Disclosure: The GO pod was provided by iFi for this review. Please read more about our product review disclosure here.

If you’re an avid user of in-ear monitors then you might know the feeling, IEM cables getting caught in jacket zippers or that sudden yank when reaching a little too far for something. If so, the iFi GO pod might be for you. This tiny accessory reshapes the scene by turning your favorite IEMs into true wireless earbuds. The real question is whether it delivers the audio quality that listeners usually expect from their IEMs.

I tested a wide variety of in-ear monitors with the iFi GO pod to put to the test its Bluetooth capabilities. The impressive spec sheet and bold claims should make all IEM enthusiasts salivate, but how do they hold up in the real world? Let’s find out.

---

---

• Go pod
• Three sets of ear hooks (MMCX, 0.78mm 2-pin, and Pentaconn connectors)
• Charging case with LED indicators
• USB-C to USB-A charging cable
• Quick start guide

---

The charging case shows excellent engineering. Two LED lights inside create a soft blue glow around your IEMs, making it look like a jewelry box. Your IEMs stay safe thanks to the felt-lined interior. The case itself is plastic but feels strong and sturdy. A USB-C connection is located on the back of the charging case for charging, and a set of four LEDs are located on the left side to indicate the battery level of the case. The battery level lights up whenever the case is plugged in, or open or closed. There’s also more than enough room to fit larger-than-average IEMs, such as the Kiwi Ears Orchestra Lite, so you don’t have to detach them when putting the GO pod away.

The GO Pods balance durability and function perfectly. The IEM connector arms felt stiff at first, but this turned out to be a plus as they stayed in place. Each pod weighs just 12g, making them light yet solid. and fits snugly at 1.7 inches.  The ear hooks feel natural and comfortable thanks to their soft rubber coating that spreads the weight evenly.

Each GO pod has L and R indicators on the back of them to let you know which side they are for. The back side is also where the charging pins are located for when they are placed in the charging case. On the front of each, there’s an LED to indicate pairing and connection status, and the area below is the touch controls, which are capacitive so there’s no feedback when pressing (one of the reasons I dislike capacitive buttons). Finally, a microphone is located just below the touch controls at the bottom of each GO pod.

The IPX5 water resistance rating caught my attention. It handled my workouts without issues and endured both sweat and rain. The pods feel premium with their resin build, and the smooth edges don’t dig into your ears even after hours of use or moving around.

Connections and Compatibility

The package comes with 2-pin (0.78mm) connectors that work with about 80% of IEMs out there, as well as MMCX and Pentaconn connectors. The rubber connector design makes the connector cables durable yet flexible.

The connection system isn’t perfect. MMCX connections can be really tight and you need to be careful when plugging them in or taking them out. But this tight fit keeps everything stable when you’re moving around, which is a fair trade-off for active users.

Otherwise, all of the connectors work well, at least with the IEMs I have on hand. The Simgot EM6L has a raised 2-pin connector, which I initially had concerns about, but there was no compatibility issue here, the connectors still plugged in solidly.

---

Initial Setup Process and Usability

Setting up the iFi GO Pod is straightforward and easy. Just hold the touch-sensitive areas on both pods until you see the LED indicators flash red and blue to initiate the pairing process. The pods automatically connect to your last paired device when you take them out of the case, otherwise, they will enter pairing mode and find another device that is trying to pair with them. When the GO pod connects to a device, there is a verbal callout of which codec is being used, which is a great feature and helps users know what they’re listening to. There was nothing more satisfying than hearing the voice say “LDAC” when it connects to my digital audio player.

The GO pod can remember up to eight paired devices, though sometimes you might need to reconnect manually.

The aluminum alloy panel houses a responsive touch system. The touch sensitivity works great, but you’ll need time to get used to the controls behind your ear. The controls are pretty easy to accidentally activate if your muscle memory isn’t trained. The same goes for picking up and putting down the GO pods. This is why I would have preferred a physical button instead of capacitive touch buttons, but I digress.

The Gaia app lets you adjust the sensitivity, a feature I really liked as I fine-tuned it to my needs. The Gaia app shows you the battery life of each GO pod and lets you select what Bluetooth codecs to enable or disable. You can also choose between various filters, as well as enable bit-perfect playback. The app is fairly basic, and you aren’t able to customize the touch controls very much aside from adjusting the touch sensitivity or disabling the controls altogether. Still, the app gets the job done, and after the initial setup, you most likely won’t be opening it again unless you need to update the firmware of the GO pod.

I will mention, as I always do when talking about iFi’s Gaia app, that while you can download it from the App Store on iOS and iPadOS devices, for Android you are forced to manually download the APK from iFi’s website, and sideload it. Why it isn’t simply listed in the Play Store I am not sure, but Can’t help but feel it will only hinder some Android users who don’t feel comfortable sideloading apps.

DAC Deeper Dive

Each GO Pod contains a Cirrus Logic MasterHIFI 32-bit DAC chip at its heart. This dedicated single-channel converter transforms digital signals with incredible precision. The hardware-based analog volume control is something I appreciate because it maintains audio resolution better than typical software solutions. You’ll notice cleaner sound reproduction, especially when listening to complex recordings.

