I was thinking about doing another group shot with all the portable DAC/amps covered thus far only to realize that some have of course left the building and are on their way back to the respective company. The iFi GO blu manages to stand out in that crowd of monochrome finishes, with most products adopting a safe black color more often than not. When it comes to build quality, FiiO and EarMen use glass, whereas IKKO and Qudelix went the plastic route. iFi audio adopted a soft-touch plastic body with a brushed metal plate on the front and side to give it a bronze and black color scheme, which carries over to the sides with that large, comfortable volume knob and buttons to where I dare say this looks and feels the best, and certainly won't shatter if dropped either. It certainly feels premium, which is an important aspect of getting your users to fork out $199. Of course, we then get to other markets where it costs more, say £199 in the UK, where iFi audio is based, making it a much worse deal in its own home country!

$199 is also what the original EarMen Sparrow went for, which is due to be replaced with a revised version I hope will fix some of the circuitry-related noise a few people were getting. At the same price point, I would absolutely take the iFi GO blu any day of the week. I don't get MQA rendering as with the Sparrow, but have no plans on using it anyway. In return, the GO blu provides wireless connectivity with all the codecs I ever wanted, a better microphone, and very well laid out I/O and buttons. The two also happen not to have any clips, or case closer to your mouth, and there is no mobile app support for the Sparrow either, whereas the iFi GO blu has the three modes discussed on the previous page, a 4.4 mm balanced output in place of 2.5 mm, and much more power from either of the two outputs here.

It's a testament to the different DAC and power design of the iFi GO blu, but I do see what a few mentioned when discussing how sterile ESS DACs sound, and this is also why people appreciate some other options. I can't tell you that the Cirrus Logic DAC used here is going to be tangibly better or worse in sound signal output than the ESS Sabre DACs used in other portable DAC/amps reviewed to date, but it sounds very good to me in both wired and wireless mode. Battery life actually being more than specified and taking ~45 min to charge fully under ideal conditions is also good news. But, and perhaps once again the EarMen Sparrow comparison comes in, there may be an inherent Bluetooth transmitter/antenna issue firmware fixes can't just solve. The iFi GO blu is not a perfect product by any means, but it impressed me enough to where I will recommend it, especially for someone on the go who doesn't care to use an app, but I do urge the company to price it more fairly in other markets, too.