Well there’s a reason the DFR hasn’t bulged in price since release, or been replaced by a v2 device. There are a myriad contenders, but not many with that particular combination of ease of use, sound quality, amp power, excellent manufacturing quality and support from an established brand. I tried the Encore mDSD, it’s great but a step below in refinement, runs hot since it can decode more advanced formats that nobody uses and which require specific drivers...
The Cyrus Soundkey is supposed to be good and modern and seems even smaller, but with a laptop the footprint of a Dragonfly is negligible already and the Soundkey adds one cable to the equation since it doesn’t plug directly into a USB port. Plus it’s far from the DFR in power (they recommend 64 Ohms max impedance). I haven’t heard Beyerdynamic’s Impacto, it’s priced above Audioquest’s line but can only,
exclusively, be used with their own headphones (!?).
That’s the thing with most of the competition: the devices are too old, or not mature enough, or hampered by weird restrictions, or developed with capabilities just as bizarre that end up as liabilities, so you run into issues that Audioquest has wisely side-stepped as they kept gunning for what’s most important in this form factor.
If anything I’d draw your attention to another type of device entirely: the high-quality Bluetooth receivers such as Radsone’s
ES100, which acts as an external USB DACs for a PC like the DFR does, but mostly feeds your wired gear with dual AKM DAC sound through LDAC or aptX HD and works its magic from your pocket, in your car... Amazing app when used from a phone too, and their support has been incredible through the past months.
