[Xaborus]

Its good to know that I'm not the only one having this issue!
 
I'm going to get into contact with Audioquest and post an update here on if this is a known issue.

 

[Pastapipo]

   
Don't ever let the real world get in the way lol! 
 
I haven't heard the DFB, so I have to take the word of people who have compared both (for example). But I'd be very surprised if the zuperdac doesn't compare quite favorably - I have only read positive reviews about it, and it sounds stellar to my ears with all of my gear. Anyway, it's great having so many reasonably priced yet awesome dacs to choose from these days

 
 
It is indeed just a single opinion, more are needed for a reliable representation. Still, I stand with my opinion that the ZuperDAC does sound noticeably better than the DFB.
Not that the DFB does sound bad in any way, but the ZuperDAC is more layered and has a better soundstage to my ears. 
The DFB does add a touch of bass, which is quite favourable in bright IEMs like the Vivo XE800. They pair excellently. In all other cases, I prefer the ZuperDAC.

 

[drummguy26]

so I've read quite a few posts saying that DFB is not as refined or clear as the DFR, which I guess is true (haven't heard either of them at the moment, but my DFR is on its way ). But comparing the DFB to the regular audio coming out of the iphone 6, would one say that it has more clarity/refinement than that? Remember, Im coming from nothing and have no idea what to expect once my DFR comes in, but Im just curious as to what the performance differences are in the opinions of the people on this thread with the DFB and DFR compared to the iphone 6 audio.

 

[foreverzer0]

  so I've read quite a few posts saying that DFB is not as refined or clear as the DFR, which I guess is true (haven't heard either of them at the moment, but my DFR is on its way ). But comparing the DFB to the regular audio coming out of the iphone 6, would one say that it has more clarity/refinement than that? Remember, Im coming from nothing and have no idea what to expect once my DFR comes in, but Im just curious as to what the performance differences are in the opinions of the people on this thread with the DFB and DFR compared to the iphone 6 audio.

 
I would say it's preference and where you're at in your audio journey. For average consumers with IEMs, I would recommend the black due to it being warmer and bassy with laid back treble which makes it really easy to listen to. Also, the differences I hear are a lot less if you're using it as a DAC only. For full sized headphones that require more power, maybe step it up to the Red.
 
I did a longer comparison along with a few other dacs in another thread here: http://www.head-fi.org/t/816199/audio-opus-opus-11/30#post_12814284

 

[Pastapipo]

  so I've read quite a few posts saying that DFB is not as refined or clear as the DFR, which I guess is true (haven't heard either of them at the moment, but my DFR is on its way ). But comparing the DFB to the regular audio coming out of the iphone 6, would one say that it has more clarity/refinement than that? Remember, Im coming from nothing and have no idea what to expect once my DFR comes in, but Im just curious as to what the performance differences are in the opinions of the people on this thread with the DFB and DFR compared to the iphone 6 audio.

 
I do not own any Apple products, but from the DFB sounds significantly better than all my android phones and my laptop.
The sound is much more dynamic and clear.

 

[drummguy26]

I would say it's preference and where you're at in your audio journey. For average consumers with IEMs, I would recommend the black due to it being warmer and bassy with laid back treble which makes it really easy to listen to. Also, the differences I hear are a lot less if you're using it as a DAC only. For full sized headphones that require more power, maybe step it up to the Red.

I did a longer comparison along with a few other dacs in another thread here: http://www.head-fi.org/t/816199/audio-opus-opus-11/30#post_12814284

I do not own any Apple products, but from the DFB sounds significantly better than all my android phones and my laptop.
The sound is much more dynamic and clear.

Thanks for your replies guys! I already have the DFR on the way, so once I save up $100, I'll just buy the Black too =) and good comparison foreverzero. It was a good read through

 

[drummguy26]

Just got my DFR. Listening to it with Tidal. So far I'm impressed with its sound quality. And I can only imagine how much better it's gonna get with burn in. =)

But quick question, the color on my DFR is green with Tidal on HiFi settings. Is it possible to get magenta color with tidal?

 

[pkcpga]

Just got my DFR. Listening to it with Tidal. So far I'm impressed with its sound quality. And I can only imagine how much better it's gonna get with burn in. =)

But quick question, the color on my DFR is green with Tidal on HiFi settings. Is it possible to get magenta color with tidal?

Tidal hifi is only cd lossless right now, supposably Mqa will be available at some point. But there are no streaming hi res right now, the songs must be downloaded first.

 

[Devodonaldson]

Just got my DFR. Listening to it with Tidal. So far I'm impressed with its sound quality. And I can only imagine how much better it's gonna get with burn in. =)

But quick question, the color on my DFR is green with Tidal on HiFi settings. Is it possible to get magenta color with tidal?

Tidal hi-fi plays at 16/44.1. Green is the color you want as that is what is being played. Anything would be up sampling which can create it's own issues

 

[estreeter]

Just got my DFR. Listening to it with Tidal. So far I'm impressed with its sound quality. And I can only imagine how much better it's gonna get with burn in. =)

But quick question, the color on my DFR is green with Tidal on HiFi settings. Is it possible to get magenta color with tidal?

 
 
Be happy - as others have pointed out, you are getting Rodbook quality from a streaming service. Technically, you are getting 24/44.1 via the DFR and you could set your OS to upsample everything to 24/96 (magenta) but it would serve no worthwhile purpose. MQA is a giant ant's nest for mine - I liked the few sample files that are available on the 2L site, but until I see evidence that the music I have has been 'revisited' using the relevant ADC and released as a certified MQA download, its not something I'm prepared to spend money on.
 
