Dragonfly COBALT vs.............Discussions

[jjazzy]

I had paw s1, lp w2 i sold all for cobalt easier to use with iPhone for me

I see it depends on the use case ofcourse. I mostly listen at home. Also use planar headphones ans balanced IEM. If I want high end, i use my gryphon. I don’t like a desktop amp because you can’t move around in the house, gryphon best of both worlds)

Music on the go (which rarely happens) I use se846+tw2 (or I buy something else). Doing bootcamps and crossfit I use airpods pro, not the best sound but for the given situation ideal.

Sometimes I think, I could have kept the cobalt, because I agree it sounds good. I did hate it never supported DSD, and I have a lot of albums.

I sold it because rumors of a new device coming from audioquest, and when it comes out, everything else drops in price. The cobalt dropped already to 249, the red dropped as well.

 

[jprenaud78]

I understand but for the moment i don’t need beter. It’s already good for my only use

 

[jjazzy]

I understand but for the moment i don’t need beter. It’s already good for my only use

If that’s enough than that is the right choice for you, it for sure is a cheaper option than mine, saves money

 

[FlyingFungus]

I still use my Audioquest Dragonfly that I've had for at least 7-8 years. Tempted to eventually get another!

 

[iFi audio]

Propably if I want something small, I would buy a ifi go bar or ifi go blu

Thanks! If running on a smartphone's battery isn't an issue, GO Bar is very small considering what it does

 

[gazzington]

Looks a cool set up. What phone and case is that? Is that a dt1770 headphone?

 

[Stevko]

Looks a cool set up. What phone and case is that? Is that a dt1770 headphone?

T5/T1

 

[jprenaud78]

Looks a cool set up. What phone and case is that? Is that a dt1770 headphone?

T1 3rd

 

[Mumbles06]

Hope you're right and that it is released soon. Pretty sure my Cobalt is on its last legs. Been getting some random digital noise/distortion when using with PC and laptop and random skips every 30 seconds with my Samsung phone (wasn't happening with my Qudelix 5K a few minutes ago). Still really enjoy the sound with the SE846 when it works though. Also hoping that any newer version has some lower volume settings for those of us with sensitive IEMs who prefer to listen at lower volumes. I am literally listening at the lowest volume setting (1 click above mute) on my Samsung S22+. 2nd lowest is ok for louder environments. 3rd lowest is already too loud for me (I counted 15 volume steps). I recall there used to be a Samsung SoundAssisrant app that allowed you to increase volume steps but doesnt seem to be available anymore.

I've been getting really random digital noise on my Cobalt as well since I upgraded phones from Samsung S21 to S23. It's across all apps, and really intermittent. Very frustrating.

 

[jprenaud78]

I've been getting really random digital noise on my Cobalt as well since I upgraded phones from Samsung S21 to S23. It's across all apps, and really intermittent. Very frustrating.

May be 5g data interférence ?

 

[Mumbles06]

May be 5g data interférence ?

No, for sure not. I'm a pilot, and I use my Cobalt almost exclusively when I'm commuting to and from one place to the next in the back of a cargo airplane, over the Pacific, in the mid 30 thousand feet. Not a lot of 5G there, and it's in airplane mode to boot. Plus it's not the typical cellphone interference sound, it's a static undertone, with pitch-shifting distortion on the music or podcast. If you're a guitar guy, it's like someone kicks on a flanger and phaser at the same time, then covers all of that in loud electronic static for 5 to 10 second bursts, then back to the vanilla signal. Very bizarre, and very degrading to the enjoyment. But it never happened with my last phone and the cobalt, nor does it happen with my phone when it's bluetooth'd to a speaker, so it's something about the combo. It's really strange.

 

[Steve Wilcox]

No, for sure not. I'm a pilot, and I use my Cobalt almost exclusively when I'm commuting to and from one place to the next in the back of a cargo airplane, over the Pacific, in the mid 30 thousand feet. Not a lot of 5G there, and it's in airplane mode to boot. Plus it's not the typical cellphone interference sound, it's a static undertone, with pitch-shifting distortion on the music or podcast. If you're a guitar guy, it's like someone kicks on a flanger and phaser at the same time, then covers all of that in loud electronic static for 5 to 10 second bursts, then back to the vanilla signal. Very bizarre, and very degrading to the enjoyment. But it never happened with my last phone and the cobalt, nor does it happen with my phone when it's bluetooth'd to a speaker, so it's something about the combo. It's really strange.

I get what sounds to be the same thing on my LG V30 phone. It kicks in about every 15 mins and lasts about 10 to 20 seconds. There's no problem using the Cobalt on my tablet or laptop so it seems to be a device specific thing.

 

[TubbyAdam]

Something interesting I noticed with my DFC and iPhone 12, I was listening to Tom Petty's You Don't Know How It Feels from the Wildflowers album on Apple Music the other day. When listening with the Apple lighting to 3.5mm adapter the organ swell at the beginning was panned right up the center. When using the Apple CCK and the DFC, the swell was properly panned to the left. That seemed odd so I tried it out in Qobuz too. In Qobuz the panning was correct for both the Apple adapter and the DFC. So Apple's own hardware didn't work correctly with their music streaming service. Not unique to the DFC since my Bifrost 2/64 also resolves this issue, but I thought it was interesting. I've seen posts in other places saying that the Apple headphone adapter was just as good, or in some cases better than the DFC. I don't notice a massive leap in sound quality between the Apple adapter and the DFC when using my JH Audio Roxanne CIEMs, the DFC is better, but you really have to listen closely. However, just knowing that it decodes the music properly is an instant MASSIVE win over the basic Apple adapter with Apple Music.

 

[meomap]

Something interesting I noticed with my DFC and iPhone 12, I was listening to Tom Petty's You Don't Know How It Feels from the Wildflowers album on Apple Music the other day. When listening with the Apple lighting to 3.5mm adapter the organ swell at the beginning was panned right up the center. When using the Apple CCK and the DFC, the swell was properly panned to the left. That seemed odd so I tried it out in Qobuz too. In Qobuz the panning was correct for both the Apple adapter and the DFC. So Apple's own hardware didn't work correctly with their music streaming service. Not unique to the DFC since my Bifrost 2/64 also resolves this issue, but I thought it was interesting. I've seen posts in other places saying that the Apple headphone adapter was just as good, or in some cases better than the DFC. I don't notice a massive leap in sound quality between the Apple adapter and the DFC when using my JH Audio Roxanne CIEMs, the DFC is better, but you really have to listen closely. However, just knowing that it decodes the music properly is an instant MASSIVE win over the basic Apple adapter with Apple Music.

And people will listen to whatever Apple said?

 

[RoninChaos]

What adapters are you all using with the cobalt when you use it with your iPhones? Apple’s dongle or third party dongles?