[ProfY]

I'm obviously not a regular contributor here, but recently acquired both the SE846 and the DFC. I've actually been surprised at how little the 846 hiss on any of my sources (Mojo, Hugo2, DFC, iPhone dongle). I expected the 846 to be hissing on everything based on what I read about them, but had wanted to try them for years anyway. There was a good deal on the 846 on Prime Day (directly from Shure through Amazon) so I picked them up. I have been way more impressed with them than I thought, and this is compared to Campfire Lyra II, Custom Art FIBAE ME, iSine 20, Massdrop Plus. I also have the SE535 and think the 846 is a significant step up. It's even caused me to go searching on the 846 forum to see if there may have been an unannounced change in the 846 somewhere along the line. My impression of them is different enough from what I read that I wouldn't be surprised if there was. The closest I could find anywhere is that they may be shipping the 846 with different filter configurations inside the filter tubes now. The caveat is that I have only listened to the 846 with the default filter tubes it ships with, not the others yet. But from what I have read, they should hiss even with these filter tubes.

As for the DFC, I bought the DFR a few years ago but returned it as I could not warm up to it. It's been too long to do any comparisons between the DFR and DFC, but I like the DFC (maybe I'm older now, with different hearing, who knows). Does it beat Mojo? I don't think so, but for anyone wanting to spend more money and who doesn't care about the extra bulk/cables of Mojo, they should get Mojo. It's just better all around. But that's not why I have DFC. Sometimes I don't want to carry the Mojo. Sometimes I just want to quickly plug something into the laptop/phone and be ready to go quickly. Sometimes the extra cables/bulk of Mojo are not convenient (e.g. on a plane). That's why I have DFC. I won't argue it's a better device than Mojo, I don't think it is.

To be honest, I think there is more background noise with DFC and the Massdrop Plus than with 846. Not sure why that is.

 

[ProfY]

Regards the loosening USB connection, here is the reply from AudioQuest to my email about it. Immediate response and the local distributors will arrange a replacement. Unfortunate, but excellent service from them.

The rattle is a known issue - anyone with concerns I’d suggest follow up now.

We are aware of the issue which affected a small batch of DragonFly Cobalt. A rattling or very loose USB board it not normal and we apologize concerning this. The distributor in Australia should be able to help with an exchange. If they are not able to please advise us and we will find other means to assist. Future production of Cobalt will not have this issue. Thank you for your input, your understanding and for giving us a second chance to remedy the issue.

 

[118900]

Regards the loosening USB connection, here is the reply from AudioQuest to my email about it. Immediate response and the local distributors will arrange a replacement. Unfortunate, but excellent service from them.

The rattle is a known issue - anyone with concerns I’d suggest follow up now.

We are aware of the issue which affected a small batch of DragonFly Cobalt. A rattling or very loose USB board it not normal and we apologize concerning this. The distributor in Australia should be able to help with an exchange. If they are not able to please advise us and we will find other means to assist. Future production of Cobalt will not have this issue. Thank you for your input, your understanding and for giving us a second chance to remedy the issue.

Excellent news

 

[Deftone]

The wiggle has been eliminated now the boosted output can be debated.

 

[revand]

Ready for Cobalt vs Mojo yet?

I compared the Cobalt with the Mojo!
Believe or not with my Meze 99 Classics headphone and KZ ZS5 IEM the Cobalt clearly (!) proved to be a Mojo killer (!!!) I know that with other headphone gear other result may occur!
For me the Mojo's bass was too much (enriched) the Cobalt's bass was very natural. On the Short Tales of the Black Forrest guitar concert track both delivered excellent details, but Cobalt sounded more natural and engaging for me.
On Green Day's Wake me up When September Ends from TIDAL Masters the MQA rendering function of the Cobalt gives a considerable advantage over the Mojo: Improved dynamics, better guitar timbre, more rocky sound, and larger soundstage!
On Blue Note's recording Norwegian Wood (Patricia Barber) even if this song has "just" HIFI not Master quality the only factor the Mojo is better is Barber's beautifully natural voice, but the bass guitar the cymbals and the piano sound more "digital" on the Mojo, and sound more natural on the Cobalt!!!

