AudioQuest DragonFly DAC USB Digital Audio Converter - Black

Product Information

Fortunately, aftermarket programs such as JRiver Media Center and Foobar2000 bypass the Windows “Hardware and Sound” application and allow native 88. It’s between this, or the Clear (and/or Elex) for the best full-size headphone pairing I tried with the baby Dragonfly. You can run things usefully louder than you’re likely to want to listen before their presentation starts to come unglued. At first I was very happy with my headphones and the amp in conjunction with my macbook air early 2015 as my sound source.

But a lot of us music lovers have wished and craved a more portable version—one that could be reliably used and work with Apple and Android smartphones and tablets. However, all current-production DragonFly models—Black, Red, and Cobalt—are compatible with iOS and Android devices. 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. You can change your choices at any time by visiting Cookie preferences, as described in the Cookie notice.Qobuz streams and downloads music in bit-perfect FLAC, the most widely used format for mastering and archiving, at resolutions of up to 24-bit/192kHz. Simply said, it's fine but there are much better choices for this kind of money - best of them being Schiit Modi 3 and Khadas Tone Board which are both in a different league, offering much more transparency and layering, better and faster bass, more air. volt output, DragonFly Red is compatible with a wider range of headphones, including power-hungry, low-efficiency models. I've long felt that the eClaro has a cool sound signature and I still do, so that's my point of reference.

Most DAC/amps have enough power that matching/synergy with various headphones tends to come down more to tonal preferences, and other technicalities. kHz), most of which comes from CD rips; an initial playlist for my audition listening can be found here.It requires the Apple Camera Connection Kit to work, but its small size keeps it within a reasonable range of portability. The unit is based on the ESS 9010K2M DAC chip which, despite being the entry level 90XX series “Sabre” converter, still boasts some decent specifications. You know, the stuffs in-between the audiophile world and the “no I just need it to output sound” world. Build-wise it's developed a slight 'wobble' with the internal components feeling ever-so loose inside the (very well built) chassis, but main gripe is that it feels like it's an accident waiting to happen. You can also use DragonFly as a traditional fixed-output source component (such as a CD player, DVD player, or Blu-ray player), connected to a standard input on a receiver or preamplifier.

Though we like how the Dragonfly Black worked with our MacBook, we think it’s even more interesting as a portable DAC/amp for the iPhone. Where appropriate/referenced I utilize a number of high-quality, high-resolution, albums, needle-drops, and also some native DSD content.With some headphones, we found that the Dragonfly Black produces about twice as much power as the Apple’s adapter — that extra power must come from somewhere so there will be a hit on battery life, but the extra draw was never enough to ruin our commute. I also fed it through my SPL Phonitor x amplifier (single-ended, using an AudioQuest “Golden Gate” 3. This makes using the DragonFlys as simple as it’s always been: they’re fully compatible with PCs without having to download and install new drivers. One odd, but notable, aspect to the audible performance of this unit is that is seems more “settled” and “natural” when rendering content that is natively using a 48 kHz-based clock (e. The most recent one lasted for 3 months, and for those 90 days of being away from home, the “laptop onboard + great earphones” just became more and more unbearable.

the direct output on a MacBook Pro, resolution is better across the board, micro-dynamics become appropriately audible (often smoothed over entirely by built-in outputs), extension at both ends is superior and the overall presentation is smoother and more coherent. From iOS almost the whole volume range was usable, while still being able to get to a point where it was louder than I would ever listen. Qobuz is a subscription-based streaming service that offers an outstanding selection of hi-resolution content. At no point does this become thick or muddy and instead retains a pristine nature from bottom to top.

DragonFly Black’s unique design allows for playback of any file type regardless of resolution and represents the culmination of several new and exciting achievements. Once the aggressiveness is tamed, it is much easier to focus on other parts of the frequency ranges and enjoy them. Sample rate refers to the number of “snapshots” of sound, or samples per second, captured when a digital audio file is recorded or encoded. AudioQuest’s new DragonFly Black is a USB digital-to-analogue converter (DAC) designed to deliver cleaner, clearer, more naturally beautiful sound from any computer, smartphone, or tablet. The most affordable model of the award-winning DragonFly family, DragonFly Black is a portable, plug-and-play USB DAC (digital-to-analog converter), preamp, and headphone amp that connects to laptops, tablets, and smartphones to deliver clean, clear, naturally beautiful sound to headphones, powered speakers, or complete audio systems.