HiFi Subjectivist ¦ Audio Forum ¦ NVA User Group

Okay, I confess - I'm an Audioholic.

And when I can't get a quick fix of SQ then I panic - as I did last week. My little USB/headphone thingy broke and I neede to replace it, fast! Rushing down to my dealer and high on the heady aroma's of turntable mats and warm transistors I asked him if he could get me some of that good stuff. "Sure." he said, and pulled out a little black package from under the counter. "That's 200 euro, but I'll give you a bit of discount seeing as you're a regular.". I paid the man and scurried away, hoping no-one had spotted me. Had to get back home to get it into the system.

So, what did I get ...



The Dragonfly is very small and very red. About as big as a USB flash stick. Gold-plated plug and a 3.5mm headphone socket at the other end. You plug it into your computer and off you go. Windows finds it immediately - no messing around with drive programs or settings. I also put an AQ Jitterbug inbetween PC and Dragonfly (recommended), plugged in a pair of Grado SR225e's and had a listen.

Mostly I use this setup for a bit of late-night binge watching before bed. Usually SciFi series with loads of sound effects. The Dragonfly gives you all this with pin-point accuracy, lots of ambient space around voices and powerful bass for those 'big-spaceship' noises. On music it is even better with superb resolution of instruments and dynamics. Blows the NuForce uDac3 clearly into the shadows.

Volume is controlled via the main level controls in the PC. The Dragonfly Red features special 64-step digital volume processing that claims to be bit-perfect.

Also interesting is that this device has very low power usage and can be attached to smartphones (Android and IOS) to provide top-quality sound for those on the go.

More another time. But this junkie has got his fix, and he's happy !!

Not surprised you are so pleased with it. I have the Dragonfly Black which I use all the time with my phone when out of the house. It will be used this afternoon when giving the lawns a final cut for the year. For my purposes, with portable AKG headphones for travelling and walking about, the Red did not justify the extra cost.

I have one of these as my main USB DAC. A 3.5mm to phono converter plus RCA cables completres the setup. Overall excellent value, especially when combined with a jitterbug or two.

I now have one and it is very good. Compared it with my Dragonfly Black and Mojo. The SQ is in between, but far closer to the Mojo than the Black. Unlike The Mojo this fits in my pocket with a phone. Will be getting better closed headphones to do it justice for out and about, though the improvement is very noticeable through the cheap ones I have been using. The volume issues on android devices can be resolved with Audio Player Pro.

It did not cost much more than an audiophool fuse.

It cost how much? That's the only criticism I'd have of it especially as it's USB powered so no expensive power supplies to add on...

So, is the headphone socket in the laptop much worse?

It costs £169. The £90 Black blows away the headphone socket in a laptop.

Android phone running Foobar - AQ Jitterbug - AQ Dragonfly Red - B&W P7.

Sounds GOOD !

CN211276 wrote: ↑Wed Feb 28, 2018 4:48 pm It costs £169. The £90 Black blows away the headphone socket in a laptop.

I'm going to do a DQ here. YOUR laptop or ANY laptop?

I place Audioquest alongside Monster Cables. Uber slurper manufacturers offering large margins to key stockists I remember. Is the Dragonfly really over a ton better than say an admittedly uglier UCA202 which I remember buying some years ago for under thirty notes...

Pretty well ANY laptop - the built-in soundcards are standard audio units and not made for better SQ or to drive headphones properly.

Gaming Pc's with better cards like Creative Soundblaster will be better than the average laptop but a device like the Dragonfly has been specifically designed for the discerning audiophile. And it shows.

I have never had a laptop. I used to use the old Dragonfly Black, not as good as the present one, with my desktop. The difference was beyond night and day. If the Dragonfly was not plugged in the sound was crap. The desktop was old which might go some way to explaining the poor SQ. My stepson now has that old Dragonfly and he says his modern laptop sounds better with it. His source is primarily youtube.