iFi GO Bar Kensei review: the stylish steel swordsman of portable DACs
iFi GO Bar Kensei review: Two-minute review The iFi GO Bar Kensei is another reminder that iFi knows precisely what’s what when it comes to headphone amps and DACs of all shapes, sizes and prices. More often than not, it’s among the leaders in any given market. And so it’s decided what the humble USB DAC/headphone amp needs is a bit of glamour to go along with performance. Hence, the GO Bar Kensei. On paper and in the palm, it makes a lot of sense. The specification is extensive, the finish – all tactile Japanese stainless steel that catches the light – is unarguably upmarket. If you want to put an absolute rocket up the sound of your smartphone and enjoy ownership of a premium product as you do so, it would seem to be just the ticket. And in practice, the GO Bar Kensei makes good on a lot of what it promises. It’s a deft, rhythmically adept and impressively spacious listen, able to retrieve a huge amount of detail and put it all into the proper context. It has plenty of dynamic he...