The Audioquest DragonFly has been previously discussed in this and other forums. It is a USB DAC that is based on the ESS Sabre and is the size of a USB flash drive. The DragonFly has a software analog volume control that is tied to the system wide volume control. It has a 3.5mm stereo output jack that will drive most headphones and long cables due to its low impedance. The DragonFly supports up to 96/24. What is particulary nice about this product is that it uses the Wavelength Streamlength USB interface that is rock stable with OSX and Windows. Gordon Rankin designed the DAC for Audioquest.I connected the output of the DragonFly to my Stax SRM007 TII amp that drove Stax SR007 Omega II headphones. I felt that this offered a significant improvement in sound quality over the direct output Sennheiser HD 600 headphones I had previously listened to.
The sound from the DragonFly was very good in that there was no hardness or brightness. The sound was balanced with decent bass. I was impressed with the midrange and high end detail I was hearing from such an inexpensive DAC. I listened using 88.2/24 and 96/24 files with Decibel. / OSX Lion. It is a very musical sounding DAC.
Besides being a great product for travel purposes, it will make a wonderful DAC to test the waters with computer audio. For those thinking of trying computer audio and not interested in spending a great deal of money, this $250 USB DAC is damn good.
Edits: 07/04/12 07/04/12 07/04/12 07/04/12
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Topic - More Comments on the Audioquest DragonFly - Mercman 14:08:47 07/04/12 (82)
- Analog volume controls bypass music players limitations - Sumflow 12:00:02 08/17/12 (1)
- AudioQuest miss-print - Sumflow 08:17:04 08/20/12 (0)
- Streaming into Dragonfly - Sumflow 00:53:30 08/12/12 (0)
- RE: More Comments on the Audioquest DragonFly - Willie The Squid 20:23:09 07/08/12 (0)
- RE: More Comments on the Audioquest DragonFly - ssilberman@audioquest.com 17:03:29 07/06/12 (26)
- RE: More Comments on the Audioquest DragonFly - fmak 23:25:55 07/07/12 (0)
- RE: More Comments on the Audioquest DragonFly - soundchekk 07:07:46 07/07/12 (19)
- RE: More Comments on the Audioquest DragonFly - ssilberman@audioquest.com 15:08:42 07/07/12 (10)
- RE: More Comments on the Audioquest DragonFly - soundchekk 02:54:53 07/08/12 (8)
- RE: More Comments on the Audioquest DragonFly - Mercman 06:54:57 07/08/12 (1)
- RE: More Comments on the Audioquest DragonFly - soundchekk 07:12:38 07/08/12 (0)
- RE: More Comments on the Audioquest DragonFly - Tony Lauck 05:50:49 07/08/12 (5)
- RE: More Comments on the Audioquest DragonFly - soundchekk 07:22:36 07/08/12 (0)
- RE: More Comments on the Audioquest DragonFly - Mercman 06:57:37 07/08/12 (3)
- Bypassing the highly ornate and extravagant audio stack - Sumflow 20:55:46 07/14/12 (0)
- I am consistently amused by all of the proclamations here about why something happened. - bwb 07:18:13 07/08/12 (1)
- RE: I am consistently amused by all of the proclamations here about why something happened. - Mercman 07:25:11 07/08/12 (0)
- Good Comments on the Audioquest DragonFly - Old Listener 17:34:30 07/07/12 (0)
- However, the vast majority of potential customers couldn't care less about your concerns - bwb 08:05:20 07/07/12 (7)
- RE: However, the vast majority of potential customers couldn't care less about your concerns - soundchekk 10:38:40 07/07/12 (5)
- RE: However, the vast majority of potential customers couldn't care less about your concerns - Bob_C 14:26:53 07/07/12 (0)
- interesting, so you think AQ understands very little about marketing? - bwb 13:57:29 07/07/12 (0)
- RE: However, the vast majority of potential customers couldn't care less about your concerns - Old Listener 10:53:26 07/07/12 (2)
- RE: However, the vast majority of potential customers couldn't care less about your concerns - Mike Mc 19:49:00 07/07/12 (1)
- RE: However, the vast majority of potential customers couldn't care less about your concerns - Old Listener 20:13:10 07/07/12 (0)
- the vast majority of potential customers just want ... - Old Listener 09:30:58 07/07/12 (0)