It was a big surprise for me what AQ achieved from such a small device, but this is really so good!
I also compared it with Fiio M11 and found the Cobalt clearly better sounding than the M11.

Just to prove that I am not biased I do not own any of the above mentioned devices!
I am an audiophile blogger who is using as portable audio device a Hiby W5 (Bluetooth!) player with a Vorzüge VorZAMP Pure II+ headphone amplifier. My portable audio system was close to the Cobalt, but overall the Cobalt proved to be a winner.
The high price is fully justified here! The AQ DFC review is coming soon on my blog....
So far the Cobalt is the best portable audio device of the Year!

 

[Tenashus1]

I compared the Cobalt with the Mojo!
Believe or not with my Meze 99 Classics headphone and KZ ZS5 IEM the Cobalt clearly (!) proved to be a Mojo killer (!!!) I know that with other headphone gear other result may occur!
For me the Mojo's bass was too much (enriched) the Cobalt's bass was very natural. On the Short Tales of the Black Forrest guitar concert track both delivered excellent details, but Cobalt sounded more natural and engaging for me.
On Green Day's Wake me up When September Ends from TIDAL Masters the MQA rendering function of the Cobalt gives a considerable advantage over the Mojo: Improved dynamics, better guitar timbre, more rocky sound, and larger soundstage!
On Blue Note's recording Norwegian Wood (Patricia Barber) even if this song has "just" HIFI not Master quality the only factor the Mojo is better is Barber's beautifully natural voice, but the bass guitar the cymbals and the piano sound more "digital" on the Mojo, and sound more natural on the Cobalt!!!

It was a big surprise for me what AQ achieved from such a small device, but this is really so good!
I also compared it with Fiio M11 and found the Cobalt clearly better sounding than the M11.

Just to prove that I am not biased I do not own any of the above mentioned devices!
I am an audiophile blogger who is using as portable audio device a Hiby W5 (Bluetooth!) player with a Vorzüge VorZAMP Pure II+ headphone amplifier. My portable audio system was close to the Cobalt, but overall the Cobalt proved to be a winner.
The high price is fully justified here! The AQ DFC review is coming soon on my blog....
So far the Cobalt is the best portable audio device of the Year!

I cannot help but agree wholeheartedly. It really is quite the little item.

 

[118900]

I cannot help but agree wholeheartedly. It really is quite the little item.

I have yet to hear either the mojo or the hugo2 myself, however IF (as many people seem to suggest, including an acquaintance) the mojo is already relatively close in terms of sound quality to the hugo2 and the DRC beats the mojo hands down, is it now being suggested that the DFC is on a par or close to the Hugo with its 7 fold price difference? Please note I am not trying to be polemic with this question, I am genuinely interested whether this is indeed the case.

 

[a-LeXx]

All versions of dragonfly have a very low power headphone amplifier. While it‘s enough to drive some headphones, it‘s by far not enough to drive many big cans. Mojo and Hugo both have a much stronger amplification section.

So, if the power output is enough to drive your headphones - the sound quality is subjektiv, one would prefer Mojo, another one Hugo, third person would prefer DFC or DFR. Also depends on headphones...

 

[GDuss]

I have yet to hear either the mojo or the hugo2 myself, however IF (as many people seem to suggest, including an acquaintance) the mojo is already relatively close in terms of sound quality to the hugo2 and the DRC beats the mojo hands down, is it now being suggested that the DFC is on a par or close to the Hugo with its 7 fold price difference? Please note I am not trying to be polemic with this question, I am genuinely interested whether this is indeed the case.