FWIW, this is one of the few 24/96 downloads I own that I would be prepared to say is an improvement on their Redbook efforts, but it was pointed out to me that the sound quality is likely to be more around the care taken in the recording process by people who knew this would be an 'audiophile' download than the format. Whatever - it was beautifully recorded, especially the strings on Illumination Theory. This is the only HDTracks album where I was sufficiently confident in the providence to part with my cash for the download.
 
http://www.hdtracks.com/dream-theater
 
http://www.enjoythemusic.com/magazine/music/1013/rock/dream_theater_dream_theater.htm
 
Edit : just to clarify the '24/44.1' reference, you wont get anything near 24-bits resolution from Redbook or the DT download - it's a reference to the fact that the current DF models operate at 24-bits natively.

 

[pkcpga]

Be happy - as others have pointed out, you are getting Rodbook quality from a streaming service. Technically, you are getting 24/44.1 via the DFR and you could set your OS to upsample everything to 24/96 (magenta) but it would serve no worthwhile purpose. MQA is a giant ant's nest for mine - I liked the few sample files that are available on the 2L site, but until I see evidence that the music I have has been 'revisited' using the relevant ADC and released as a certified MQA download, its not something I'm prepared to spend money on.

FWIW, this is one of the few 24/96 downloads I own that I would be prepared to say is an improvement on their Redbook efforts, but it was pointed out to me that the sound quality is likely to be more around the care taken in the recording process by people who knew this would be an 'audiophile' download than the format. Whatever - it was beautifully recorded, especially the strings on Illumination Theory. This is the only HDTracks album where I was sufficiently confident in the providence to part with my cash for the download.

http://www.hdtracks.com/dream-theater

http://www.enjoythemusic.com/magazine/music/1013/rock/dream_theater_dream_theater.htm

Edit : just to clarify the '24/44.1' reference, you wont get anything near 24-bits resolution from Redbook or the DT download - it's a reference to the fact that the current DF models operate at 24-bits natively.

I'm in the air about Mqa as well, the first 30 or so songs available have been very good but they were mostly recorded in Mqa originally. So it'll be interesting to hear more remastered Mqa songs.

 

[randomdude]

Hi Head Fiers

I have back read most of the replies on this thread but I am still on the fence on buying the black or red.

To give you the current source that I use to play music I have the iphone 6s plus, Ipad Air 2, DX90 and MSI Laptop. So far from the 4 sources I rank them from best to good DX90 > MSI Laptop > Ipad Air 2 and Iphone 6s plus.

I use the Sony MDR Z7 as my main headphones which is 70 ohms. When I use the ios out I barely hear any bass and some of the details are lost. I do not know if this is because the headphone needs amping of if is the quality of the dac.

My question for anyone who listened to both dx90 SQ and DFR DFB SQ will there be a huge SQ difference in DFR vs dx90? How about DFB vs dx90? I love using the dx90 dac/dap in my PC but there is lag if I use it as a dac.

I am still on the fence if the SQ would be better with dragonfly. Still having a debate whether to get the DFR/DFB now or save for a chord MOJO if the difference is not huge.

 

[drummguy26]

So after spending a few hours listening to the DFR and comparing it with the sound coming out of my iPhone (it's all I have to a/b it) I can safely say that the DFR is a significant upgrade from the iPhone itself in its own right. I can definitely see where a lot of people are coming from when they say things like the DFR is bright, has better refinement, looser bass, etc. The musical separation, clarity and cleanliness is definitely its strong point. Now whether I'd say the DFR is too bright, I don't think that's an accurate description of what's really going on here. To me it feels that the treble is simply better represented, much cleaner and clearer and is smoothed out for a very lushious feel and taste. I love how the DFR handles the highs. The only thing that has been bugging me is that the impact of the bass seems to be lessened... Not saying it's totally gone because that's not true. It's still there, but just doesn't have as much impact as it did before. The bass is good quality for sure, but I hope this is one of those things (impact/depth) that'll tighten up and become more prominent as the DFR burns in.

And I'm thinking the only way I can get my tight punchy bass fix is to just go ahead and buy the Black too and just switch out between the Red for whatever I'm in the mood for. Get the best of both worlds. =)

 

[SomeGuyDude]

I've long since learned to stop paying attention to buzzwords in descriptions because I swear depending on who you talk to and what imperfection they were hoping to fix, burn-in or new cables or a better amp/DAC will ALWAYS fix it.Every single one will have someone saying it makes the bass more refined but also somehow more impactful,  the highs will be clearer but also less shrill, the soundstage is better and the imagining is more accurate, mids are usually more "lush", etc etc etc.
 
To my ears, yes, the DFR is basically a "cleaner" output. Maybe it IS a touch bright, but I have bassy headphones so it mixes well. It's a permanent fixture on my work laptop (tube amp at home).

 

[randomdude]

I've long since learned to stop paying attention to buzzwords in descriptions because I swear depending on who you talk to and what imperfection they were hoping to fix, burn-in or new cables or a better amp/DAC will ALWAYS fix it.Every single one will have someone saying it makes the bass more refined but also somehow more impactful,  the highs will be clearer but also less shrill, the soundstage is better and the imagining is more accurate, mids are usually more "lush", etc etc etc.

To my ears, yes, the DFR is basically a "cleaner" output. Maybe it IS a touch bright, but I have bassy headphones so it mixes well. It's a permanent fixture on my work laptop (tube amp at home).

I have the sony mdr z7 headphones. It is quite bassy and the mids felt like they are being covered a bit by the bass. Ill try to get the red one via amazon and compare it with my dx90.