Another day, another dongle DAC. This time it’s iFi with the GO blu Air, a 5cm-tall, 30-gram portable that clips onto your belt, bag, or jacket like it’s auditioning for a Fitbit revival. The pitch is simple: Bluetooth convenience meets wired headphone performance without weighing down your pocket. And to be fair, iFi isn’t just some no-name USB trinket peddler—they’ve already proven they can make serious portable gear with the GO Link Max and the more refined GO Bar Kensei, both of which earned credibility with audiophiles who actually care about sound.
The GO blu Air? Think of it as the stripped-down, everyday-ready sibling of the GO blu, designed for people who want to carry IEMs without feeling like they’re hauling a lab instrument.
On paper, the GO blu Air covers the bases: a Cirrus Logic DAC with twin-mono amps, iFi’s XBass and XSpace tweaks, Bluetooth with support for hi-res and low-latency codecs, balanced and single-ended outputs, a built-in mic, and even a ChronoDial for volume and playback. The detachable magnetic clip is a nice touch for those who don’t want a dongle dangling from their phone, and 10 hours of battery life should get you through a workday—which is chargeable via USB-C.
At $129, it’s not outrageous—but it’s also not a massive undercut compared to rivals, so the real question is whether the sound and usability live up to iFi’s track record.
Inside the iFi GO blu Air: Big Hi-Fi Performance in a Tiny Dongle DAC
The trick to cramming hi-fi into something you can clip to your belt isn’t magic—it’s what iFi does differently inside the GO blu Air. They’ve leaned on their triple-stage Bluetooth architecture, built around Bluetooth 5.2, to improve stability and cut power draw while you’re on the move.
Unlike most Bluetooth dongles that make a single chip do everything—reception, DAC, and amplification—iFi splits the workload stage by stage, basically a miniaturized version of a full-size hi-fi system. The Qualcomm QCC5144 handles only Bluetooth reception, leaving the heavy lifting to a Hi-Res Cirrus Logic MasterHIFI DAC for natural tonality and high-resolution output. A twin-mono amplifier follows, pushing up to 256mW of clean power through the 4.4mm balanced or 3.5mm S-Bal outputs, the latter designed to keep IEM crosstalk in check.
As usual with iFi, the circuitry is loaded with quality discrete components: TDK C0G and muRata multilayer caps, and custom OV Series op-amps boasting ultra-low distortion (0.0001%). It’s proof that, yes, sometimes the biggest engineering moves really do come in the smallest packages—and that tiny doesn’t have to mean weak.
Whether you’re grinding through emails, losing yourself in an album, or bingeing podcasts at 35,000 feet, the GO blu Air is designed to stick with you the whole way. Its 450mAh lithium-polymer battery, paired with efficient internal engineering, squeezes up to 10 hours of continuous playback out of that tiny frame—enough to get you from Newark to Toronto to Halifax and back without hunting for a charger or questioning why you bought yet another dongle DAC.
Music is personal, and the GO blu Air is built to let you shape it without diving into an app. XBass boosts the low end—handy if your open-back headphones feel a little anemic or you just want a bit more punch. XSpace widens the soundstage, giving tracks some extra room to breathe.
Both tweaks are handled by straightforward circuitry and can be toggled with a single button. Cycle through them individually or stack them if you’re feeling ambitious—because why not squeeze every last drop out of a 5cm dongle DAC?
The GO blu Air is built for life on the move. The detachable magnetic clip lets you attach it to a bag, jacket, or belt—no extra accessories, no fuss. A built-in MEMS mic handles calls and voice assistants, while the ChronoDial puts volume and playback control right at your fingertips. Clip it on, spin the dial, and go—seriously, don’t overthink it.
Specifications for the Head-Fi Crowd with Neckbeards
Specs time, fellow gear nerds—strap in. The GO blu Air uses a Qualcomm QCC5144 for Bluetooth 5.2 reception, and it’s basically speaking almost every codec under the sun: LDAC, LHDC/HWA, aptX Adaptive, aptX HD, aptX, AAC, SBC. If your streaming source supports it, this little dongle will handshake like a pro.
Output? You get 4.4mm balanced and 3.5mm S-Bal. Don’t expect to wrestle a 600Ω planar like it’s a full-size amp, but you’re not dealing with a toy either: ≥262mW into 32Ω and ≥52mW into 600Ω balanced; 3.5mm hits ≥165mW/32Ω and ≥14mW/600Ω.
Translation for the mortals: your IEMs will sing, most over-ears will behave, and you won’t need to run to the nearest wall wart for backup. THD+N is basically negligible (≤0.009% balanced at 600Ω), SNR/DNR ≥110dBA, and output impedance is <1Ω—so sensitive IEMs stay happy and tonally honest.
Physical size? Tiny—53.5 x 33.7 x 19.5mm, 31g. Clip it on your belt, forget it’s there, and revel in the fact that someone actually engineered a small-ass device that doesn’t make you choose between convenience and decent power.
In short: yes, the planar-heads will scoff, the dynamic-heads will nod, and your IEMs will quietly judge everyone else.
The Bottom Line
At $129, the iFi GO blu Air isn’t a giant-killer, but it’s a smartly engineered dongle DAC for anyone who wants hi-fi performance without carrying a brick. You get serious codec support (LDAC, LHDC, aptX Adaptive, HD, AAC, SBC), solid power for IEMs and everyday headphones, and thoughtful extras like XBass, XSpace, a MEMS mic, and a ChronoDial for on-the-go control. The detachable magnetic clip makes it actually wearable, and the 10-hour battery life is enough for most travel days.
On the flip side, it’s not meant to drive hard-to-tame planars or flagship dynamics, and at $129 it’s only a modest step down from pricier competition. But for commuters, travelers, and IEM junkies, it strikes the right balance of sound, portability, and usability. Clip it on and go—Honey, don’t try to make it something it isn’t.
Pricing & Availability
The iFi GO blu Air is available to purchase at ifi-audio.com, and select retailers for $129 USD (£129/€149/$229 AUD).
For more information: ifi-audio.com
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