- RE: More Comments on the Audioquest DragonFly - Mercman 19:35:38 07/06/12 (0)
- the company's efforts are appreciated - Joe Murphy Jr 18:28:59 07/06/12 (0)
- RE: More Comments on the Audioquest DragonFly - Old Listener 17:37:52 07/06/12 (1)
- BigBird and AngryBird. Awesome! ROTFLMAO. nt - JoshT 20:37:27 07/06/12 (0)
- RE: More Comments on the Audioquest DragonFly - Dynobot 17:10:03 07/06/12 (0)
- RE: More Comments on the Audioquest DragonFly - soundchekk 05:26:44 07/06/12 (43)
- "At 250$ this is not state of the art" ...?????? - bwb 12:53:17 07/06/12 (0)
- RE: More Comments on the Audioquest DragonFly - Mercman 06:40:36 07/06/12 (6)
- RE: More Comments on the Audioquest DragonFly - soundchekk 11:27:12 07/06/12 (5)
- RE: More Comments on the Audioquest DragonFly - Mercman 11:51:21 07/06/12 (3)
- Value for the Money - soundchekk 00:39:40 07/07/12 (2)
- RE: Value for the Money - Bob_C 14:40:56 07/07/12 (0)
- RE: Value for the Money - Mercman 04:02:15 07/07/12 (0)
- RE: More Comments on the Audioquest DragonFly - Mercman 11:33:03 07/06/12 (0)
- Forget about?? - Dynobot 05:43:20 07/06/12 (34)
- RE: Forget about?? - soundchekk 08:26:48 07/06/12 (12)
- Dude! - Gordon Rankin 11:57:34 07/08/12 (1)
- Leave us alone - soundchekk 01:47:57 07/09/12 (0)
- RE: Forget about?? - Dynobot 11:03:24 07/06/12 (1)
- Power - Sumflow 03:22:14 07/10/12 (0)
- RE: Forget about?? - Mercman 10:53:46 07/06/12 (7)
- RE: Forget about?? - Tony Lauck 13:23:23 07/06/12 (1)
- A low priced unit doesn't leave a lot of money in the business plan for customer support. - Dynobot 13:47:23 07/06/12 (0)
- RE: Forget about?? - soundchekk 11:10:21 07/06/12 (1)
- RE: Forget about?? - Mercman 11:26:09 07/06/12 (0)
- RE: Forget about?? - Dynobot 10:59:52 07/06/12 (2)
- RE: Forget about?? - Mercman 11:02:19 07/06/12 (1)
- RE: Forget about?? - Dynobot 11:06:11 07/06/12 (0)
- details please - Joe Murphy Jr 08:23:34 07/06/12 (20)
- RE: details please - Dynobot 10:56:32 07/06/12 (18)
- forgot about the power draw - Joe Murphy Jr 13:49:45 07/06/12 (17)
- RE: forgot about the power draw - Dynobot 14:12:18 07/06/12 (16)
- RE: forgot about the power draw - Tony Lauck 14:28:54 07/06/12 (4)
- RE: forgot about the power draw - bwb 14:40:02 07/06/12 (3)
- RE: forgot about the power draw - Tony Lauck 14:55:32 07/06/12 (2)
- RE: forgot about the power draw - Dynobot 15:32:21 07/06/12 (1)
- RE: forgot about the power draw - bwb 16:18:48 07/06/12 (0)
- I know I'm probably going to regret asking, but why the relentless Apple bashing? - bwb 14:27:28 07/06/12 (10)
- To me, it's perfectly understandable that people get annoyed with... - andy_c 22:42:46 07/06/12 (0)
- RE: I know I'm probably going to regret asking, but why the relentless Apple bashing? - Tony Lauck 14:46:04 07/06/12 (8)
- Apple bashing? - fmak 09:27:18 07/08/12 (0)
- RE: I know I'm probably going to regret asking, but why the relentless Apple bashing? - bwb 15:27:07 07/06/12 (6)
- RE: "I'm keeping my iPad though" - rick_m 08:07:08 07/07/12 (5)
- RE: "I'm keeping my iPad though" - fmak 10:00:11 07/09/12 (4)
- "sent from my iXXX" - Tony Lauck 15:31:15 07/09/12 (0)
- RE: "I don't know what you do with it" - rick_m 13:12:03 07/09/12 (0)
- iPAD messaging. - Dynobot 12:44:28 07/09/12 (0)
- People have been compulsively messaging for years with all types of portable devices. - bwb 12:13:48 07/09/12 (0)
- RE: details please - Mercman 10:51:27 07/06/12 (0)
- Audioquest DragonFly - Sumflow 22:52:56 07/05/12 (0)
- The Audioquest DragonFly has been previously discussed in this and other forums. - Dynobot 14:16:24 07/04/12 (5)
- RE: The Audioquest DragonFly has been previously discussed in this and other forums. - Mercman 14:18:01 07/04/12 (4)
- Thanks for you posts on this: Was the adapter a standard - Sordidman 10:12:41 07/05/12 (1)
- RE: Thanks for you posts on this: Was the adapter a standard - Mercman 11:22:00 07/05/12 (0)
- RE: The Audioquest DragonFly has been previously discussed in this and other forums. - Old Listener 17:26:43 07/04/12 (1)
- RE: The Audioquest DragonFly has been previously discussed in this and other forums. - Rig_Vader 00:28:17 01/18/13 (0)