened, the legendary Edwards bass half crammed out and dominated the observe, whereas Rodger’s era-defining guitar half sparkled.
The actual shock got here when evaluating the iFi Go Hyperlink to iFi’s $599 Gryphon xDSD DAC and listening through the Sony headphones. There was actually an enchancment with the Gryphon, however it wasn’t almost as pronounced as you’d assume with a DAC that prices ten occasions as a lot. To be honest, the Gryphon is loaded with options the Go Hyperlink doesn’t have, and the hole between the 2 DACs was way more noticeable once I switched to my Focal Celestee over-ear headphone, which prices roughly ten occasions as a lot because the Sony MDR-7506.
Even with an added Lighting adapter, the iFi Go Hyperlink DAC appears impossibly small.
James Barber/Foundry
That brings up the use case for this gadget. In case you’ve invested in high-end headphones, you desire a high-quality DAC and headphone amp to drive your buy. What iFi has made right here is an entry-level DAC for people who find themselves simply interested by higher-resolution audio or not but capable of make an funding in high-end audio gear.
“Good Occasions” is streaming in high-res lossless at Apple Music, and the development was simply as pronounced when switching from the Apple adapter to the iFi Go Hyperlink because it had been with Qobuz.
When listening to an MQA Grasp streaming from Tidal through the Apple dongle, the observe had stable bass, however there was a determined harshness within the strings and vocals. Switching the Go Hyperlink, the general sound was dramatically improved, however I most well-liked the outcomes I received from Qobuz and Apple Music. That’s usually not the expertise I’ve had with MQA streams performed by means of high-end DACs, so I’d attribute this extra to the actual limitations of the Go Hyperlink than to the MQA tech.
The actual check got here when listening through Spotify, which nonetheless streams its music in less-than-CD high quality nearly two years after they promised a lossless possibility was coming quickly. Stylish sounded horrible with the Apple adapter: brittle and skinny. The nice information is that the Go Hyperlink’s DAC sanded off these sharp edges and gave a minimum of some additional physique to the tracks.
Listening to the iFi Go Hyperlink with an Android cellphone
The bottom of the iFi Go Hyperlink’s USB-C connector is simply too large to make use of with many Android cellphone instances.
James Barber/Foundry
The USB-C connector on the iFi Go Hyperlink has a really large base, one thing that brought on an issue with the case on my OnePlus 10T cellphone. The connector received lower than midway into the port earlier than it was blocked by the case, which I needed to take away. I anticipate that might be an issue with fairly a number of Android telephones and instances, so be ready to cope with the difficulty.
The Tidal MQA stream of “Good Occasions” sounded decidedly higher when streaming from the Android. There was nonetheless extra depth to the low finish and a wider soundstage when utilizing Qobuz or Apple Music. The expertise was an identical to the one I had with the service when utilizing my iPhone.
I’ve by no means used my Android cellphone with a USB-C headphone adapter, so I didn’t evaluate the expertise throughout my testing, however I can report that the iFi Go Hyperlink considerably improved my Spotify expertise.
Do you have to purchase the iFi Go Hyperlink?
Can you purchase a greater transportable DAC? Sure, however I believe you’re spending greater than $200 to get one thing like an AudioQuest DragonFly Cobalt, a Questyle M15, or the iFi Go Bar. You possibly can learn my opinions of every of these units on the previous hyperlinks. All of them provide extra options, reminiscent of extra detailed details about the decision of the stream. A few of them require adapters to be used with the iPhone, which makes for a extra sophisticated and hulking expertise.
It’s arduous to consider the iFi Go Hyperlink sounds this good and prices so little. The dongle has the fitting adapters to be prepared to make use of proper out of the field and with no matter supply you need. It’s so small that it’s barely noticeable when plugged in between your cellphone and your headphone cable.
In case you’re paying $20 a month for HiFi Plus at Tidal, you’re in all probability additionally investing in high-end headphones, and also you may need to take into account a extra feature-laden DAC. All that mentioned, you possibly can’t go fallacious at this value. The iFi Go Hyperlink did an particularly spectacular job of enhancing the sound of a low-res Spotify stream. Anybody interested by high-res audio can get a implausible introduction with a really small funding. Severe headphone aficionados in search of a low-cost backup DAC to tackle the highway might be properly served, too. The iFi Go Hyperlink is a implausible worth.
