iFi Audio GO pod is, as the manufacturer describes it, “a pair of wearable Bluetooth DAC/headphone amps designed to make your premium in-ear monitors (IEMs) wireless”. In other words, GO pod is a pair of devices that you connect your in-ear monitors to – instead of connecting these IEMs to a cable that would then lead to the source like a DAP (digital audio player) or a headphone amplifier. By doing this, you gain the obvious advantage of going wireless, since the GO pod (or actually we can call them pods, since there’s a pair of them) houses all the required and modern wireless stuff. And yet – again, as the manufacturer describes it – you will still retain that quality of sound that until now only the cable connection was able to provide.
This is where I’d like to pause for a second and explain what this interesting iFi’s Audio contraption actually is. Some years ago, when the portable hi-end audio emerged, people started to use better and better IEMs connected to more and more sophisticated DAPs, very often through boutique cables of their choice. Those setups usually sounded really good, often rivalling even more elaborate desktop headphone rigs. Yet they still, let’s be honest here, lacked one thing – that true comfort coming from the lack of the headphone wire. A bit later, after all those DAP/IEM setups became prevalent – another niche emerged. It was all those more ambitious wireless TWS IEMs, which stands for “True Wireless in-ear monitors”, if you were wondering.
A lot of recognized manufacturers got onto this train, Final, Sennheiser, you-name-it. And the role of a DAP got somehow depreciated. Or, rather, you can say that its usage scenario has changed. Sure, if somebody has a top-notch IEMs and wants to get the last bit of quality from them and still have a setup that can take to the office or for holidays for example – this is one of the possible ways to go. But what if we could use all those higher-priced and very often really great sounding IEMs in a truly wireless fashion? And without giving up much of that sound they are able to produce?
This is where the iFi Audio GO pod comes in. It belongs to a new breed of devices, the kind that the audiophile market has yet not seen. And it can also be viewed as an interesting and fresh solution to a “problem” that has just recently emerged. You see, there are many people who own those DAP-with-IEM setups and have also purchased some better-than-your-average TWS headphones. And guess which ones they tend to use more often when they are on the go? With the new phones getting better and better, offering new codecs and in the world where streaming services are prevalent – it’s easy to understand that the actual niche for the GO bar may be larger than we think.
Especially considering the fact that it’s iFi and it’s done with all the bells and whistles that you may expect from this company. It has the new Qualcomm QCC5144 chipset, thus sporting Bluetooth 5.2 with LDAC codec, yet it also has dedicated DAC chip in each pod. You can even change the digital filter settings for the DAC – and it has some fancy, audiophile you might say, parts inside. So, basically for a 399 USD or 399 Euro (or an equivalent) you can make your beloved IEMs go truly wireless with maintaining much of the quality that the cable connection could provide. Looks obviously promising, yet not that cheap. Still, I can imagine that many will crave for such a solution, so let find out what in reality it has to offer.
Design and features
iFi Audio GO pod actually consists of three main components: two (left and right) headphone pods and a carrying case. Let’s start with the former – those are the devices that you connect your IEMs to. You can do this via MMCX, 0.78 mm and 2-pin connectors, since supplied are three versions of the IEM connector arms. Those, in turn, are made from a gum-like flexible material. And while at first they may seem a bit stiff, I can reassure you that they have just the right amount flexibility, even when longer wearing periods are considered. The thing here is to get the pod position behind the ear as well as the IEM placement just right.