Redcarmoose
Headphoneus Supremus
So........your basically saying you can’t believe everything you read.
Dragonfly Cobalt is definitely not worth it's Price Tag
- Thread starter AudiophileKing
- Start date
-
- Tags
- dac dragonfly cobalt
edlecom
New Head-Fier
- Joined
- Oct 23, 2016
- Posts
- 6
- Likes
- 8
In a way... Yes. Most people use Tidal's app direct, the one I mentioned links to Tidal and pulls the Bit signal. Give it a shot it's only 9 dollars and you can get addons for it. Even just plain it improves the sound of any phone
Not all DACs will unfold MQA.
Bostyn
New Head-Fier
- Joined
- Mar 17, 2016
- Posts
- 48
- Likes
- 80
I've heard both the mojo and cobalt and really can't fathom how anyone could prefer the latter to the former, sonically speaking.
Of course the mojo is an unwieldy device that picks up static from your phone ( unless you put it in airplane mode ) and many people regard form factor/portability as of equal importance to sound. And once you like a certain aspect of a product it becomes easy to appreciate its other qualities, sometimes more than their inherent value. If there even is such a thing.
Really don't think there is some grand nefarious scheme going on though, rather the audiophile world is incredibly sensitive to hype, just like society itself. It's preferences are very fickle
Of course the mojo is an unwieldy device that picks up static from your phone ( unless you put it in airplane mode ) and many people regard form factor/portability as of equal importance to sound. And once you like a certain aspect of a product it becomes easy to appreciate its other qualities, sometimes more than their inherent value. If there even is such a thing.
Really don't think there is some grand nefarious scheme going on though, rather the audiophile world is incredibly sensitive to hype, just like society itself. It's preferences are very fickle
KaiFi
500+ Head-Fier
I think the Cobalt is a bit expensive for what it is. It packs a lot into a small device and that's worth something. But it's twice the price of the Ifi Zen DAC but that doesn't mean it sounds twice as good (I listened to them side by side and the Zen sounded better to me so I sent back the Cobalt).
The Q5s is no good to me because the USB input sucks. The beginning of each song is slightly cut off when I use it with my Mac, so that's a non-starter.
I'm still looking for the perfect completely portable DAC/amp (the Zen DAC is really more of a desktop unit). Unfortunately the Cobalt wasn't it.
The Q5s is no good to me because the USB input sucks. The beginning of each song is slightly cut off when I use it with my Mac, so that's a non-starter.
I'm still looking for the perfect completely portable DAC/amp (the Zen DAC is really more of a desktop unit). Unfortunately the Cobalt wasn't it.
I'm in a similar situation as you. I've been on the hunt lately for something more modern (and all-in-one) to use portable with my Mac via USB. Pre-pandemic, I had very little use for such a solution for years, but since recently finding an old setup in a box residing in a desk drawer, I have found myself using my Mac in old, familiar ways. This old'ish 1.5 Gen Meridian Explorer > Headstage Arrow 4G works just fine on macOS Catalina. I just want a new gadget to play with, hahaha.
Unseen Aura
100+ Head-Fier
I'm new to the headfi world, but through other hobbies have learned about the same stuff as discussed here regarding the Dragonfly's, and watching folks like John Darko: It's highly subjective and personal.
I already have the Red and personally love it, but there are countless reasons and factors that make it so for me. And possibly only exclusively applies to me. Irregardless, I'm happy that I discovered this specific thread, it helps to know how heavily and easily a human can be influenced, and how perspective-dependent it all is.
I already have the Red and personally love it, but there are countless reasons and factors that make it so for me. And possibly only exclusively applies to me. Irregardless, I'm happy that I discovered this specific thread, it helps to know how heavily and easily a human can be influenced, and how perspective-dependent it all is.
Last edited:
justhavingfun
500+ Head-Fier
THX Onyx seems to be alternative amp/dac. It has similar form factor and the price is set at reasonably at $199.99 and it does Tidal/MQA. I do not have this amp yet but I am planning to purchase it in near future.
