[John Culter]

  Just received the Dragonfly Red. to be honest was hoping it would be close with my Mojo, so I could use it as main with my SE846 and SRH1540
 
So far Ive done limited testing, but can say with ease, its not going to replace the Mojo, or even close (to my ears)
 
Tested with iPhone and Macbook and Flacplayer and Fideila on Mac.
 
As for iPhone it might be worth keeping for upgrade to power and sound, and is great pick up and go portable solution, never did get to take Mojo out much even after getting custom cable to make it easy.
 
but when used as a desktop solution Mojo wins hands down, I found myself forgetting I was testing and listening to the full track with the Mojo, it has such depth and foot taping abilities.
 
Will do more testing with other types of music (so far just Radiohead, Zeppelin, Jazz funk and Bowie)
 
Hope that helps anyone about to buy this for same reason as me!

Very interesting. Looks like you have very good ears. So you are able to pass the blind test anytime with the SE846 on the Mojo / Dragonfly Red?

 

[English Gent]

Recon I could, with the music Ive listened to in admittedly short time, the soundstage and bass extension on the Mojo is better to my ears, and far more refined, same track on the Dragonfly makes my headphones crackle on same(ish) volume.
 
Going to do more listening today on iPhone.

 

[GerMan]

  Windows 10. System volume at 2% and foobar2k volume at 20%. Anything higher would make it louder than I'm comfortable with.

 
I also found the Dragonfly Red to be much too loud when using it with Windows PC, as it obviously was optimized for smartphone usage. I also was shocked when using it with PC and JRiver MC and foobar. Sent it back as obviously the new target group is no longer PC user as it was in former times. UAPP of course is no solution when using it with Windows and foobar or JRiver. 
 
Switches back to my Dragonfly 1.2 which is highly acclaimed with PC usage.

 

 

[brent75]

It's interesting how people have so many varying takeaways from these. I actually prefer my Red on my laptop than I do on my iPhone.

 

[SpiderNhan]

I have no issues with my Win10 laptop, Win10 PC, Android 5.1.1 or Android 6.0.1 smartphones using both JRiver MC and UAPP. Poweramp Alpha and Onkyo HF Player also work great on Android.

You can also use an Android emulator on the PC and run UAPP. Never tried it.

 

[link89]

The USB connector on the Dragonfly is very long. That is how it looks with my cable too.

Try downloading Onkyo HF Player or USB Audio Player Pro and see if the DF works. Also try using a different OTG cable. Android cables are very sensitive.

 
Onkyo HF Player just oddly plays back sound in 'fastforward', it's useless gibberish.
 
 
But WHOA.....USB Audio Player Pro on the other hand cost me £5.80 on the Playstore but it works perfectly! Instrument separation and bass is a hundred times better than without the DAC. Very satisfied with the quality.
 
However I'm not sure how I'm meant to listen to streaming services as I had to download MP3s and move them onto my phone's SD card in order for the music to be tested. Day to day I rely on Spotify but from what I read on the net, USB Audio Player Pro should actually work with Tidal so I'm about to give that a go. Whereas if I try to play Spotify with the DAC connected, it just plays music through the phone speakers as opposed to through the earphones. 
 
Also, the DAC works beautifully with my laptop, it is a touch too 'bright' for my ears (in agreement with other users on these boards) and as a result I've found that my favourite setting is to tick the Bass-Boost option (Spotify has no equalizer) in the WIndows 10 Sound device settings (see here: http://imgur.com/pHtn8Ic ) it kind of puts a damper on the brightness and it also boosts the bass, which actually sounds incredible if you like a lot of hip hop and dance music, particularly thru the Sennheiser IE800's which produce bass extremely cleanly, especially the sub bass like a subwoofer in a bass-head's car or something.  I never realised these IEMs were capable of sounding like this, since the Dragonfly black is the first DAC i've ever owned. Very happy with it.
 
There is one flaw I've noticed with Spotify+Windows 10 usage and that is every few minutes (maybe at each 10-15mins) it very briefly severely warps the music you are listening to, into what I can only describe as 'slow motion' with some robotic tones thrown in, almost as if the sound suddenly gets stuck in molasses for 3-5 seconds. It's very obvious and distracting. Not the faintest clue what causes this.

