[MarkF786]

I’ve had two Blacks in which the cap was easy to remove. Recently I bought a Red and the cap is a b*tch to remove.

Thank you. Yes I noticed that the cap is not symmetrical. I always it put the logo of the cap facing the light of the body, but even this way, it is hard to put the cap and even harder to remove it... Can you really remove it smoothly on yours?

 

[mjmax]

I’ve had two Blacks in which the cap was easy to remove. Recently I bought a Red and the cap is a b*tch to remove.

Interesting.. so some of them have this problem...
Mine doesn't look like a returned one, but of course it's difficult to know.. The packaging at least was new.

Here is one of the articles that I read and that tell DACs are not worth to buy... I am happy that I bought it anyway. From what I hear, the dragonfly really brings a great improvement.

https://warmleftovers.com/2016/03/21/portable-dacs-are-stupid-and-you-dont-need-one/

 

[zeroselect]

Interesting.. so some of them have this problem...
Mine doesn't look like a returned one, but of course it's difficult to know.. The packaging at least was new.

Here is one of the articles that I read and that tell DACs are not worth to buy... I am happy that I bought it anyway. From what I hear, the dragonfly really brings a great improvement.

https://warmleftovers.com/2016/03/21/portable-dacs-are-stupid-and-you-dont-need-one/

Great link to someone who has no clue what they are talking about.

That's like recommending someone to don't bother to purchase a GPU and just use your onboard graphics on your motherboard (or APU if you wanna get fancy).

 

[cathee]

That article has to be satire...

 

[KaiFi]

No offense, but the person who wrote that article is a dingbat

I agree that some portable DACs might not make as much of a difference, and how much difference they make is going to depend on what headphones you have and what kind of files you play, but once you've heard sound through a good DAC/amp, you're never going to want to go back to "on-board" audio.

 

[shultzee]

I am going to be listing a less than 2 month old DF Red on head-fi soon. If anyone is interested send me a pm.

 

[Sleepow]

Sorry, I could probably search the thread to find the info, but what is the status with clicks and pops on iPhone X.
I got the Dragonfly red yesterday with the USB2 CCK, unaware of the fact that this is a know defect.
Is there a chance this ever gets fixed or should I just forget it and try to get some money back.

 

[shoe73]

Sorry, I could probably search the thread to find the info, but what is the status with clicks and pops on iPhone X.
I got the Dragonfly red yesterday with the USB2 CCK, unaware of the fact that this is a know defect.
Is there a chance this ever gets fixed or should I just forget it and try to get some money back.

You have to use the USB3 CCK. Yes the search box could have gotten you there. Or you could go to Audioquest web site and check there, you would find:

-When connected to an iOS device using the recommended Camera Connection Kit, my DragonFly Red or Black exhibits clicks and pops in the background of the music. What should I do?
-In some rare instances, the combination of an iOS device in conjunction with the standard CCK and DragonFly Black or Red causes a clicking in the background of the music.
Neither we nor Apple have been able to determine why that is, but in circumstances where this occurs we’ve found that using Apple’s Lightning to USB 3.0 Camera Connection Kit resolves the problem. In addition, this connector offers improved audio performance over the smaller unit and gives the end user the ability to charge their iOS device while listening to music.​

 

[luckybaer]

Great link to someone who has no clue what they are talking about.

That's like recommending someone to don't bother to purchase a GPU and just use your onboard graphics on your motherboard (or APU if you wanna get fancy).

I can say that using the DFRed with my iPhone 7 makes a big difference vs. just using the dongle adapter thingy and headphones alone. I don't know if this is due to the DAC in the DFRed or the amp, but it does make my listening more enjoyable. Also, DFRed makes an even bigger difference (at least to my ears) when I use it in my car. Using dongle to aux cord is OK, but iPhone > CCK > DFRed > aux cord sounds clearer. Again, it is just my opinion. The DFRed is one of the better audio-related purchases I've made in a long time.

Oh, and the music on my iPhone is ALAC, not FLAC. But I do have FLAC copies on my hard drive(s) (right next to my ALAC copies). Hahaha... that blogger can sit and spin for all I care. I know what I like.

 

[Sleepow]

You have to use the USB3 CCK. Yes the search box could have gotten you there. Or you could go to Audioquest web site and check there, you would find:

-When connected to an iOS device using the recommended Camera Connection Kit, my DragonFly Red or Black exhibits clicks and pops in the background of the music. What should I do?
-In some rare instances, the combination of an iOS device in conjunction with the standard CCK and DragonFly Black or Red causes a clicking in the background of the music.
Neither we nor Apple have been able to determine why that is, but in circumstances where this occurs we’ve found that using Apple’s Lightning to USB 3.0 Camera Connection Kit resolves the problem. In addition, this connector offers improved audio performance over the smaller unit and gives the end user the ability to charge their iOS device while listening to music.​

Thank you for the reply.
Actually I was aware of the AQ FAQ; this is where I learnt that it is a known defect.
What I hope was some insight about : is there a chance this ever gets fixed (with the CCK); which basically means : is AQ still trying.

