[pataburd]

i have the cobalt 1 year now and i am pretty happy with it
i use it on my iphone with iems but aslo at home on the laptop with my hifiman ananda and focal celestee
I did an impulsive buy 2 days ago , the ifi zen dac v2
I did compare the 2 on my laptop through tidal app an oh my god. I find the zen dac v2 so much better than the cobalt
Especialy on the focal celestee it made them sound so so so good. I never heard them so good through the cobalt.

In my experience, I preferred the DF Red--even the Black v 1.5--to the Cobalt.

Aside from its portability/convenience, the Cobalt is grossly overrated as a DAC, IMHO, sounding comparatively sharp and edgy.

Both the Topping D50s and, more so, the Topping E50, significantly outperformed the Cobalt, while costing significantly less. For me, Red is the "sweet spot" in the DF line.

 

[catvsgrizzly]

Hmmm. Interesting thread. I seem to have entered a parallel universe where break-in and warm-up don't exist.

All the impressions and comparisons so far are worthless because:

1) All modern electronics require at least 200 hours break-in before achieving their best performance and may well go through 'growing pains' (i.e. sound rough at times) before they get there;

2) All electronics need at least a half-hour warm-up playing music before they sound anything like their best*. If you're doing serious comparisons, make that one hour.

This is not me repeating popular folk lore. This my direct experience over many years and many components.

I look forward to hearing how the DFC sounds and compares in about a month from now.


* and that includes the iPurifiers 2 and 3.

Hey all, was there any verdict after the weeks, months and years went by?

 

[technobear]

Hey all, was there any verdict after the weeks, months and years went by?

Aha, one of my old 'preaching about break-in' posts. Still as relevent today.

I never went down the dongle path. I prefer to use a DAP on the move and I was using ifi micro pieces back in 2019 for desktop use. I still have most of them but these days I am mostly using a Hugo 2. So I can't tell you how good the Dragonfly is, only that it seems to have plenty of fans.

 

[catvsgrizzly]

Aha, one of my old 'preaching about break-in' posts. Still as relevent today.

I never went down the dongle path. I prefer to use a DAP on the move and I was using ifi micro pieces back in 2019 for desktop use. I still have most of them but these days I am mostly using a Hugo 2. So I can't tell you how good the Dragonfly is, only that it seems to have plenty of fans.

Sounds like some solid set ups there! Great gear.
I put my new cobalt through its paces over the last few days (continual use in a stereo set up) and it has made a world of difference. Haven't been this excited to listen to music for a long long time : )

 

[sebek]

On Dragonfly Cobalt I can only recommend reading the fantastic review by Jurgen Kraus @Otto Motor on audioreviews.

He hits the point very well.

The difference between the Cobalt and so many junk dongles on the market, with a thin and anti-musical sound, lies in the perfect weight of the note, in the realism and in the extreme naturalness that most other dongles do not even come close.

 

[Otto Motor]

And it is small...and low on the phone's power.

 

[jprenaud78]

Hey, I thought I would post here to highlight the use of a magsafe wallet case as a holder of a
dragonfly Cobalt to attach to an iPhone.

I have been using this solution with an L&P W2 DAC after a member over on that thread posted his idea; but, recently, I thought maybe I should see if this would work also with the Cobalt. It works great!

The cool thing, is you can still see the LED through the whole in the wallet (see second image showing MQA-magenta). Pictures are using this wallet with an iPhone 12 mini.

Note: I used the Apple Lightning to USB 3 Camera Adapter and this magsafe wallet.

Cheers.
P.S. Here are posts with pictures using this wallet with the W2:
Post 1
Post 2

Hi,
How do you plug your cobalt ?
Best regards

 

[Otto Motor]

Looks like a good idea. I have a leather case around the phone so that this likely won't work for me.

 

[Stevko]

Still worth buying DFC in 2022?
Worth the money?many says NO.
Other Love it. Amir don’t like it.. who cares?
Nice color!
Made in US! Who want a china dongle?

 

[jprenaud78]

Still worth buying DFC in 2022?
Worth the money?many says NO.
Other Love it. Amir don’t like it.. who cares?
Nice color!
Made in US! Who want a china dongle?

I baught it i wiî give you my feed

 

[Stevko]

I baught it i wiî give you my feed

Almost bought one too,after seeing this review:


But after watching this,not sure :

 

[jprenaud78]

Almost bought one too,after seeing this review:


But after watching this,not sure :

Lol like almost all reviews we have good or bad point lol

 

[Hubert481]

If you dont like it - dont buy it

what should you buy instead? 9038D ?

 

[Stevko]

If you dont like it - dont buy it

what should you buy instead? 9038D ?

Maybe. Looks like a great choice or an eagle/sparrow

 

[Stevko]

If you dont like it - dont buy it

what should you buy instead? 9038D ?

Hard to find a 9038d.
But if I find a DFR or DFC for a nice price. I`ll take it...

looks like red is a great choice.:

Conclusions

The one thing, above all, we can learn from these tests is that the DAC chip itself provides little indication regarding the performance of a finished product. As the poor distortion figures of the Cobalt show, even a high-end chip can be compromised by the specifics of the implementation.

Is the Cobalt worth the additional $100 in retail price over the Red? Apart from a 5 mm reduction in length and a blue paint job, not much has changed. The features and drive capability remain exactly the same. Although the DAC chip has been upgraded to a much more expensive one ($25 vs $10 in sample quantities), there is little, if anything, to show for the effort in terms of measured performance.