AudioQuest Dragonfly Review : Affordable, Outstanding, Tiny DAC / Amp - Page 2

Does anyone know which Sabre chip this one uses?

Looks like the shape of the ESS ES9023 and I think there is a tiny op-amp there I can't tell from the fuzzy picture, at least I hope there is.

Quote:

Originally Posted by sling5s 

Any comparisons to the Centrance Dacport?   Quality of sound and power?  Is it on the bright side, or dark side, neutral? 

 

thanks

It's been some months since I had the Dacport but from memory they are very different in presentation. The Dacport has a bold presentation and not splashy in the treble like a lot of dacs are. However it does not focus on detail retrieval, like decay, etc. and not a lot of depth (but I think this goes for most usb dacs I've heard). Dacport overall is similar to NOS dacs like AD1865, 1704, etc. The Dragonfly on the other hand really pulls out detail and is stellar in the vocal range. It has a 'brighter' signature for sure but without the splashiness. If you're a 'clarity' fan then the Dragonfly will impress. Like the Dacport, however, it is pretty flat as far as depth. Dragonfly is more refined than the odac to my ears. It sounds really, really good. Choosing between the Dacport would be tough though depending on what you like. Hope this helps.

Note: I used these dacs for 2 channel speaker setup not headphones.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Typhoon859 

Even if its half the size of something else, those other things are already small enough.

Well no, not really.  Went on vacation, 5 hour plane flight each way.  With this thing, 1200 songs on my laptop, and the Ety ER-4P I was in heaven for 10 hours of flying.  Can't tell you the last time I absolutely did not mind flights of that length.  Try to fit another rig that sounds this good in the width of a coach class airline seat.  (To me it sounds a lot better than the regular audio output from my MacBook Pro, which does not sound bad itself.)

Then with an ordinary auxiliary cable I plugged it into the rental car's stereo system, and voila, tunes for 8 days in the desert Southwest.

Now it's plugged into the back of my desktop, where its sound is an improvement on the very good ESI Juli@ sound card.  Even better, it works with all the operating systems I run on my desktop - Windows, Linux, FreeBSD - while unfortunately there are no FreeBSD drivers for the digital output of the Juli@.  So I am one happy camper.

Now if $250 (or even the nice discount I was able to get from a local dealer) is a lot more than you want to spend on a DAC, that's fine.  No problem at all with that.  For folks who don't mind the price, this really helps fill a niche for excellent mobile sound.

Quote:

Originally Posted by pekingduck 

Is it iPad + CCK compatible?

Only if you run it off a powered USB hub, which does cut down on portability.

Well it's new so I don't think there's any comparisons like that yet but they will come in due time versus the D-Zero and ODAC and all that jazz.

Quote:

Originally Posted by kiteki 

Look I made Dragonball calm down.

LOL ----  Sorry .... hey I'm a Fiio E17 owner and fan myself ---- don't come after me!

Quote:

Originally Posted by pekingduck 

Is it iPad + CCK compatible?

I'm wondering the same thing. Surely Jude has one to find out.. Right?

Wow, its tiny. I'd actually be afraid of people stealing it. As easy as plug-n-play you just unplug-n-go.

That aside, quite an interesting gadget! No extra cables involved is always a plus.

Might be the perfect gift for my dad, as Acer netbook onboard soundcard is simply... terrible.

P.S. does it work on anything other than computers? like... PS3 for instance

Quote:

Originally Posted by Typhoon859 

Yup, I know; I guess we'll see

This is such a new product and it is indeed just the size of a thumb size, my first thought looking at it is how good can it be?

I own the E17 as well, recently purchased an O2/ODAC unit, and while I think the former is a great bang for the buck - the latter just shoots quite a bit higher.  We're not talking a slim margin.  it sounds like a good $500+ combo rig to my ears.  But it's also twice the size, doesn't run on batteries, and twice the cost.  I'm taking a look at this thing as someone from the ODAC thread just said he found this to be a bit better.  That to me is quite remarkable and I'm eager to see impressions continue to roll in.  At this point I'm just taking IEMs and plugging them straight in my Macbook Air most of the time for the sake of convenience.

Thanks for the comparisons.  I do like it on the warm side rather than bright.  I was hoping to replace the Dacport but I guess I'll hold on to it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by wushuliu 

It's been some months since I had the Dacport but from memory they are very different in presentation. The Dacport has a bold presentation and not splashy in the treble like a lot of dacs are. However it does not focus on detail retrieval, like decay, etc. and not a lot of depth (but I think this goes for most usb dacs I've heard). Dacport overall is similar to NOS dacs like AD1865, 1704, etc. The Dragonfly on the other hand really pulls out detail and is stellar in the vocal range. It has a 'brighter' signature for sure but without the splashiness. If you're a 'clarity' fan then the Dragonfly will impress. Like the Dacport, however, it is pretty flat as far as depth. Dragonfly is more refined than the odac to my ears. It sounds really, really good. Choosing between the Dacport would be tough though depending on what you like. Hope this helps.

 

Note: I used these dacs for 2 channel speaker setup not headphones.

Thanks for the great review Jude!  I'm thinking that this may be perfect for my MacBook Air and HD700/HE400/M80.  I was in one of my favorite audio stores a few days ago looking at the rPAC and they were pretty stoked about the Dragonfly.  I'll give it a try when they get it in stock.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Twinster 

Nice write up Jude thank you! Any chance you can do a comparaison with the Centrance DACport?

Yes, a comparison against the Dacport would be very welcome.