I'm not sure everyone would agree that DFC beats Mojo. DFC and Mojo sound different to me in the way they present music (and in a way that I am entirely unqualified to put into words, unlike many of the professional reviewers). I prefer the way Mojo sounds, but in fairness, I have had Mojo much longer than DFC (Mojo about 2 years, DFC less than 1.5 months). I will say that DFC is the first device where I don't struggle with the decision to leave Mojo at home when I'm out/traveling. Now I can grab DFC, head out the door, and I don't think twice about it. As for whether Mojo is close to Hugo2 (I have both), to me they are close. People will of course say it is night and day different, and maybe on their headphones/IEMs that's true, but I don't think that is true on mine. Whether the difference in price between Mojo and Hugo2 is worth it to anyone, even if they are night and day, is completely up to them.

 

[Haden2866]

I have yet to hear either the mojo or the hugo2 myself, however IF (as many people seem to suggest, including an acquaintance) the mojo is already relatively close in terms of sound quality to the hugo2 and the DRC beats the mojo hands down, is it now being suggested that the DFC is on a par or close to the Hugo with its 7 fold price difference? Please note I am not trying to be polemic with this question, I am genuinely interested whether this is indeed the case.

I'm not sure I would agree with your statement that DFC beats Mojo hands down - if you look at all the reviews and take an average then you might conclude that DFC is perhaps more relaxed-sounding, and that may well be your preference, but most reviews and impressions suggest that Mojo retrieves more detail, and again that might be your thing. And as @a-LeXx helpfully points out, Mojo has a much more powerful output than DFC, which may suit some use cases.
I still haven't heard DFC yet so I can't give an opinion but to anyone new to this thread your post might position DFC as a Mojo killer and I don't feel that's necessarily representative.

 

[ElectricL]

Can easily have to do with UAPP hijacking the volume control. UAPP would actually change the hw-volume (that can be implemented differently in a dac, e.g. in an analog way by adjustable gain, or in a digital way). It might differ a lot from the original setting without UAPP. So if it worked without UAPP - then indeed most probablyUAPP is a root cause of your issue. In this case no FW update will fix it. You probably have that option activated that starts UAPP every time you attach a DAC. Disable that one, restart your phone - the issue then should be gone...

UAPP was the culprit. After disabling autostart everything is back to normal.

 

[ElectricL]

Another thing, regarding the hiss. It turns out that viper4android, even though it does wonders for the overall sound it's responsible for the audible hiss. With viper turned off there is no hiss. So I guess it's a compromise when using viper. Just wanted to add that for anybody wondering about hiss and the cobalt+846.

 

[118900]

I'm not sure I would agree with your statement that DFC beats Mojo hands down - if you look at all the reviews and take an average then you might conclude that DFC is perhaps more relaxed-sounding, and that may well be your preference, but most reviews and impressions suggest that Mojo retrieves more detail, and again that might be your thing. And as @a-LeXx helpfully points out, Mojo has a much more powerful output than DFC, which may suit some use cases.
I still haven't heard DFC yet so I can't give an opinion but to anyone new to this thread your post might position DFC as a Mojo killer and I don't feel that's necessarily representative.

It’s not me that says it. I’m asking a question based on others making that statement. As I wrote I have never heard either the mojo or the hugo2 but some people are making very strong statements hence the question

 

[Condocondor]

DFC is close in sound quality to my Micro iDSD Black Label. The Black Label has more power and better sound staging than DFC. I can use the XBass and 3D+ switches on the BL to improve some recordings and add some fun. However, the DFC has a very slightly better defined bass response; it's a bit tighter. But honestly, it's so close. The Micro iDSD BL is more musical, more versatile, more powerful, and more fun. The stunner is how close DFC comes to iDSD BL performance in a package that so damn small!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Dewan7825]

I recently purchased my DFC and I am thoroughly enjoying it. Before that I used to listen over DFB and definitely DFC is way better than it. I am using iPhone XS Max as my source and the only problem is when I use CA Comet earphones the battery dies very quickly and because of that I am exploring my other options and I came across IFI xCAN and heard good reviews about them but before buying it I want to know how good it is compared to DFC sound wise specially while using bluetooth connection with iPhone. Thanks.