Hi everyone. My first time on this thread. I have recently reviewed the iFi Hip DAC, if it's of interest to anyone. I have a brief comparison to the DF Cobalt here.
https://www.head-fi.org/showcase/ifi-audio-hip-dac.24211/reviews#review-25877
Please do share feedback if any since I am starting out with reviews!
Reviewing mostly for fun.
https://www.head-fi.org/showcase/ifi-audio-hip-dac.24211/reviews#review-25877
Please do share feedback if any since I am starting out with reviews!
Reviewing mostly for fun.
WillB
100+ Head-Fier
Hi all,
I can’t add too much by way of substance here, only my own experience. I wanted a good and highly portable DAC/amp for my iPhone and my iPad Pro. I figured that as the DragonFly Red had been out for a while, there would eventually be a successor. When the Cobolt came out, and in a color I liked to boot, I pounced. The fact that the Cobolt touts MQA is for me a “nice to have” feature, a feature I know I will never use as I have no intention of subscribing to Tidal. I have Spotify since 2012 as an early adopter due to a business relationship back when Spotify just started and was available by invite-only. I also have Apple Music and YouTube Music but who listens to that? I did the Amazon Music HD subscription for a year but ditched it. It was the user interface that made me ditch Amazon Music HD, not the quality.
Back to the Cobolt, I like how the light on the Cobolt changes when listening to the HD and UHD on various streaming platforms. Ohh, preeeetttyyyy. Yea, I know. Anyway. Before I purchased the Cobolt because I needed something for my iPhone since Apple did away with the headphone jack. I purchased a small black DAC/amp on Drop, ADV. or “Advanced” as a bridge to something better like the Cobolt. The ADV. was cheap and damned if I can hear a difference between the ADV. and the Cobolt. The ADV. gets loud, draws very little current from the phone, doesn’t need an extra dongle such as the iPhone camera USB dongle and it allows both simultaneous charging via the lightning port next to the 3.5mm jack. Or you can add current to the ADV. via a micro USB on the side of the unit. The only thing the ADV. requires is their proprietary app on your iPhone or iPad as it is not “driverless”. You don’t need to use the app, just install it and you’re good to go as it allows the iPhone or iPad to recognize the device.
About the Cobolt. I’m not going to give any listener's impression and I’ve already stated that the far cheaper ADV. is a damned good alternative for a fraction of the cost. One issue I did have with the Cobolt is that the 3.5mm headphone jack input on my unit broke loose. It recessed into the device housing and rattled around. Luckily here in Sweden we have by law two-year warranty on product defects. While i was preparing for a fight when returning the device just shy of the expiration of the warranty, the reputable retailer I purchased it from just replaced it. Let this be a lesson in that where you buy your products can sometimes make the difference. I was preparing for them to say it was my fault for using and abusing the device. But here’s the thing: I mostly use the Cobolt when I travel. Since the pandemic I haven’t travelled and barely used the thing. So for the almost two years I owned it the device saw very little use and not many cycles plugging in headphones. So here now after three long paragraphs I’m getting to my main point. If you own a Dragonfly Cobolt, be aware of this issue. Be careful when plugging in headphones. It can break.
AudioQuest products are expensive and as such the Dragonfly Cobolt is the only product from AudioQuest I have ever owned. When I was looking around for high-end cables for my head-if setup, I just couldn’t see paying those prices for cables. In retrospect I see that I spent too much money on a portable DAC/amp by purchasing the Cobolt. I don’t mean to diss on anyone who has purchased AudioQuest products. They look really nice and I’m sure they’re very good but IMHO everything they offer just seems highly overpriced. There is a lot of competition out there and plenty of other manufacturers to purchase from.