I am reluctant to get the CCK3 as it is not practical to have a dongle bigger than the actual device (would not have went the DFR route should have I known)

Judging by the tone of the FAQ, sounds like they gave up.

 

[Dorokun]

Been using DF Red with my Oppo PM-3 Cans for a while, it definitely improved the treble and soundstage of the PM-3 which I am happy with, though only by a little bit I'd say. Can't hear any notable improvement on the mids. The bass are somewhat more accurate and less muddy. I noticed better sound quality in 80% of my songs that I listened to. The improvement is welcomed, though I'm not sure if it's worth the 175 US dollars I spent. It also works flawlessly on my Samsung S8+ with the USB C male to USB A female adapter that came with the S8+

There's a minor problem that's been bothering me though, when I paused a song and resume it, usually it'd suddenly not put out any sound as if it froze for half a second. This happens on my laptop AND my phone. It happens more often on my laptop more than my phone, I use Foobar2000 on my laptop and I've never had this problem when I directly plug my cans into my laptop, so I'm assuming it's the DF red's fault. Though it doesn't happen often now compared when I first got it, still pretty happy with the sound it puts out compared to my laptop's own sound.

 

[DancingBlue]

Sorry, I could probably search the thread to find the info, but what is the status with clicks and pops on iPhone X.
I got the Dragonfly red yesterday with the USB2 CCK, unaware of the fact that this is a know defect.
Is there a chance this ever gets fixed or should I just forget it and try to get some money back.

You have to use the USB3 CCK. Yes the search box could have gotten you there. Or you could go to Audioquest web site and check there, you would find:

-When connected to an iOS device using the recommended Camera Connection Kit, my DragonFly Red or Black exhibits clicks and pops in the background of the music. What should I do?
-In some rare instances, the combination of an iOS device in conjunction with the standard CCK and DragonFly Black or Red causes a clicking in the background of the music.
Neither we nor Apple have been able to determine why that is, but in circumstances where this occurs we’ve found that using Apple’s Lightning to USB 3.0 Camera Connection Kit resolves the problem. In addition, this connector offers improved audio performance over the smaller unit and gives the end user the ability to charge their iOS device while listening to music.​

There have been mixed reports earlier in the thread. I had the clicks and pops issue with the DFR and CCK2 on my iPhone 6s+. I don't have the problem with the iPhone X. Can use the DFR and CCK2 for hours at a time, no problem at all. Silver iPhone X, 256GB, T-Mobile version. Latest version of iOS 11, CCK2 has latest firmware, as does the DFR. But I had no problems either with the last DFR firmware nor with earlier versions of iOS 11.

 

[Sleepow]

There have been mixed reports earlier in the thread. I had the clicks and pops issue with the DFR and CCK2 on my iPhone 6s+. I don't have the problem with the iPhone X. Can use the DFR and CCK2 for hours at a time, no problem at all. Silver iPhone X, 256GB, T-Mobile version. Latest version of iOS 11, CCK2 has latest firmware, as does the DFR. But I had no problems either with the last DFR firmware nor with earlier versions of iOS 11.

Hi,

Thank you for your reply.
Are the CCK firmware upgradable?

 

[DancingBlue]

Hi,

Thank you for your reply.
Are the CCK firmware upgradable?

Yeah, when you plug in the CCK2/3, if a firmware update is available, iOS will pop up an alert offering you the chance to upgrade or cancel. If you cancel, the popup will keep appearing every time you plug the CCK back in. So, if you don't get a popup, it means you're on the latest firmware.

 

[PeteMtl]

There have been mixed reports earlier in the thread. I had the clicks and pops issue with the DFR and CCK2 on my iPhone 6s+. I don't have the problem with the iPhone X. Can use the DFR and CCK2 for hours at a time, no problem at all. Silver iPhone X, 256GB, T-Mobile version. Latest version of iOS 11, CCK2 has latest firmware, as does the DFR. But I had no problems either with the last DFR firmware nor with earlier versions of iOS 11.

Same with me. Since I now use an iPhone X, I may use the CCK2 with the DFR without any noticeable clicks anymore. I just got the iPhone X, so I didn’t have time to use the DFR a lot since, but so far so good. I may use the CCK2 or CCK3 without any problems. Before I had the iPhone 6S and I noticed more clicks and pops with the CCK2. I already noticed that my iPhone 6S had the problem a lot more noticeable then with my iPad Pro 9.7. I may therefore conclude that the DFR/CCK2 clcks problems is more related to earlier iPhones such as the IP6S. I will test the iPhone X a lot more in the next few days but so far so good with the DFR and CCK2.