AudioQuest Dragonfly Review : Affordable, Outstanding, Tiny DAC / Amp
Jul 12, 2016 at 8:00 PM Post #2,446 of 2,514
Picked up the 1.2 on clearance for a travel setup with the work laptop and my tablet (noisy, awful HO)... gotta say that I'm fairly impressed with this little thing.  It's doing an admirable job with the IE800 and I was surprised at the power output with the TH-X00, I had borderline listenable volume at 1%..  May have to pull out the T1 and HE500 for the S&G's of it.    Overall it's fairly neutral but I am getting occasionally flabby/bloated sub bass with some tracks and a slightly metallic tinge to the upper frequencies.  It's dead silent with no music playing and has a nice layering of instruments.  Still < 2hrs on this thing so take my first impressions with a grain of salt.
 
Jul 15, 2016 at 11:24 AM Post #2,447 of 2,514
I just came to HK today and picked up the Hifiman Edition X. I am on the road for a week so I am using the RED for the burn in of the new HEX. I listened to the new HP and you know what? The RED stands her ground firm and it's all good. I really thought this little thing will run out of steam but no. Mahler Symphony number 6 sounds great right now.
 
Jul 18, 2016 at 3:42 PM Post #2,450 of 2,514
  Quote:
 
When both the music player and the main operating system volume control are set to maximum, shouldn't It cut off the sound in headphone?
I tought It would act as line out (no sound at all).

It is a line out but that is not synonymous with "no sound at all"... I imagine it bypasses the Dragonfly's volume circuitry but it still feeds voltage to the output and thus sound if you plug headphones into the output.  The purpose of the line out mode is so it will output a level that most line-ins can handle without clipping the signal. 
 
Jul 27, 2016 at 5:39 AM Post #2,452 of 2,514
  Is the 1.2 better than the Red one? I got the DFR yesterday, use it for my PC, and I don't like the way it controls volume -,-

1.2 is warmer, but it controls sound the same way.  i like 1.2 better because bass is better on it than red, details are better on red though
 
Aug 14, 2016 at 2:00 AM Post #2,455 of 2,514
It's been a little quiet, so ...

I've enjoyed my dragonfly red for a little over three months. It is my first external DAC. I've been using it exclusively with my phone (HTC m8). Also exclusively with homemade 16-bit wav files. Love it.

Read a lot about burn in. Tried researching, learned nothing. Read earlier in this thread that someone from Audioquest suggested 150 hour burn in. Two weeks ago I tried it. On my laptop. I played the album AirMech by Front Line Assembly 143 1/2 times. That's 175 hours. I left my Sony mdr-xb700 headphones plugged in (not my fav, prefer my v700DJ).

At 50 hours I cheated (listened), huge difference, whole new level revealed. Same soundstage with far more complete separation. Sounds I couldn't hear before. To mess things up I bought a jitterbug that arrived the day I finished my burn in. Everything's different. All those buried sounds that so many never hear. My old volume settings are too loud now. More dynamic, more detail, it goes so quiet. My whole library is vastly improved.

So yeah, do a burn in. At least 50 hours, but I noticed subtle improvements at 100 and 175 hours. I was thinking maybe it's awesome power efficiency requires a longer burn?

And the next time someone says CD quality, I'm kicking them in the shin and calling them a liar.

Goodnight :blush:
 
Aug 30, 2016 at 4:02 AM Post #2,456 of 2,514
Dear Fans of Dragonfly:  I am a total rookie here just got into this thing like 5 months ago. Bought a lots of new gear. Never know what to do to get the real potential out of them. Has anyone use the RED to power an amp like the Violectric V220. I am getting that tomorrow delivered and I want to burn in with the RED. Would this actually sound good? Should the volume on the RED be turn to full? Then control the listening volume via the amp? Most thankful for any pointers.
 
Aug 30, 2016 at 8:19 AM Post #2,457 of 2,514
Dear Fans of Dragonfly:  I am a total rookie here just got into this thing like 5 months ago. Bought a lots of new gear. Never know what to do to get the real potential out of them. Has anyone use the RED to power an amp like the Violectric V220. I am getting that tomorrow delivered and I want to burn in with the RED. Would this actually sound good? Should the volume on the RED be turn to full? Then control the listening volume via the amp? Most thankful for any pointers.

Set Red to full volume and control your listening level via the amp.
 
Aug 31, 2016 at 12:46 AM Post #2,459 of 2,514
Using just a sony ex650ap iem and Xperia X Performance to test.

DFB - hiss louder than my breath. unlistenable.

DFR - volume is too soft. can only listen at full volume. my chinchillas can bark louder than that.
But can conclude DFR is better than DFB.
 

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