iFi Go Link 2 review: a portable, affordable way to make your smartphone or laptop-based music sound better
Why can you trust Which Hi-Fi?
Our team of experts reviews products in dedicated testing rooms, to help you make the best choice for your budget. Find out more about how we test.
The original iFi Go Link was a small but mighty wonder. For a paltry £59 / $59/AU$87, the diminutive DAC belies its compact size and very reasonable price tag by delivering clear sonic advantages over what most smartphones or laptops typically offer.
The point of the Go Link was to be an inexpensive and easy way to give your listening sessions the power to explode with sound, and it’s the same task this second-generation monitor is charged with.
The iFi Go Link 2 isn’t for audiophiles trying to drive their £5000 Yamaha YH-5000SE tins – instead, it’s aimed at ordinary consumers who want to get the most out of their headphones without spending a fortune on complex or high-end gear. A big boost for a small price? That’s a goal we can certainly get behind.
Build & draw
The iFi Go Link 2 retains the same general configuration as its predecessor, including a main DAC with a 3.5mm headphone socket, a wired connection cable and a built-in USB-C plug, compatible with interchangeable lightning or USB-A adapters.
That lightning adapter is in danger of becoming somewhat useless if Apple moves to USB-C compatibility, but it is good for iFi to include it for those users who have not upgraded their iPhone for a long time.
Details of the iFi Go Link 2 tech
Input USB-C, Lightning, USB-A
Results Nothing
Headphone output 3.5 mm
Bluetooth? No
Advanced file support 32-bit/384kHz PCM, DSD256
Battery operated? No
Dimensions (hwd) 137 x 12 x 7.6mm
Weight 7.8g
Even though it looks very similar, the new unit does to hear different.
The aluminum-magnesium alloy chassis is found to be slightly cheaper than that found in the original model, and while that lowers the perceived value a bit, it saves weight: the second-generation DAC weighs only 7.8g compared to the outgoing Go Link’s 11g.
Still, as most of the point, it is very small. The Go Link 2 measures just 137mm in length, making the entire device, including the cable, as tall as a regular pen.
Considering the fact that this is something designed to give your smartphone or laptop cheap and easy power, usually on the go, the small form factor is essential for anyone looking for plug-and-play convenience.
As we mentioned before, our only major concern would be about some weakness in the areas where the cable meets the main unit and the connector plug.
We haven’t had any breakage during testing of other IFi DACs, but we can imagine that regular use could put a strain on the unit’s reliability at those weak points.
Features
We were impressed with the variety of file types offered by iFi’s dinky DAC. Go Link 2 offers support for PCM playback up to 32-bit/384kHz, as well as DSD256 files. MQA is off the menu, but considering Tidal ditched its MQA files from mid-2024 in favor of FLAC, that probably won’t be a huge loss.
When dealing with a unit of this size, you don’t have much room for buttons or controls, but what you do get is a small LED that changes color depending on the type of stream you’re currently enjoying.
Green means PCM 44.1/48/88.2/96kHz, yellow means PCM 176.4/192/352.8/384kHz, DSD64/128 is cyan, and blue is DSD256. Those indicators are a nice touch, although it would be even more useful if each sample rate was given its own color to make identifying the solution easier.
The Go Link 2 is also the first model in its range to offer support from the iFi Nexis app, although it is not available for iOS users. Still, it’s a useful (if a little empty) addition to have if you’re an Android smartphone user, with the Nexis platform offering access to two digital filters – hybrid and linear – as well as software updates and volume control.
Inside, the new DAC includes iFi’s in-house ‘S-Balanced’ circuit technology, which aims to reduce crosstalk between headphone channels to reduce sonic distortion.
Go Link also uses ‘Total Harmonic Distortion’ technology for ‘clean, pure sound’, while iFi’s ‘Time Domain Jitter Eliminator’ combines with the product’s dedicated clock circuit to achieve improved audio and timing clarity.
The sound
We use the ever-reliable Røde NTH-100 headphones (around £129 / $149 / AU$250) for the good part of our test, along with the budget SoundMagic E11C in-ears (£40), and we’ve tried the Beyerdynamic DT 990 Pro X open-backs to A$19 iFi / 99 can accommodate a touch more expensive.
Whether it’s headphones, Go Link 2 gives our listening a boost, that’s for sure. Compared to the direct connection to the headphone output of our Lenovo ThinkPad, the iFi is a noticeable step up, offering a good rendering of the Muse’s. Panic Channel a great sense of clarity and superior definition as it works its subtle yet visible magic.
Panic Channel fast, crisp yet impressive when iFi is paired with those Røde Award winners, it gives us a confident and assured delivery that really accentuates those subtle sonic actions.
Sonic organization and clarity are all enhanced when played with iFi’s pocket-sized DAC, so that individual instruments and textures are given ample room to shine.
When the going gets a little rough with Hans Zimmer’s hi-res rendition Countdown to Gotham from The Dark Knight Rises soundtrack, the Go Link 2 is more than capable of pulling all those textual threads into something that sounds appropriately menacing. From subtle touches to large graphic brushes, DAC features powerful, engaging performance worthy of the Caped Crusader himself.
iFi swears its latest dinky DAC “brings music to life” thanks to its improved dynamic performance, with ‘Dynamic Range Enhancement’ technology said to offer an extra 6dB of distance between the loudest and quietest moments.
Those are just numbers on a sheet until you really investigate the capabilities of the iFi Go Link 2, however there’s no doubt that impressive dynamic handling is one of the DAC’s trump cards. Low level percussive dynamics on Goose’s loose, funky workout So Ready it sounds natural and unique, all before cymbals, bass plucks and the sound of a hot guitar make a great entrance thanks to that large-scale energy it presents.
The beats are confidently teased, and our heads are bouncing with joy from the first note So Ready – this is a song that sounds like cool friends hanging out on a sunny afternoon as opposed to mechanical robots moving effortlessly.
The Go Link 2 is a step up in what a phone or laptop can offer, but is it a step up from its predecessor? This is where you’ll have to tune your ears a bit to see the difference, especially with low-quality files and affordable headphones, but the second-generation DAC is an improvement over the outgoing model.
It’s not night and day, and if anything, the new Go Link plows the same sonic groove as before, albeit with less clarity, power and mid-range presentation. Considering it costs the same as the original model, that’s more than enough for the Go Link 2 to justify its existence.
The decision
The iFi Go Link 2 does exactly what it set out to do. By providing tangible benefits with clarity, textual information and flexible speech, at the same price and in the same form factor as before.
As a neat, inexpensive upgrade to the music functionality of your smartphone or laptop, the Go Link 2 is another small but big surprise from iFi.
Update published: 26th February 2026
POINTS
MORE:
Think again about iFi Go Link Max
Excellent DACs: USB, desktop and portable digital-to-analogue converters
