Audioquest DragonFly DAC and headphones amp

I just ordered one. I like the simple one piece design. Hope it's good with headphones and Mac OS X.

 

Look forward to hearing your impressions.

 

I'm afraid this will be your shortest unboxing video.

 

This reminds me of the turtlebeach micro usb to toshlink and analog out.

 

Hahahhahaa.... I'm gonna compare it to the HeadStreamer & D1. I didn't do a unboxing video on the HeadStreamer because it came in a plain white box.

 

There is a fixed output option for the Dragonfly that should allay your concerns.

 

Yeah, that would be the way I would use the Dragonfly. I'm once bitten and now a little bit shy about digital volume now. A fixed volume output going to an amp with a nice old fashioned analog volume knob and I'll be good.

Digital volume can be done safely. It doesn't need to be avoided at all costs. But the engineering and implementation does need to be robust and done in a way that it cannot end up at full volume unexpectedly.

 

I bought it because I have faith in Gordon's design and USB drivers. I just hope the headphones out is good too.

 

Twenty bucks says he still gets 15 minutes worth.

 

Good enough reason for sure.

 

I bet that the Dragonfly uses the ES9023, which is the ESS DAC that includes an integrated opamp so it can output signal at line level (or lower). The chip seems like it would be ideal for the application, and we already know that the Dragonfly is based around a 24-but ESS chip and its output level is at or around 2vrms. Anyway, read about it here and let me know what you think:

http://www.esstech.com/PDF/ES9023 PB Rev 0.2aPB 110117.pdf

 

Gordon Rankin is also behind the technology used in the Halide DAC HD. Another interesting product costing twice as much as the DragonFly.

 

Here's my unboxing. It's very nice. Build quality is amazing.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2SWwe2X5kfA&feature=youtube_gdata_player

 

Mine arrives today!

 

Gordon is commenting on the Dragonfly on the Computer Audiophile thread on the Dragonfly.

For the Dragonfly, the electronics and USB implementation is all his design.

On the Halide, he just worked on the USB implementation.

 

The fact that the Dragonfly uses the Rankin Wavelength Steamlength code was the real value proposition for me for this product.

 

This thing feels really well made. I have to spend some time with it this weekend.

 

I wonder if the TRS connection for the analog out may cause some extra crosstalk compared to something that uses RCA connections with no shared ground? I'm not a fan of using a TRS connection for stereo line-out. It will be interesting to see measurements for it when the reviews start appearing.

 

I have a WireWorld mini to RCA cable so I'll try that this weekend.

 

Audioquest Dragonfly USB DAC pix:

Nicely packaged, very similar to the new line of digital-specific Audioquest cables (Carbon, Coffee, Diamond, etc.)



Product info similar to the packaging for the current Audioquest digital cable products...


Box, manual and packaging. The manual is for computer configuration.


The Dragonfly and it's carrying case


The Dragonfly lights up in different colors for different sampling rates....
1) 44.1 KHz is green...


2) 88.2 is orange...


3) 96 Khz is magenta...

 

Great pictures and descriptions. Love to hear your thoughts on the sound. I will play with mine this weekend.

 

After about an hour of listening to the Dragonfly with my Grado RS60i headphones, and being quite impressed with the naturalness and high level of sound quality of the Dragonfly, I installed it on my Macbook based music server system running PureMusic and iTunes. Bear in mind that I'm presently using an incredibly inexpensive, generic stereo miniplug to RCA cable...probably not even Monoprice quality. And, it's got about 1 hour of burn-in time on it.

Right out of the box, the Dragonfly impresses, it's a natural-sounding DAC with a smooth and musical midrange. Playing "Ella and Louis" in 24/96 from an HD Tracks download, Ella's voice sounds gorgeous, sweet and melodious; Louis Armstrong's voice has that lovely textural throatiness that we all remember him for. The Dragonfly doesn't have the drive-you-out of the room brightness and aggressiveness that the Bifrost had when first unboxed. It's smoother than that, and it will be very interesting to see if it burns in in the way the Bifrost did very beautifully. Presently the highest highs are just a skosh on the bright side, hopefully these will smooth out a bit with some hours on the clock. Overall, the presentation is very musical, but a bit drier and not as liquid and mellifluous as the Bifrost or Wadia 121. The imaging is excellent, but soundstage is more forward (you're at row 6 than row 12) than on the Bifrost or Wadia. The bass, however is truly outstanding.

The Dragonfly, though, really loves rock 'n roll....this DAC has a punchy, dynamic sound that really reminds me of my Rega P5 turntable; a real kickin'-out-the jams quality to it that's gets your feet moving and your blood flowing. Some Creed, Stevie Ray Vaughan and Third Eye Blind might be the order of play.

I'll put up some classical in a bit, but right now, I'm having too much fun rockin' out...stay tuned...

 

One gripe. The DF doesn't sit flush.

 

The fact that it hangs off loosely is annoying. Should I get a angle adapter like this one? Any word or info on the DragonTail?

 

The ad talks about feeding preamp, powered speakers, etc - so it is a line-level output as well as headphone amp?