iFi Audio Go Pod

Introduction to the iFi Audio Go Pod review

Let’s begin by diving into the company’s background, as it’s been quite a while since our last review of iFi Audio’s equipment. Established in the United Kingdom in 2012, iFi Audio is a company that continually piques interest due to its unpredictable offerings. Ranging from the diminutive and affordable Go Link dongle-dac to the impressively potent yet still relatively portable iDSD Diablo, and even extending to the extravagant all-in-one amplifier known as the iFi iCAN Phantom, priced at an astonishing €4000.

Notably, iFi Audio has engaged in collaborations with certain In-Ear Monitors makers during the creation of the Go Pod. As a result of these collaborations, one can anticipate that the reviewed iFi Audio Go Pod has been fine-tuned to cater to specific headphone models from Meze, Craft Ears, Westone Audio, or 64audio. This collaboration proves advantageous for consumers, allowing them to economize by acquiring adapters bundled with IEMs. For instance, the Meze Advar bundled with iFi Audio Go Pods is priced at €899, that’s a great saving considering that the IEM alone is priced at €699 (BTW Meze Advar is a pretty good deal even without the bundle.

Packaging

Reviewed iFi Audio Go Pod arrives in a neat box, and inside you will find left and right Go Pod adapters, a tremendous charging case but on this later, 3 sets of ear loops with the most commonly used connectors – 0.78mm 2-pin, MMCX, and Pentaconn, a USB charging cable and some papers with quick start guide and etc. 

If your IEM has connectors not mentioned above you don’t have to worry, you can always buy ear loops with even more connectors on the iFi webpage, but to be honest I’m in this hobby for a couple of years and I’ve met different connectors once – T2 in Westone Mach series, while most of the IEMs I used to listen to utilized MMCX or 2-pin connectors.

Design and Build Quality

I will start with the charging case because it’s a star of the show and I have some mixed feelings about it. On one hand, it has remote charging, tones of the battery life, fits any IEMs inside and as the cherry on top it has fancy LEDs inside, so when you open the box there is a spotlight that illuminates each of the earphones. 

But on the other hand, it’s tremendous, it won’t comfortably fit any of my pockets, and that’s the real disadvantage, because for me TWS is a gear to use on-the-go, while commuting, shopping, etc, and this form factor makes me feel the case is more transportable e.g. in your backpack, than portable so you can fit it in your pocket and have always with you like AirPods Pro2 which we all in Ear Fidelity love it that much so it won our award of The Best Bluetooth Headphones of 2022. And to be honest, if Apple won’t release the third generation this October I will lobby for it to win this year as well.

Both adapters look the same, most of the body is made of good quality plastic with the earloop socket on top and microphone on the bottom. On the outer side, there is a metal plate divided into two parts. The upper part covers a small multi-functional LED indicator while the bottom part is pressable, with this touch area you can control the playback and volume of the music. For me, the biggest downside of the reviewed iFi Audio Go Pod adapters is their thickness. I suppose for most of the users it won’t be a problem, but I’m a four-eyed guy – glasses and I are the one. Shortly speaking, the summarized thickness of my glasses and the adapters causes discomfort after some time. The captivating thing is the fact that the reviewed iFi Audio Go Pod is IPX5 certified, so you can run or walk in the rain and you don’t have to be afraid of drawing it.

Lastly, the replaceable ear loops, from the comfort perspective, could be a bit softer, but this would cause problems while doing some activities, so the current state is a good compromise between comfort and stability. I can also add that both – 2-pin and MMCX connectors are tight, so I’m not afraid that the IEM will fall off.

Tech inside the reviewed iFi Audio Go Pod

Sound

There was lots of technical/marketing info in the previous paragraph, but at the end of the day what’s important is the sound and here reviewed iFi Audio Go Pod doesn’t fail. The sound signature is neutral with a warmer low end. But let’s deep dive into the details of the sound, because I’m very curious how this cooperation between iFi Audio and a couple of IEM manufacturers worked out.

The bass is the most influenced by the iFi Audio Go Pod part of frequency response. It descends very low and especially the sub-bass is well exposed, but It’s also highly dependent on the earphone connected to the adapters. For example, Craft Ears Aurum has slightly more bass, but when I plugged in the Meze Advar, the amount of the bass changed a lot. It’s still very good bass with great speed and impact, but you need to be advised that bass-heavy headphones may overwhelm the amount of the bass. Thanks to the slight boost in lower frequencies the sound gets more fun-biased, this may be a slight disadvantage for people looking for clinical and extremely technical sound, but for me, it’s a blessing, because I feel this kind of tuning is more engaging.