 

[frifox]

I also found the Dragonfly Red to be much too loud when using it with Windows PC, as it obviously was optimized for smartphone usage. I also was shocked when using it with PC and JRiver MC and foobar. Sent it back as obviously the new target group is no longer PC user as it was in former times. UAPP of course is no solution when using it with Windows and foobar or JRiver. 

Switches back to my Dragonfly 1.2 which is highly acclaimed with PC usage.  

I'm suspecting I'll have to do the same, returning the product and continue looking for other solutions. Primary my usage is going to be mobile, which I guess would be make me the target audience but DF just doesn't work.

I use many other apps, such as Spotify, PlayerPro, Crunchyroll, YouTube, etc. Using only one app, UAPP, is not a solution.

Guess I'm back to FiiO E17 for now. Pitch black noise floor and works flawlessly with both PC and Mobile. I'll continue looking for other "micro" dacs like this DF in the meantime. The E17 while working perfect it's a bit on the large side for a device I'd like to be portable...

Unless, DF and Android start playing nice together which I'm highly hoping for. The quality out of DF when it does work is nothing short of amazing!

 

[HerrWallen]

Having spent some time with my RED I'm really starting to enjoy it, many of the things that worried me in my initial impression settled in quite nicely.
The general SQ and power to drive is some of the strong points here, fitting my need for an compact laptop DAC+AMP when away from my desk and transparent desktop DAC connected to my amp of choice for very hard-to-drive-headphones.
 

  Windows 10. System volume at 2% and foobar2k volume at 20%. Anything higher would make it louder than I'm comfortable with. Similar story with my Galaxy S7, currently the lowest 1/15 setting and it's still too damn loud. What's worse is on the cellphone the hiss is just unbearable (similar to setting system volume to 100% on the PC), both normal apps and with UAPP.

 
Wow, those IEMs must be super-sensitive! Most of my ready-for-iDevices gets enjoyably loud at around 20% (Win10 system volume, music player at 100%) on my RED with some room left for "rocking out" even higher. The Fostex T50RPs (Mk3) on the other hand have to be roughly at 50% (still, system volume) for the same volume-level.
 

   
I also found the Dragonfly Red to be much too loud when using it with Windows PC, as it obviously was optimized for smartphone usage. I also was shocked when using it with PC and JRiver MC and foobar. Sent it back as obviously the new target group is no longer PC user as it was in former times. UAPP of course is no solution when using it with Windows and foobar or JRiver. 
 
Switches back to my Dragonfly 1.2 which is highly acclaimed with PC usage.

 

 
I don´t really "get" this target group argument at all. In my (humble) opinion it pairs extremely well with my PCs, both as DAC+AMP and as DAC connected to external AMP.
Naturally, I haven't listened to every available DAC but I have some recent experience with the HRT Music Streamer II+ and I must say that the RED comes really close to it (and even surpassing in some areas) despite the RED retailing well below the HRT when it was available.
 
Did you let the RED settle in before you returned it? One thing I've found after 40~ish hours is that the upper mids and treble seemed to calm down, going from "shouty" to engaged and connecting much better with the lower octaves over-all.
 
I haven't heard the 1.2 but it must be a pretty amazing device if it's better than the RED.
 

   
There is one flaw I've noticed with Spotify+Windows 10 usage and that is every few minutes (maybe at each 10-15mins) it very briefly severely warps the music you are listening to, into what I can only describe as 'slow motion' with some robotic tones thrown in, almost as if the sound suddenly gets stuck in molasses for 3-5 seconds. It's very obvious and distracting. Not the faintest clue what causes this.

 
I haven't notice any weirdness in Spotify at all on at least three PCs (Windows 7, 10 and Ubuntu Linux, mixed and/or dual-booting) and I spend at least two hours a day with it as source. 
Have you tried your Dragonfly on any other PC?

 

[canali]

For the red vs black debate... using black with ie800s. It's a fantastic upgrade to a mobile device. If red has one iota of treble bias over black, I would not choose it over black.