My final two cents on this topic is about my company of choice for cables: Jenving Supra Cables. It’s a Swedish company so their products can be found everywhere here in Sweden. Supra makes speaker cables, interconnects, power cables and power strips etc., use high quality OCC copper and all of their components are shielded. I use Supra for all the wiring for my 11.2 Dolby Atmos home theater setup, as replacement power cables for all my devices, power strips providing “clean” electricity and surge protection, and for all of my interconnects like HDMI, RCA, XLR, optical, USB and even ethernet. Supra is in my estimation a true “biggest bang for your buck” product line before you start hitting that point of diminishing returns. The only caveat: You have to accept their signature baby blue color. It’s ubiquitous for their products. If you can get past that, Supra is, as stated, a really great Big Bang for your buck.
I can’t add too much by way of substance here, only my own experience. I wanted a good and highly portable DAC/amp for my iPhone and my iPad Pro. I figured that as the DragonFly Red had been out for a while, there would eventually be a successor. When the Cobolt came out, and in a color I liked to boot, I pounced. The fact that the Cobolt touts MQA is for me a “nice to have” feature, a feature I know I will never use as I have no intention of subscribing to Tidal. I have Spotify since 2012 as an early adopter due to a business relationship back when Spotify just started and was available by invite-only. I also have Apple Music and YouTube Music but who listens to that? I did the Amazon Music HD subscription for a year but ditched it. It was the user interface that made me ditch Amazon Music HD, not the quality.
Back to the Cobolt, I like how the light on the Cobolt changes when listening to the HD and UHD on various streaming platforms. Ohh, preeeetttyyyy. Yea, I know. Anyway. Before I purchased the Cobolt because I needed something for my iPhone since Apple did away with the headphone jack. I purchased a small black DAC/amp on Drop, ADV. or “Advanced” as a bridge to something better like the Cobolt. The ADV. was cheap and damned if I can hear a difference between the ADV. and the Cobolt. The ADV. gets loud, draws very little current from the phone, doesn’t need an extra dongle such as the iPhone camera USB dongle and it allows both simultaneous charging via the lightning port next to the 3.5mm jack. Or you can add current to the ADV. via a micro USB on the side of the unit. The only thing the ADV. requires is their proprietary app on your iPhone or iPad as it is not “driverless”. You don’t need to use the app, just install it and you’re good to go as it allows the iPhone or iPad to recognize the device.
About the Cobolt. I’m not going to give any listener's impression and I’ve already stated that the far cheaper ADV. is a damned good alternative for a fraction of the cost. One issue I did have with the Cobolt is that the 3.5mm headphone jack input on my unit broke loose. It recessed into the device housing and rattled around. Luckily here in Sweden we have by law two-year warranty on product defects. While i was preparing for a fight when returning the device just shy of the expiration of the warranty, the reputable retailer I purchased it from just replaced it. Let this be a lesson in that where you buy your products can sometimes make the difference. I was preparing for them to say it was my fault for using and abusing the device. But here’s the thing: I mostly use the Cobolt when I travel. Since the pandemic I haven’t travelled and barely used the thing. So for the almost two years I owned it the device saw very little use and not many cycles plugging in headphones. So here now after three long paragraphs I’m getting to my main point. If you own a Dragonfly Cobolt, be aware of this issue. Be careful when plugging in headphones. It can break.
AudioQuest products are expensive and as such the Dragonfly Cobolt is the only product from AudioQuest I have ever owned. When I was looking around for high-end cables for my head-if setup, I just couldn’t see paying those prices for cables. In retrospect I see that I spent too much money on a portable DAC/amp by purchasing the Cobolt. I don’t mean to diss on anyone who has purchased AudioQuest products. They look really nice and I’m sure they’re very good but IMHO everything they offer just seems highly overpriced. There is a lot of competition out there and plenty of other manufacturers to purchase from.
