The original iFi Go Link was a small but mighty marvel. For a meagre outlay of just £59 / $59 / AU$87, the diminutive DAC belied its compact dimensions and very reasonable price tag by delivering clear sonic gains over what most smartphones or laptops could usually provide.
The point of the Go Link was to be an inexpensive and convenient way of giving your personal listening sessions a bit more sonic firepower, and it’s a similar task with which this second-generation follow up has been charged.
The iFi Go Link 2 isn’t for audiophiles trying to drive their £5000 pair of Yamaha YH-5000SE cans – instead, it’s aimed at ordinary consumers wanting to get the most out of their headphones without spending big bucks on complex or high-end gear. A big boost for a small price? That’s a goal we can certainly get behind.
Build & design
The iFi Go Link 2 maintains the same general configuration as its predecessor, consisting of the main DAC with a 3.5mm headphone socket, a connecting corded cable and a built-in USB-C plug, complemented by interchangeable Lightning or USB-A adapters.
That Lightning adapter is in danger of becoming somewhat redundant given Apple’s move to USB-C uniformity, but it’s nice of iFi to include it for those users who haven’t upgraded their iPhone in a while.
Input USB-C, Lightning, USB-A
Outputs None
Headphone output 3.5mm
Bluetooth? No
Max file support 32-bit/384kHz PCM, DSD256
Battery-powered? No
Dimensions (hwd) 137 x 12 x 7.6mm
Weight 7.8g
Even if it looks broadly the same, the newer unit does feel different.
The aluminium-magnesium alloy chassis comes across as a little cheaper than that found on the original model, and while that drops the perceived value a bit, it does save weight: the second-generation DAC weighs just 7.8g against the 11g of the outgoing Go Link.
It is still, as is much of the point, very small. The Go Link 2 measures just 137mm in length, making the whole device, including the cable, about as long as a standard pen.
When you consider the fact that this is something designed to give your smartphone or laptop a cheap and easy boost, often on the go, a small form factor is essential to anyone seeking simple plug-and-play convenience.
As we’ve pointed out previously, our only major point of concern would be regarding some potential for fragility at the points where the cord meets the main unit and the connector plug.
We’ve never experienced breakages during testing of other iFi DACs, but we can imagine that frequent use might put a strain on the unit’s integrity at those weaker points.
Features
We’re impressed with the range of file types offered by iFi’s dinky DAC. The Go Link 2 grants support for PCM playback up to 32-bit/384kHz, as well as DSD256 files. MQA is off the menu, but considering that Tidal scrapped its MQA files as of mid-2024 in favour of FLAC, that likely won’t be a huge loss.
When you’re dealing with a unit of this size, you don’t have a huge amount of room for buttons or controls, but what you do get is a small LED which alters colour depending on the type of stream you’re currently enjoying.
Green means PCM 44.1/48/88.2/96kHz, yellow denotes PCM 176.4/192/352.8/384kHz, DSD64/128 is cyan, and blue is DSD256. Those indicators are a nice touch, although it would’ve been even more useful if each sampling rate was given its own colour to make identifying the resolution easier.
The Go Link 2 is also the first model in its range to offer support from the iFi Nexis app, although it’s not available for iOS users. Still, it’s a handy (if slightly bare bones) addition to have if you’re an Android smartphone user, with the Nexis platform granting access to two digital filters – hybrid and linear – plus software updates and a volume control.
Internally, the new DAC incorporates iFi’s in-house ‘S-Balanced’ circuitry technology, aiming to reduce crosstalk between headphone channels to reduce sonic interference.
The Go Link also employs ‘Total Harmonic Distortion’ tech for a “cleaner, purer sound”, while iFi’s ‘Time Domain Jitter Eliminator’ combines with the brand’s dedicated clock circuitry in pursuit of improved audio clarity and timing.
Sound
We use the ever-dependable Røde NTH-100 over-ear headphones (around £129 / $149 / AU$250) for a good chunk of our testing, as well as the budget SoundMagic E11C in-ears (£40), and also try the Beyerdynamic DT 990 Pro X open-backs (£189 / $199 / AU$399) to see if the iFi is capable of accommodating something a touch more expensive.
Regardless of headphones, the Go Link 2 gives our listening a boost, that much is certain. When compared with a direct connection to our Lenovo ThinkPad laptop’s headphone output, the iFi is a noticeable step up, granting a hi-res rendition of Muse’s Panic Station a greater sense of clarity and leading edge definition as it works its subtle but noticeable magic.
Panic Station is snappy, crisp yet pleasingly punchy when the iFi is paired with those Røde Award-winners, treating us to a confident and assured delivery that really nails those sonic subtleties with aplomb.
Sonic organisation and clarity all go up a level when playing through iFi’s pocket-sized DAC, so that individual instruments and textures are afforded ample space in which to shine.
When the going gets a little tougher via a hi-res rendition of Hans Zimmer’s Gotham’s Reckoning from The Dark Knight Rises soundtrack, the Go Link 2 is more than capable of pulling all of those textural strands together into something that sounds appropriately menacing. From subtle touches to big-picture brushstrokes, the DAC conjures a forceful, engaging performance worthy of the Caped Crusader himself.
iFi has vowed that its latest dinky DAC “brings music to life” thanks to its enhanced dynamic performance, with the brand’s ‘Dynamic Range Enhancement’ tech purportedly granting an extra 6dB of range between the loudest and quietest moments.
Those are just numbers on a sheet until you really probe the iFi Go Link 2’s capabilities, yet there’s no question that impressive dynamic handling is one of the DAC’S trump cards. The low-level percussive fluctuations on Goose’s loose, funky workout So Ready sound natural and distinctive, all before a punch of cymbals, bass plucks and sunny guitar twangs make an appropriately grand entrance thanks to those more expressive large scale dynamics.
Rhythms are confidently teased out, and our heads are bopping cheerfully from the first note of So Ready – this is a rendition that feels like chilled friends jamming on a sunny afternoon as opposed to mechanical robots dutifully going through the motions.
The Go Link 2 is a step up from what your phone or laptop can offer, but is it a step up from its predecessor? This is where you’ll have to squint your ears a little to notice a difference, especially with lower quality files and more affordable headphones, but the second-gen DAC is definitely an improvement on the outgoing model.
It’s not night and day, and if anything, the newer Go Link is ploughing a similar sonic furrow as before, albeit with a little added clarity, dynamism and mid-range expressiveness. Considering it costs the same as the first-gen model, that’s more than enough for the Go Link 2 to justify its own existence.
Verdict
The iFi Go Link 2 does exactly what it set out to do. By offering perceptible gains in clarity, textural detail and dynamic expression, for the same price and in a similar form factor as before.
As a neat, inexpensive upgrade to your smartphone or laptop’s musical performance, the Go Link 2 is another small but mighty marvel from iFi.
Review published: 26th February 2026
SCORES
- Sound 5
- Build 4
- Features 5
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