[Bimbleton]

Never mind. The crackles were from a slow internet service rather than the device itself.

 

[jojoarmani2]

I got the one that comes with the leather pouch - it is only a dac; no amp according to the manual. Sounds great!

 

[RUMAY408]

  I got the one that comes with the leather pouch - it is only a dac; no amp according to the manual. Sounds great!

It should provide 150mw as an amp enough to drive a HD650 or HE400. Better as a DAC than an amp

 

[mrscotchguy]

Can anyone explain the big difference between the two versions. I might have a chance at a deal on Sunday, but I am almost positive it will be a cloth-bag (first version). I was hoping the new generation would be released by now...

 

[Krutsch]

  It should provide 150mw as an amp enough to drive a HD650 or HE400. Better as a DAC than an amp

 
+1 ... I am impressed with the DAC and it really sounds great plugged into another amp.

 

[raclimja]

will this dac/amp work with Galaxy S4 i9505 through USB OTG?

 

[mrscotchguy]

Well, I broke. Bought a new DF. Got it for $170 after tax locally. Running it on my sub-par WIndows 8 netbook. So far, I am impressed with the upscaling. I was a bit concerned upon first plug-in as the sound was pretty disapointing until I switched it to a different USB port. Looks like I will need to buy a Dragontail tomorrow, I think. Later this week, I am going to test it as a full fledged DAC with my PS Audio GCHA.

 

[Bimbleton]

Well, I broke. Bought a new DF. Got it for $170 after tax locally. Running it on my sub-par WIndows 8 netbook. So far, I am impressed with the upscaling. I was a bit concerned upon first plug-in as the sound was pretty disapointing until I switched it to a different USB port. Looks like I will need to buy a Dragontail tomorrow, I think. Later this week, I am going to test it as a full fledged DAC with my PS Audio GCHA.

Enjoy your new Dragonfly! Honestly, you can use any USB-extender. I use the mediabridge one from Amazon with the gold connects, it was $5-6 and it works perfectly fine. 

 

[G_T_J]

Well, I broke. Bought a new DF. Got it for $170 after tax locally. Running it on my sub-par WIndows 8 netbook. So far, I am impressed with the upscaling. I was a bit concerned upon first plug-in as the sound was pretty disapointing until I switched it to a different USB port. Looks like I will need to buy a Dragontail tomorrow, I think. Later this week, I am going to test it as a full fledged DAC with my PS Audio GCHA.

 


Oh, so I also have to tamper with my USB ports as well, as I'm not very much impressed by DF so far.
There is some improvement for sure but not what I was expecting. DF seems to drive better my B&W P5 than my HD598. Strangely enough, my HD598 seem to be driven louder by my laptop's headphone output than by the DF itself.

I have it for 2 weeks now and ddn't have much time to experiment with it as I wanted. Probably it's going to grow in me.

 

[RUMAY408]

  Enjoy your new Dragonfly! Honestly, you can use any USB-extender. I use the mediabridge one from Amazon with the gold connects, it was $5-6 and it works perfectly fine. 

I'll 2nd that, I've used the media bridge since the DF came out, the Dragontail had not been released yet, see no reason to pay for a short USB extension.
 

Oh, so I also have to tamper with my USB ports as well, as I'm not very much impressed by DF so far.
There is some improvement for sure but not what I was expecting. DF seems to drive better my B&W P5 than my HD598. Strangely enough, my HD598 seem to be driven louder by my laptop's headphone output than by the DF itself.

I have it for 2 weeks now and ddn't have much time to experiment with it as I wanted. Probably it's going to grow in me.

Adding even a cheap and very light and small FiiO E11 will amp that DAC up to a point you may appreciate it more.  Own both the B&W P5 and the HD595.  The P5 gets little love on HF, but I really like that HP, my favorite over-the-ear portable HP.

 

[Krutsch]

  Adding even a cheap and very light and small FiiO E11 will amp that DAC up to a point you may appreciate it more. 

 
+1 ... adding an external amp does wonders with the DF.  Like it with my NuForce Icon HDP - Love it with my NAD C375BEE 2-channel rig.

 

[mrscotchguy]

  Enjoy your new Dragonfly! Honestly, you can use any USB-extender. I use the mediabridge one from Amazon with the gold connects, it was $5-6 and it works perfectly fine. 

Thank you!  I have a generic USB extender right now, was just looking for something with a bit sturdier build quality.  This will work for now though.

Oh, so I also have to tamper with my USB ports as well, as I'm not very much impressed by DF so far.
There is some improvement for sure but not what I was expecting. DF seems to drive better my B&W P5 than my HD598. Strangely enough, my HD598 seem to be driven louder by my laptop's headphone output than by the DF itself.

I have it for 2 weeks now and ddn't have much time to experiment with it as I wanted. Probably it's going to grow in me.

Once I figured out which USB is the best one, then it sounded much, much better.  The audio guy at the shop I purchased from even admitted to that issue as well.  He actually looked into which USB port on his Mac was the highest current/voltage and cleanest power.  Apparently Apple publicizes this information, go figure. I just have a craptop Acer netbook at the moment feeding my DF. 
 
Additionally, I changed the Buffer length on Foobar from 1000ms to 500ms, and that seemed to make a big difference to the sound for some reason!  Maybe try that out?
 

  I'll 2nd that, I've used the media bridge since the DF came out, the Dragontail had not been released yet, see no reason to pay for a short USB extension.
 
Adding even a cheap and very light and small FiiO E11 will amp that DAC up to a point you may appreciate it more.  Own both the B&W P5 and the HD595.  The P5 gets little love on HF, but I really like that HP, my favorite over-the-ear portable HP.

 
I cannot wait to test this out as a full-fledged DAC, but holding off so I can notice any difference more clearly.  I agree with your comment about the P5s.  There is little love, but I think that's because of how far from neutral the sound is.  I am super excited to try out their P7s when they arrive at the shop next to my work (best lunch breaks ever!).  If the P5 wasn't so bass heavy, I would get one in a heartbeat -- I adore the build quality, aesthetics, lambskin pads, and detachable cables!

 

[G_T_J]

The strange thing is that it drives my P5s adequately. I'm not very impressed with how it drives my HD598s.

I noticed that I had turned down buffering to around 200ms (Foobar) in order to fix the sound ''jumps'' I was experiencing, which is very very low I reckon. I'll try to adjust it to a number around 500 and see if there's any difference soundwise.

I'm also going to try my left USB port which is a USB 3.0 one. Of course DF itself is not a USB 3.0 device but I suppose a USB 3.0 port can provide stable and powerful voltage for a USB 2.0 device.

I'll try all these things and I'll get back with feedback. Thank you all for your contribution.
Oh, and I also love my B&W P5s. A very underrated pair of HPs.

 

[gracelisali]

Seems like Sabre ESS chips are becoming more popular, apart from that I don't really see the similarity to the ODAC.

 

[mrscotchguy]

Has anyone tried this as a solution to the problem of not supplying enough juice to the DF for mobile solutions?

http://www.amazon.com/PCD-Universal-Adapter-Female-Connector/dp/B0041CFFBM/ref=sr_1_2?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1383367442&sr=1-2&keywords=usb+y+cable

This might be the way I can hook it up the DF up to my iPad....