My final two cents on this topic is about my company of choice for cables: Jenving Supra Cables. It’s a Swedish company so their products can be found everywhere here in Sweden. Supra makes speaker cables, interconnects, power cables and power strips etc., use high quality OCC copper and all of their components are shielded. I use Supra for all the wiring for my 11.2 Dolby Atmos home theater setup, as replacement power cables for all my devices, power strips providing “clean” electricity and surge protection, and for all of my interconnects like HDMI, RCA, XLR, optical, USB and even ethernet. Supra is in my estimation a true “biggest bang for your buck” product line before you start hitting that point of diminishing returns. The only caveat: You have to accept their signature baby blue color. It’s ubiquitous for their products. If you can get past that, Supra is, as stated, a really great Big Bang for your buck.
Last edited:
The Hidizs S9 pro seems to be what you are looking for. Very clean dac with above average power output, ASIO capable, plug and play with most devices - all of this for just $100 (got mine for $80 brand new) seems like a bargain to me. If you need more power for full size headphones then the new Hiby FD3 seems really promising, though not much reviews yet, but the specs are really good.
Last edited:
pataburd
Headphoneus Supremus
At this point, I [much] prefer the $100 Dragonfly Black v1.5 [in series with the AQ Jitterbug] to the $300 Cobalt [in parallel with the Jitterbug].
For my ears, the Cobalt sounds comparatively thin with a constrained upper treble. Soundstage seems to comparatively lack height, as well.
Elements in the mix are more individuated with the Cobalt, yet disparately so: there is a debilitating lack of overall [musical] synergy and fluidity that I find fatiguing: a perception of musical parts playing in a vacuum as opposed to from within a "live/oxygenated" space. Tammy Wynette, for example, sounds a touch too cold and brittle. George Jones sounds like a scrawny "Possum" just coming out of hibernation, not one sleek and fattened from spring's surplus.
There is somewhat of an artificial "glaze" to the Cobalt's presentation, lending more to "hi-fi" than to audiophile sensibilities.
(~30-40 hours of break-in and counting. MY EARS. YMMV)
Lenovo G50-->DFC/parallel Jitterbug-->DakiOm Fm-273 Feedback Stabilizer-->HeadphoneLounge pure silver UPOCC cable-->Martin Logan Mikros 90
For my ears, the Cobalt sounds comparatively thin with a constrained upper treble. Soundstage seems to comparatively lack height, as well.
Elements in the mix are more individuated with the Cobalt, yet disparately so: there is a debilitating lack of overall [musical] synergy and fluidity that I find fatiguing: a perception of musical parts playing in a vacuum as opposed to from within a "live/oxygenated" space. Tammy Wynette, for example, sounds a touch too cold and brittle. George Jones sounds like a scrawny "Possum" just coming out of hibernation, not one sleek and fattened from spring's surplus.
There is somewhat of an artificial "glaze" to the Cobalt's presentation, lending more to "hi-fi" than to audiophile sensibilities.
(~30-40 hours of break-in and counting. MY EARS. YMMV)
Lenovo G50-->DFC/parallel Jitterbug-->DakiOm Fm-273 Feedback Stabilizer-->HeadphoneLounge pure silver UPOCC cable-->Martin Logan Mikros 90
Last edited:
pataburd
Headphoneus Supremus
My preference for the DFBlack v1.5 holds with the Sundara as well.
Lenovo G50-->DFC/parallel Jitterbug [or DFB1.5/series Jitterbug]-->DakiOm Fm-273 Feedback Stabilizer-->8-cores 4x silver and 4x copper UPOCC cable-->HifiMAN Sundara [2020]
Lenovo G50-->DFC/parallel Jitterbug [or DFB1.5/series Jitterbug]-->DakiOm Fm-273 Feedback Stabilizer-->8-cores 4x silver and 4x copper UPOCC cable-->HifiMAN Sundara [2020]
Last edited:
lpd2
100+ Head-Fier
I don't even have somewhere to plug this in other than rear io on my desktop. Should I get it vs THX 887? And just run a hella long wire or put my chin on top of my monitor to listen? What is this for?
Users who are viewing this thread