Bluetooth Connectivity and Codec Support

The GO Pod packs codec support and connection stability thanks to Qualcomm’s QCC5100 Series chipset. The following codecs are supported:

• LDAC
• LHDC/HWA
• aptX Adaptive
• aptX
• AAC
• SBC

Qualcomm’s TrueWireless mirroring technology keeps connections stable as either pod can act as the primary receiver, a smart feature that makes daily use much easier as it reduces any connection issues depending on the environment you’re in.

The connection stability tests in my home office space proved Qualcomm’s TrueWireless mirroring technology works brilliantly. Smart sensing picks the pod with the strongest signal automatically, which results in rock-solid connectivity.

The GO Pod handles high-resolution codecs up to 990kbps with Qualcomm-equipped devices, though it drops to 660kbps with other hardware. The Bluetooth 5.2 implementation worked great even through walls, though the sweet spot is within the standard 30-foot (9-meter) range. I can walk around any room in my apartment freely without any dropouts or connection problems, which feels very liberating when you realize you’re listening to IEMs without cables.

Battery Life and Charging Experience

The battery life blew past my expectations. My weeks-long testing showed:

Single pod playback: 7-8 hours with sensitive IEMs at moderate volume

Charging case capacity: Multiple recharges adding up to 35 hours of overall playback time

Standby efficiency: Only 1% battery drain over three days

The intelligent auto-shutoff feature works really well because it saves battery life when the pods sit idle.

The charging case supports both Qi wireless charging and USB-C fast charging and has four LED lights that show you how much battery is left.

---

Power and Volume

The iFi GO pod should be able to drive the vast majority of IEMs, while also preventing any hiss or distortion with very sensitive ones. The GO pod automatically detects an IEM’s impedance and adjusts power output accordingly, meaning you have to do absolutely no work, it’s just plug and play. It will select between 6 ohms, 32 ohms, 64 ohms, and 300 ohms, whichever is appropriate for the IEM you connected.

The GO pod also utilizes hardware-based analog volume control, as opposed to digital volume control. The advantage here is that you won’t lose any detail or resolution as the volume is increased, and I can confirm that even at loud volume levels there’s no distortion or hissing.

Sound Profile

The GO Pod delivers a clear sound signature with a subtle warmth in the lower frequencies but remains overall neutral. I was impressed by how it keeps each IEM’s unique character while adding gentle refinements.

The bass performance will vary depending on which IEM you’re using, in my experience. The GO pod does seem to add a bit of sub-bass, so if your IEMs are already bassy you may not enjoy what it adds to them, from a strictly clinical perspective anyway. For me, it makes the bass sound livelier and adds some fun to it, especially in IEMs that don’t necessarily have that quality already (like the BASN MMCX or Kiwi Ears Canta).

The midrange has some warmth added, but it’s so slight that you’ll miss it if you aren’t looking for it. Vocals, both male and female, sound clear and may even be brought forward a bit. The difference is slight though, I think iFi does a good job keeping the overall tuning neutral with some very slight adjustments.

The treble seems to be touched the least by the sound profile of the GO pods. It sounds neutral, airy when the IEMs are airy, and smooth when the IEMs are smooth here. I was worried that they’d be too bright, which sometimes happens with true wireless earbuds to compensate for loss of detail, but it’s not the case here. Detail retrieval is also excellent, it’s just an overall pleasing presentation.

The audio quality matches wired connections when you use the LDAC codec. This becomes clear with spacious recordings and clean productions like jazz and acoustic music.

The soundstage and imaging performance of each IEM do not seem to be affected by the GO pod, which is a good thing. Whatever technical performance the IEM you’re using has it what it will have with the GO pod connected. Some may view this as disappointing as yes, sometimes a DAC/Amp or dongle DAC can help improve things here, but personally, I want things as untouched as possible.

Gaming and Media Consumption

The GO Pod surprised me in gaming with its quick response and accurate positional audio. The aptX LL codec kept audio and video perfectly synced, for both gaming and movie watching, making this a great companion for mobile gaming on your phone or using a Nintendo Switch.

---

Final Thoughts

The iFi GO Pod bridges high-end audio quality with wireless convenience perfectly. My weeks of testing show this device matches and sometimes outperforms what I expected from a wireless solution. Its excellent battery life, wide IEM compatibility, and reliable connection stability make it an attractive choice for audiophiles looking to free themselves from cables.

The elephant in the room here is the price. $399 USD is certainly not a small amount, but given how well the GO pod works, its excellent design, and superb build quality, the answer to whether you should buy it or not will certainly depend on your use case. The ability to use most IEMs with the GO pod is extremely attractive, as is the fact that the codec support is excellent. iFi has also been really good about firmware updates for the GO pod, so long-term support shouldn’t be an issue.

Personally, despite the sometimes easy to accidentally touch controls, and the not-at-all-pocketable case, the sheer versatility of the GO pod makes it worth the asking price. If you want to free your IEMs from the shackles of the cable, get the iFi GO pod.

---

I’m not always able to cover all the details of a product, both hardware and software, in our reviews. If you have any specific questions you’d like answered about this product please feel free to leave a comment or contact me directly.

Be sure to check out our excellent Buyer’s Guides, as well as our other Reviews.