FiiO BTR17 vs iFi GO blu

Short answer

More power: the FiiO BTR17, with 280 mW into 32 Ω; the iFi GO blu has 165 mW (balanced: 650 mW against 245 mW). The FiiO BTR17 drives 3 headphones to 100 dB that the iFi GO blu cannot (Moondrop PARA, Symphonium Crimson, Symphonium Helios).
Hiss with sensitive IEMs: cannot be compared — the maker of the iFi GO blu publishes no noise figure.
Price: the FiiO BTR17 costs $20 less, and wherever both makers publish a figure the iFi GO blu shows no advantage for the extra money.

Both are Bluetooth receivers, $199 against $219.

The FiiO BTR17 reaches 100 dB on 566 of the 567 models here, the iFi GO blu on 563.

Side by side

Every published figure, next to each other

Specification	FiiO BTR17	iFi GO blu
Power into 32Ω	280 mW	165 mW
Power into 150Ω	60 mW	35 mW
Power into 300Ω	30 mW	18 mW
Power into 600Ω	15 mW	8.8 mW
Output impedance	1.0 Ω	1.0 Ω
Output noise	3.0 µV	not published
Price	$199	$219
Headphones it reaches 100 dB on out of 567	566	563

Not published means the maker leaves it out, so that axis cannot be compared.

Balanced output

The 4.4 mm or XLR socket, rated on its own

Balanced	FiiO BTR17	iFi GO blu
Socket	4.4mm	4.4mm
Power into 32Ω	650 mW	245 mW
Power into 300Ω	125 mW	26 mW derived
Output impedance	1.5 Ω	1.0 Ω
Output noise	2.2 µV	not published
Headphones it reaches 100 dB on out of 567	566	565

Through the balanced sockets the FiiO BTR17 reaches 100 dB on 566 of the 567 models here and the iFi GO blu on 565. Derived figures are worked out from the loads the maker did publish.

How solid these numbers are

Where each power figure comes from

Load	FiiO BTR17	iFi GO blu
32 Ω	Published	Published
150 Ω	Derived	Derived
300 Ω	Published	Derived
600 Ω	Derived	Derived

Both makers publish a power rating. FiiO BTR17 publishes at 32 Ω and at 300 Ω; iFi GO blu at 32 Ω. The other rows are worked out from those.

So the two columns are not equally firm row by row: at 300 Ω only the FiiO BTR17 figure is the maker’s own. On those rows the derived number is the one to doubt first.

What the labels mean.

What separates them

The headphones that tell them apart

3 headphones reach 100 dB on the FiiO BTR17 but not on the iFi GO blu — Moondrop PARA, Symphonium Crimson, Symphonium Helios.

563 of the 567 models here reach 100 dB on both.

On real headphones

Headroom and hiss on 8 models, both sources

Headroom is at a 100 dB SPL peak.

The widest gap on the list is the Shure SE846: FiiO BTR17 has +37 dB of headroom there against +31 dB. 6 dB is about 4 times the power, which matters for peaks rather than for how loud the music sits.

The hiss columns are empty for iFi GO blu because that maker publishes no output noise figure.

Headphone	Impedance	Needs	FiiO BTR17 headroom	iFi GO blu headroom	FiiO BTR17 hiss	iFi GO blu hiss
Shure SE846	9 Ω	0.04 mW	+37 dB	+31 dB	24 dB	not published
Campfire Audio Andromeda 2020	9 Ω	4.0 mW	+17 dB	+11 dB	4 dB	not published
Audeze LCD-2 Classic	70 Ω	0.79 mW	+22 dB	+20 dB	2 dB	not published
Beyerdynamic DT 1990 Pro (250Ω)	250 Ω	0.63 mW	+18 dB	+15 dB	-2 dB	not published
HiFiMAN HE400se	25 Ω	7.9 mW	+16 dB	+12 dB	-3 dB	not published
Audio-Technica ATH-R70X	470 Ω	1.6 mW	+11 dB	+9 dB	-9 dB	not published
Sennheiser HD 600	300 Ω	6.6 mW	+7 dB	+4 dB	-13 dB	not published
HiFiMAN Susvara	60 Ω	50 mW	+5 dB	+2 dB	-15 dB	not published

What the price difference buys

The gap in dollars, against the gap in numbers

The iFi GO blu costs $20 more than the FiiO BTR17, and on these three axes the money buys nothing: among the 567 models here there is not one that the iFi GO blu handles and the FiiO BTR17 does not — not on power, not on the one-eighth rule, not on hiss. The traffic runs the other way: the cheaper FiiO BTR17 drives 3 models to 100 dB that the iFi GO blu does not.

Only published figures count here; blank axes are counted separately.

Both pages in full

Each in full: FiiO BTR17 and iFi GO blu.

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