iFi has announced two new travel accessories to bring wireless hi-res tunes to your summer holidays. The Up Travel Bluetooth DAC adds the capability to an in-car or inflight entertainment system, while the Go Pod Air adds it to your in-ear monitors (IEMs).
The Go Pod Air is a smaller, more affordable version of the Go Pod which launched a couple of years ago. But the Up Travel is a new product altogether.
Plug it into an in-car or inflight entertainment system, and it uses the magic of Bluetooth to send the sound over the air to your wireless headphones. It also streams in hi-res Bluetooth to car aux inputs – perfect for a road trip.
At 25g, it's light enough to carry on your person, and the 10-hour battery will last you even through a long-haul flight.
Dual headphone support means you can share your film, playlist or podcast with a pal. And it's driven by iFi's "hi-fi-grade architecture" with independent audio stages promising to extract maximum performance.
The 3.5mm connector flips out at the press of a button, a bit like a car key from a fob.
Transmitter mode sends audio from an inflight system or laptop's 3.5mm headphone jack to your headphones, while receiver mode does the same from your car's aux input.
It claims to be the only device of its kind to use "true hi-fi-grade architecture". The Qualcomm QCC51xx series Bluetooth chipset is tasked with delivering high-quality Bluetooth codecs – SBC, AAC, aptX (Classic, Low-Latency, Adaptive), LDAC, and LHDC/HWA – with greater stability, while the Cirrus Logic MasterHIFI DAC delivers "detailed, accurate sound with wide dynamic range and minimal distortion."
It also uses iFi's bespoke clocking circuitry to keep all components performing optimally. And there's a microphone built into the base which uses Qualcomm’s cVc noise and echo suppression technology for clearer hands-free calls.
It's out now for £99 / $99 (about AU$200), while the Go Pod Air is £249 / $249 (about AU$500). Happy travels.
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