GoXLR Sound Quality Review

The video is in Arabic.

Hey everyone,

I finally tried a device I get dozens of questions about: the GoXLR. Thanks to God and then to my brother Wadee, who sent it along with lots of headphones and gear. This review covers sound quality only, and it’s for people who care about high quality sound and own hi-res files.

I searched a lot and couldn’t find any information about its audio chips. My guess (just a guess, correct me if I’m wrong) is that there’s no DAC chip, it relies on the computer’s sound card, and there’s an amp with unknown specs.

Who is it for?

• Streamers, for its main job: routing audio. Not for anyone who wants high quality sound for listening.

Strengths

• It does its main job (audio routing and streaming) perfectly.
• With 44.1 and 48 kHz files through an external amp, the issues are acceptable.

Weaknesses

• foobar2000 didn’t recognize it as a DAC, so I couldn’t use Exclusive mode.
• With 96 and 192 kHz files the sound quality was ruined: it sounded like MP3.
• Plugging a headphone straight into the Line Out: the bass almost disappears, the treble gets harsh and very bright, and sounds overlap.
• Straight into the Phone Out: big bass roll-off, strong sibilance, and about 30% more brightness.
• The two outputs (Line Out and Phone Out) sound different, as if each has its own amp, and the Line Out has volume control, which is odd.
• Plugging it into an expensive amp won’t help: the sound is already damaged by the device itself.

Verdict

The device isn’t bad if you use it for its purpose. My advice: don’t plug your headphones into it directly. While streaming, send the audio to an external amp (anything around $100 is enough), and outside streaming, connect your computer directly to your DAC/amp.

Note: this review is from 2023, so the price may have changed.

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