[CFGamescape]

@Bianchi1969
Hello Steve, is there a link for searching updates for the dragonfly-red files.
Any information about how to upgrade and which program to use.
My manual did not show any information therefore

I think your DragonFly will automatically update if there is an update available, provided it's plugged into a Mac or PC, and will prompt you if you want to proceed with the update or not.

 

[Hubert481]

I will not connect it to any computer
Only to iphone and ipad
If there is any update, i will connect it to a windows PC

 

[dacari]

For update our Dragonsflys soon there will be a Desktop app.
 
http://www.audioquest.com/dragonfly-series/#downloads

 

[mofu]

Hi Steve, I don't think Audioquest is copping out at all. Not one bit. I used to be Dilbert and have decades of system analyst work experience, programming UNIX MS AIX, blah blah. No I can't solve this either

. But the DAC manufactures are on their own with this problem. As long as Google/Android has a Play Store selling low res music they are not going to fix this. It's against their financial interests. Android has zero interest in solving this or it would have been done. Yet If UAPP can circumvent Nature then so can others. If a driver can be written, and it can, it could reside On the Dragonfly and load when plugged in. Or just be an installed driver like on Windows. Seems everyone has their own driver on Windows. Like Windows, Android has to sit on many different hardware platforms. Readers should know it would be very expensive for a single company like Audioquest attempt to support every flavor of Android. Even Android doesn't want to do it. Some Android Hardware Coilition could be formed between the DAC makers to resolve this. I'm sure their are some DAC makers that feel you shouldn't be fooling with Android in the first place. I'll stop, I could write a book.

AFAIK the required feature(class compliant usb audio) is present in Vanilla Android. The problem are manufacturers who turn it off because they do not want to support it.
UAPP works because they have their own driver in userland. A global driver could only be installed on rooted phones.
A different solution would require each app programmer to run their own userland driver.
A DAC manufacturer coalition could maybe try to persude phone manufacturers to not omit the driver in ther kernel builds.

 

[jyang]

   
Well Steve, seems that the new Dragonflies are optimized to Apple products and smartphones in general. Using the Red with my Personal Computer (former target group of AQ) I find it a step back sonically compared to the Dragonfly 1.2. Everything seems to be a bit "too much", too much pressure, sound seems too fat, there no longer exists the transparency and separation of the 1.2. On PC it is too loud (as it is optimised for smartphones). Volume slider of JRiver is 10% as it was 40% with 1.2  
 
Any comments to this as I read in other forums that pc users made the same experience?

 
 Regards, Reinhard  

 
Hi GerMan,
 
Do you remember off the top of your head which forums had PC users that had the same experience (of the 1.2 being better optimized for PC) -- do you think you could point me in the right direction?
 
I'm buying 100% for a PC and trying to decide on Dragonfly Black or 1.2 but haven't found much info yet. I know of the forums audiokarma, audiocircle and diyaudio and there isn't much activity there yet on the Red and Black.
 
Many thanks,
JYang

 

[notfitforpublic]

Sorry about the vague info, was in the middle of something  I've tried the Red with the Audeze Sine briefly in store and it worked fine. At home with my 702's, it sounds good but is probably a little volume limited. With my HD 600's it works pretty well but they could definitely use more power. When used as a DAC in my desktop system feeding a Shiit Magni, it's definitely better than my usual desktop dac, the  original Cambridge DAC Magic although that's been around for quite a few years at this point and technology marches on. I would say the Red works great for IEM's and resonably easy to drive headphones

Appreciate the great info!

 

[CFGamescape]

Tried the Black for a few days and am returning it for a Red. The Black was too warm and didn't have enough clarity and instrument separation for my tastes. The bass was quite impactful, but felt a little loose. Mids were fine, but I didn't get that detail retrieval in the highs.
 
I think I was expecting more, but I don't think that's fair for a $100 device. But, between that and listening straight out of my iPhone, I actually preferred listening straight out of the iPhone.
 
Listening was done with my Sony MDR-7550 and Elecom HH1000A IEMs, which scale really well with higher output amps, and what I found was that the sound from the Black didn't do them justice. I would have tried it with the Ether C, but I misplaced my 6.3mm to 3.5mm adapter. I'm thinking it would have done alright, actually.
 
Hope I like the Red despite it costing twice as much. I'd love an on-the-go solution that complements my IEMs' abilities to scale. If it can perform close to 50% of what the iFi micro iDSD can, I'd be pretty satisfied.
 
A side note: My intention is to exclusively use the DragonFly with my iPhone, but I did try the Black briefly plugged straight into my work laptop streaming Tidal HiFi via Chrome. To my surprise, the sound was noticeably better than plugged into my iPhone. The volume, as I think it's been mentioned quite a bit in this thread, was also a lot more sensitive. In other words, listening was already quite loud at 10% volume whereas similar volume on the iPhone was around the 30% mark. Sound stage seemed wider. Is it just me or is this just the effect of the volume being more sensitive (i.e., music was just playing louder)?

