AudioQuest DragonFly DAC USB Digital Audio Converter - Black

Product Information

When pushed into too-demanding a load, the response becomes somewhat muted and the raw, sharp, leading edges of percussion, brass and plucked strings can get softened/rounded off. Which is, unfortunately, part of the reason I chose to stay away from the Dragonfly: How can something be that good? It does offer a decent listening experiences, but for more demanding cans, I'd still stick to my bigger amps. But in most travel scenarios I find that trade-off more than worth it, as it is one less device to have to remember to charge. MQA is an award-winning technology that delivers master-quality audio in a file that’s small enough to stream or download.

Better known for their use in top-end AV electronics, this 32-bit DAC provides stunning realism and dynamics.Feeding the output into an external power amplifier shows that any shortfall in bass capability here really does result from running out of drive capability. This yields an asynchronous USB interface that keeps the sample word-clock where it belongs … under control of the DAC. As a final neat touch, the dragonfly logo glows various colours to indicate the file frequency: green for CD (44. DragonFly Black, Red, and Cobalt will work with most Android devices running on Lollipop OS (and some Android devices running on KitKat), provided that the device manufacturer has adhered to the USB specification and implementation, and supports audio over USB. volt output, DragonFly Red will be compatible with a wider range of headphones, including power-hungry, low-efficiency models.

For greater overall performance, the new DragonFly models also incorporate improved 32-bit ESS Sabre DAC chips—the 9010 in Black and the higher-performance 9016 in Red—both of which employ minimum-phase filtering for naturally detailed, more authentic sound. In Gordon Rankin’s monoClock® technology, a single ultra-low-jitter clock generated from the ESS DAC chip runs the headphone amplifier, as well as all microcontroller functionalities, enabling DragonFly to produce greater resolution and clarity than DACs that employ multiple clocks.It works similarly: With DragonFly Red/Cobalt connected to a PC or mobile device, adjusting the host’s system volume control will, through proxy, control the DragonFly’s onboard volume.

Streamlength requires no additional drivers, making DragonFly virtually plug-and-play for Apple, Windows, iOS, and Android users. There is no mobile or desktop control app — all feedback comes in the form of a multicolor LED on the top of the unit. The DAC chips we’ve selected are remarkably powerful and sophisticated, yet we’ve intentionally limited DragonFly’s processing capabilities to 24-bit/96kHz resolution. Laptops running the Windows 10 operating system with Intel’s new Tiger Lake processor may errantly apply the Intel Smart Sound Technology driver for USB audio output.Some users prefer the size of the smaller adapter, while others prefer the performance of the larger adapter. Audirvana is a remarkable piece of music playback software designed to optimise your personal computer for music playback. Bass may not be the absolute cleanest you’ll hear, and there’s some minor bleed into the midrange, but the overall presentation is detailed, nuanced, natural, entirely coherent and extremely enjoyable. Personally I still prefer X6 for it's more neutral approach but I can imagine someone liking DF's punchiness more. Hooked directly to any of my headphones (AKG K92, Takstar Pro 82, Samson SR850, Sennheiser CX300II, KZ ZSX.

Audio as “the quintessential everyman hi-fi product,” while its more sophisticated sibling, DragonFly Red, combines significantly improved performance with still exceptional value. To use it with newer laptops featuring USB-C connectors, you’ll need an adapter - and again I’d recommend one of the short cable-style adapters vs. You can easily tell when the Black is being fed decoded MQA content as the embossed Dragonfly on the unit will glow magenta.No matter the choice of musical pleasure, DragonFly delivers beautiful sound, unraveling the emotional expression and nuance that makes music and movies so enjoyable. With exceedingly low power consumption and extremely low-noise power supplies, the Microchip microcontrollers achieve unprecedented levels of efficiency and signal-to-noise ratio, regardless of bit- or sample rate. And, the mid-range remains the highlight of the show … which is to be expected as it is the strongest aspect of both the Dragonfly and the Zeus. Music lovers have craved a more portable version—one that could be reliably used with Apple and Android smartphones and tablets.