Is this contraption better than dedicated daps? Not to my ears by a long shot. But for the the price It's fantastic for no nonsense on the go great SQ that will leave you consoled if you have to sell the dap for food.

 
i have these sony 7550 iems, too....love the sound, but imo the fit and isolation could be better.
I will be heading back to my retailer to listen to the black, red and the mojo: all over again, lol.
 
 
thought i would share:
heads up i've just ordered these new babies:
the new 1more e1001...getting good reviews for supposedly kicking above their modest $100 price point.
http://www.head-fi.org/t/808683/1more-e1001-triple-driver-in-ear-headphones-review/15#post_12612889

 

[stuck limo]

   
There is one flaw I've noticed with Spotify+Windows 10 usage and that is every few minutes (maybe at each 10-15mins) it very briefly severely warps the music you are listening to, into what I can only describe as 'slow motion' with some robotic tones thrown in, almost as if the sound suddenly gets stuck in molasses for 3-5 seconds. It's very obvious and distracting. Not the faintest clue what causes this.

 
 
My friend is having that SAME EXACT ISSUE with Windows 7 + local files + Spotify + Dragonfly Black 1.5  on 2 different computers --- his Windows 7 + my Windows 10.......He's about to return because he's so upset about it and it won't stop doing it.

 

[GerMan]

  I haven't heard the 1.2 but it must be a pretty amazing device if it's better than the RED.

 
Well, it's just my personal opinion after comparing it over days to Red with PC and foobar 2000/JRiver MC. Others may come to different conclusions. At least 1.2  it had been highly acclaimed by most pc users, online and print hifi magazines for yeras. The first reviews I read about the Red are a bit cautious, not that excited they had been with 1.2. Waht is more, over 90% in this forum seem to use it mobile, so the have no direct comparison to 1.2. What strikes me a little is I find a bit too much of criticism here ragarding that the Red had been praised heavily prematuerly.   

 

[complete]

I I was vacillating between black/red, really red 100.-usd deserves the price difference?

 

[zolom]

Got the Black today. Conected it to my non rooted exynos S7 edge, playing Spotify. 
Althog sound volume level is quite low (had to push the s7 volume very high), I can still enjoy very good SQ via my Shure se846 IEM, usiing the Noozxoide Eizo Pro as my main equalizer provides spacious sound with good bass, far exceeding the native s7 sound as well as the HRT dSP dac/amp.
 
Hope a coming DFB firmware update will improve the volume issue for the s7
 
Thanks AQ.

 

[canali]

  I I was vacillating between black/red, really red 100.-usd deserves the price difference?

 
so complete: big SQ difference with/without the black?
 
and as per upgrading to the Red, well that is my question, too..esp given i wouldn't use it to drive any hard iems/cans.
 
downloaded all my spotify songs and apple itunes as (offline)
'extreme' (lol 340kps files) onto my new (and nifty) ipod touch 6
....eats more space but better sounding.

 

[jyang]

   
 
My friend is having that SAME EXACT ISSUE with Windows 7 + local files + Spotify + Dragonfly Black 1.5  on 2 different computers --- his Windows 7 + my Windows 10.......He's about to return because he's so upset about it and it won't stop doing it.

 
I've had this issue too with Win7, and now with Win10... and for me, it's not Dragonfly, because I'm only using onboard audio right now. For me it happens when CPU load is at or near 100% (or perhaps when other resources are low), and I don't recall earlier version of Windows having this sound effect when other process are sucking cycles from audio. And for me it's either local files on Foobar2k, or Youtube audio, pretty much any source.
 
There actually is an app called "Fidelizer", which has its own thread here, which should help to address this problem (if it is low PC resources for you guys too), which I haven't tried much yet: http://www.head-fi.org/t/794314/fidelizer-appreciation-and-impressions-thread
 
I also tried an app which exclusively sets process priority of apps higher or lower, "Prio", on Win7 (not available on Win10, though there are similar ones that are), and had some luck with it, though I imagine you wouldn't use it at the same time as Fidelizer.