 

[HerrWallen]

Picked up my Red yesterday, put a few hours on it.
 
First impressions: upfront and energetic, borderline aggressive sound with very good thump that at times comes across a little less dry than I prefer.
Nevertheless, it has body and “heft” with top-end shimmer that, depending on headphone might become a tad bright.
Nighthawk-owners should be very pleased with the signature tough, authoritative low-end with convincing treble that helps balance the dark-ish signature. My Fidelio X2 sounded just excellent and to my surprise the Red didn’t exaggerate the unnatural treble-glare in the X2s.  
Soundstage, imaging and detail-levels seems quite good but I haven’t really had the time for a proper listen.
 
As an amp it packs plenty of power, I was happy to hear how well it drove even my harder-than-average AKG K612 PROs, not to the loudest but with good synergy.
I wouldn’t go so far as to say the signature is warm but the 612s needs proper amping to sound alive and with the Red it had a nice, engaged presentation.
Listening to Maxwells Embrya was a joy, the low-end was close to visceral up through mid-bass and the upper mid to the treble octaves was not as bright or harsh as I expected (although the K612s aren’t the brightest of the series).
The only thing that I have yet to get my head around is the lower mid-range that sounded (ever so) slightly off.
Switching genres to Connecticut Early Music Festival Ensembles recording of Vivaldi’s Four Season, I couldn’t quite put my finger on it but the something in the string sections kept bugging me. At first I thought it almost sounded shallow/thin with a slight hollow ringing but going back and forth between tracks couldn’t confirm it.
I should be clear here, this might very well be “in my head/ears”, given some time (and recommended burn-in) my opinion will hopefully change/adjust.
 
As a pure DAC connected to the Ifi Audio Micro ICAN SE it delivers pretty much the same general signature. The ICAN is perhaps more transparent overall and adds some air to the presentation, the Dragonfly delivers ample punch and detail that compliments the ICANs slight analytical nature.
I won’t venture in comparison just yet, last week I spent some time with the HRT Music Streamer II+ and Rega DAC, when the Red have a day or two behind it I’ll do my best to compare them.
 
I won’t continue to bash the horse regarding android-connectivity, via the S7  Edge and UAPP I got more than satisfactory sound but outside that, well, I didn’t expect much.

So far I’m pleased with my purchase over-all, I bundled a jitterbug and will be testing them together after more burn-in.

 

[GoodGucciGoo]

I too am really curious about the performance of dragonfly vs. HA2

 

[defbear]

I have found I enjoy my DFR better with a Jitterbug in-line.

 

[MikeRight]

I too am really curious about the performance of dragonfly vs. HA2

It depends on what headphones are you going to use and what kind of sound do you like it.

IMHO Ha2 with Jh Audio Angie does not work well because of hiss. And you have to put in high gain to get some sound value.

Regarding space, the sound is very narrow in general.

Dragonfly offer enough power to move Angie and several kind of headphones. The most difficult to move the headphones the most differences you will notice between dragonflies.

In general I recommend dragonflies over ha2 because of power and portability. But please try them before purchasing if you can. Depending on you headphones they could match or not.

For example, I prefer the instrumental separation of the red over the black, but with Angies the red backwards middle band and voices.

That's the reason I finally purchased neither of them. They do not offer the polyvalent solution I need right now.

Good luck!

 

[0rangutan]

I too am really curious about the performance of dragonfly vs. HA2

See post 12: http://www.head-fi.org/t/805832/new-dragonfly-black-and-red-discussion#post_12533712

 

[GoodGucciGoo]

See post 12: http://www.head-fi.org/t/805832/new-dragonfly-black-and-red-discussion#post_12533712

Thanks for the review!

 

[GoodGucciGoo]

It depends on what headphones are you going to use and what kind of sound do you like it.

IMHO Ha2 with Jh Audio Angie does not work well because of hiss. And you have to put in high gain to get some sound value.

Regarding space, the sound is very narrow in general.

Dragonfly offer enough power to move Angie and several kind of headphones. The most difficult to move the headphones the most differences you will notice between dragonflies.

In general I recommend dragonflies over ha2 because of power and portability. But please try them before purchasing if you can. Depending on you headphones they could match or not.

For example, I prefer the instrumental separation of the red over the black, but with Angies the red backwards middle band and voices.

That's the reason I finally purchased neither of them. They do not offer the polyvalent solution I need right now.

Good luck!

I'm using HD600 at home and Westone UM30 pro on the go. I'm quite worried about the hiss to be honest because my UM30pro is very sensitive

 

[Signal2Noise]

The DFB arrived today! My DFR arrived a week ago but I haven't tried it yet. This is a long weekend coming up here in the North Country and with any luck it'll rain and I can test these puppies out.