[Colors]

Been using my Dragonfly Red for a few weeks (gift from gf) with Pinnacle P1 and Sennheiser Momentum IEM. Here are my impressions:

1. Much bigger difference when using TIDAL vs. Apple Music. You don't really hear much of a difference with Apple Music vs. there is much more body, detail, soundstage and bass with TIDAL.

2. Sounds better on laptop and car (yes I've tried it with my car) than iPhone. These two have a much stronger system and the detail and body of the music gets amplified.

3. It drives my P1 (50 ohms) better than my Senn Momentum IEM (16 ohms). Not surprising.

Conclusion: Basically, better if you have headphones or earphones with large resistance (ex: P1, EX4) and using FLACs.

Is it worth CAD250? I don't think so personally with the CCK costing CAD35 also. I would definitely get the DFB for CAD130 but not the red. Is it a great present? Definitely

Hope this helps anyone looking to buy it.

On a side note: I use this in conjunction with the Jitterbug. I find the Jitterbug is definitely worth the purchase price. It adds a lot of contrast (extension?) and warmth to my music. Basically it cleans up the music (in conjunction with DFR).

I will post more comments once I get my ER4XR.

 

[Colors]

What a disappointment. The right earphone of the ER4XR I ordered does not work (volume is much lower than the left). I was hoping to test it with my DFR and post some results.

 

[miguelfcp]

Where can I see the changelog of the new 1.07 version for DragonFly?

 

[SchwarzeWolke]

Tried the DF Black today with my NWZ-A15 from Sony. I used the WMC-NWH10 USB Conversion Cable from Sony. The DF Black was glowing magenta but I could not get any sound of it... It also drained the battery really quick...
In contrast, my ifi iDSD LE worked without any problems.

 

[RockStar2005]

This is not an Apple vs Android post. This is simply an observation of what Audioquest has done when releasing its Red and Black DACs which resemble "USB sticks." We use these sticks in North America. Audioquest made it easy for Apple to use its CCK to use most DACs readily usable. I use the Dragonfly Red on the road and the Mojo Chord when mobile around the house. If it is your belief that "Audioquest marketed the hell out of their new Dragonflies boosting (sic) that they're smarpthone (sic) comaptible (sic) then I would take it up with them. I have been reading Head-Fi for years and knew before purchasing that it would likely not work with my LG G5.

You state that the Dragonfly volume issue can easily be fixed with an app but then go on to say that issues will probably fixed when Android O comes out. Good luck with your stated 99% of other than Apple phones miraculously supporting Android O. Finally you bash the sound that comes directly from an Apple phone vs a Sony Xperia XZ. The purpose of this section is to comment on the Dragonfly which bypasses the phones' DAC.

The bottom line from where I see it is that those with Apple phones will have a good experience. For android, most likely Audioquest will come out with some sort of list of phones which they will support with updates. It won't be a standard per say, but at least something that let's the consumer know where they stand with respect to compatibility. If you own an Android phone it would wise to research whether the Dragonfly is right for you now, not in a future wonderland of maybes. Buyer beware.

Has anyone confirmed that since this posting that Android O has "fixed" this issue yet on for ALL Android phones running O?

Someone on Amazon just posted this comment on 3/15 (below) which seems to state it hasn't been fixed, but even now in March of 2018 many phones still don't have Oreo yet, so I don't know if this guy has it or not as he doesn't even mention which Android phone he owns. For example, I have the locked T-Mobile LG V30, and still have NOT received the Oreo update yet.

Spoiler

Additionally, many Dragonfly owners (this one too) report weak volume during playback even with the phone/tablet volume at maximum. Apparently the Android's native audio-over-USB driver does not permit the Dragonfly Red to achieve its full (internal) volume capability. As a result, even with the phone/tablet volume placed at maximum, the listening volume is barely adequate. Any noisy environment - plane, train, subway, etc - will result in the played file being hard to hear. After emails with Audioquest and more Google searching, this is a known issue going back a couple of years and is attributed to the native Android audio-over-USB driver limiting the Dragonfly to approximately one third its available (internal) volume output. A fix has been discussed all this time, and would seem to be on Google/Android to rectify at some point.

So, what to do if one wants to use the Dragonfly? Audioquest recommends the USB Audio Player Pro ($8, downloadable from Google Play Store). It contains an independent audio-over-USB driver and allows the user to increase the volume of played material to more reasonable levels (within the settings menu of the USB Audio Player Pro). (Note: I searched for free alternatives to this player, but was unable to find any that worked as well, with one causing some distortion when amplifier power was raised.) The combination of the Dragonfly Red, USB Audio Player Pro, and my headphones sound magnificent. So, until the driver issue is rectified by Android, owners of Android equipment may need to seek a different music player software than the one they currently use due to the audio-over-USB driver issue.

Just curious is all. If the new Sony Xperia XZ2 Pro comes out AND has T-Mobile-certified VoLTE on it (it prob won't, but maybe? lol), I may upgrade cuz I love and prefer Sony Xperia phones above all else.

 

[west0ne]

Oreo does not appear to have fixed the volume control issue with the Dragonfly Black. I have the S9, I haven't rooted yet so it still needs UAPP to change the volume and it still glows pink with all audio when UAPP isn't being used.

I've also used unofficial versions of Oreo with the same results.

 

[RockStar2005]

Oreo does not appear to have fixed the volume control issue with the Dragonfly Black. I have the S9, I haven't rooted yet so it still needs UAPP to change the volume and it still glows pink with all audio when UAPP isn't being used.

I've also used unofficial versions of Oreo with the same results.

Hmm ok. Thanks west0ne! I guess if I change phones in the near future and the amp/DAC on it isn't up to par, I'll have to look into the USB Audio app then.

 

[Cyral]

Anyone has issues with using the dragonfly with Tidal? When streaming mqa content it sounds distorted and I can see some changes in the light on the dragonfly, a very light flicker from pink to dark pink ( which you see when streaming mqa ).

Also, the dragonfly will jump to max volume when I play the first song after opening tidal, which happend twice already.. painful.

 

[Bartig]

Hi guys, I read pages of your posts here, but I still wonder: does the DFR work properly on an iPhone X now?

I made an appointment to buy one this evening, I can still pass it now...

 

[Cyral]

No problems here with the iphone x and the red dragonfly.

 

[RockStar2005]

Hi guys, I read pages of your posts here, but I still wonder: does the DFR work properly on an iPhone X now?

I made an appointment to buy one this evening, I can still pass it now...

From what I understood, the only issue with the DFR was with Android, not iOS. But I didn't read through every single post of the 282 pages on here thus far lol, so I may be wrong.

 

[N0m1nd]

Hi all

I have a problem with my new Dragonfly RED on my Samsung Galaxy S8+.
On my Desktop Computer i notice an improvement of soundquality using the DFR. On the Galaxy S8 the soundquality is considerably worse than over the headphone jack.
I use a normal Samsung USB OTG adapter-dongle between DFR and the phone. As music player i use USB Audio Player Pro (Headphones: Audioquest Nighthawk ).

Any idea why DFR is not working properly on my S8? Thanks a lot!

 

[DancingBlue]

No problems here with the iphone x and the red dragonfly.

Same.

 

[Bartig]

Bought it and everything seems to be fine, hurrah! Thanks!

 

[DancingBlue]

Bought it and everything seems to be fine, hurrah! Thanks!

One of us! One of us!