The midrange is neutral with a slight advantage of the warmth, but here the difference from neutral sound isn’t that audible, it’s just a minor weight down of the lower midrange. This improves some male vocals, so when paired with Craft Ears Aurum I can finally write that it’s just a perfect match to listen to. While listening to Nick Cave’s voice in Idiot Prayer I was completely satisfied. To be honest, in terms of the midrange, this pairing could be an endgame for me. What’s nice is that the midrange stays very natural, the instruments are very well-defined and everything is very pleasant to listen to. I would appreciate some more texture but overall, as for ultra-portable Bluetooth, true wireless DAC/Amp the midrange is way more than decent.

Now let’s move to the treble. It’s the most neutral part of the sound signature of the iFi Go Pod. It’s just as good as the treble of an earphone connected to it. The sound is nicely neutral, and it isn’t too bright, but from technical aspects, the detail resolution is very good, especially while listening with LDAC, but even when I was playing music with my iPhone via AAC codec everything sounded more than decent, especially in the rumble of the public transport. On the other hand, during more critical listening sessions at home, I was really pleased with how treble-dependent instruments are well presented with a good balance between resolution and smoothness. I can shortly summarize that the treble is perfectly decent, it’s hard to find something to glorify, but I have nothing to criticize as well.

Finally, let’s address the soundstage. In a nutshell, it serves as a good benchmark for the IEM. The iFi Go Pod brings forth no alterations. To put it simply, the soundstage remains precisely as the sound engineer intended. If your IEM delivers a concert hall-like experience, the reviewed iFi Go Pod won’t interfere with that. Conversely, if your IEM presents a soundstage that feels confined within the space between your ears, the Go Pod won’t rectify this limitation.

The last thing I need to add is that the positioning of the sound sources is notably commendable. If only the earphone keeps a good level of spatial qualities, discerning the origins of various sound sources becomes an effortless endeavor.

Pairing

Meze Advar

Some time ago I wrote a review of Meze Advar and because I know it, Meze sent us a Go Pod as the bundle upgrade for Advar since Advar + Go Pod is available for sale now for $899/€899.

As I wrote in my review, the Advar has a warm, relaxed, and smooth sound with a V-shaped signature and when powered with iFi Go Pod the character of the Romanian IEM is even more outlined. The treble is smooth and pleasant, but it still has a good amount of detail. The midrange is a bit recessed, and it still lacks a bit of texture, or if you don’t like the texture of the sound you would probably call it harshness.

And the bass, that’s a ton of fun, maybe it’s not the amount of the lower end known from Campfire Audio Vega 2020, but the Meze Advar can show the real character of the Go Pod – it’s juicy and punchy, but also very well controlled. Finally, the Soundstage, was wide and deep just as I remembered Advar. If you expect more from Advar, then you should pick a different source, but for me, it’s a very good bundle for listening to music or even watching some movies, especially on the go.

Craft Ears Aurum

Craft Ears Aurum is currently one of my favorite IEMs, it’s available in a bundle with iFi Go Pod as well and what’s more, Craft Ears released a special design of Aurum for the bundle version, but it’s a good old Aurum we all know. For the iFi Go Pod in the bundle you need to pay an additional €100, but during the holiday season with the “FREEiFi23” code you can get it for free, and in my opinion, that’s a steal.

But let’s move to the most important part – how does iFi Go Pod pair with Aurum? If you’ve already read my review of the Craft Ears Aurum, then you should know it’s a power-hungry IEM, but the Go Pod can easily drive it without any issues. The treble is still perfectly balanced with great resolution, I don’t feel I’m listening to a very portable gear. The midrange is also charming, thanks to a slightly warm-ish signature, Go Pod makes the male vocals played with Aurum sound better when compared to more neutral sources. Lastly, the bass – the CE flagship earphones are known for very fast and precise lower frequencies, but thanks to the slight boost in that part of frequency response, the sound of this combo is a bit more fun-biased. In terms of the soundstage, the adapters from iFi don’t really affect the sound, the soundstage still has a decent size and perfect positioning.

iFi Audio Go pod Review – Summary

iFi Go Pod is an interesting device that allows you to turn almost any IEM into a truly wireless earphone. The sound quality is good and it can easily drive most of the IEMs in the market.

For me, the biggest issue is the price, because I feel that almost €400 is a bit too much, but in a package with an IEM like Meze Advar + Go Pod bundle for €899, while Advar alone costs €699, it’s a fair price and to be honest, I would get bundle without thinking.

Highly Recommended.