Audioquest DragonFly DAC and headphones amp

Cool. One mile from my house. I'm there!

 

I am enjoying mine a lot. It goes with me everywhere my 11" Air goes.

 

I'm looking at this device as a foray into decent quality digital convenience. I'd be going into a preamp that currently is a good 15 feet from my pc. What kind of interconnects would you guys suggest, on the affordable side?

 

Blue Jeans Cable. Affordable, well built, sound great!

See the BJC MSA-1 cable:

http://www.bluejeanscable.com/store/audio/index.htm

 

Does it work well as a desktop DAC or is best suited for laptops? I'd like to use it with my iMac when I'm home and with the Air when I travel.

 

Dragonfly analog volume control by-pass?



Funny thing Audioquest is still telling people to use the digital volume control even though the Dragonfly was designed to by-pass digital, to preserve full resolution and reproduce maximum sound quality.

Even Pure Music says:> It’s true: word length (resolution) is reduced with a digital volume control!

Gordon Rankin

 

I saw that over at CA. Audioquest needs to get new marketing people.

 

Can anyone get Audirvana to work with their Dragonfly on their Macbook Pros? When running Audirvana, I always get sound out of the MBP's built-in speakers instead of the Dragonfly, even when I set Audio Midi and the Sound control panel for the Dragonfly to be the output. This does not happen when I use straight iTunes, Decibel or Pure Music.

Any ideas?

 

Did you check the output selection in Audirvana's settings?

 

I just bought Grado RS2i headphones. They're not even broken in yet, but I've been thinking about how to feed them a better signal. The Dragonfly looks to me like a path of least resistance. Buy it, plug it in, enjoy.

But the other option I've considered is to build a headphone amp (I already have the parts), and then spend the money I might have spent on the Dragonfly on a USB DAC. As an alternative to the Dragonfly, and assuming you already had a decent headphone amp, which DACs in the same price range as the Dragonfly might I consider?

 

Got it figured out, someone at CA helped me out; you have to set the output for the DF in Audirvana's preferences.

 

The only ones I know of are the HRT Music Streamers, but they don't perform at the level of the Dragonfly IMO, and are much bulkier and more gear to cart around and also require cables. The Dragonfly is literally only the size of a thumb/jump drive. Tough to beat for convenience, price, and sound quality. There is also the CEntrance DACport, but it is about $150 more than the Dragonfly and from I've read, doesn't sound as good...

 

Get a used Streamer II+. Heck of a DAC for the money.

 

Thanks for the suggestion. I just read a review. Sounds like a possibility. Hopefully I can get my act together and build my amp. Then my options are open.

 

I wouldn't bother....the Dragonfly sounds better; it has Gordon Rankin's Streamlength code which is a BIG leg up on it's competition. Plus it is way less hassle to use.

And cheaper by $150, too.

 

I haven't read any comparisons between the Dragonfly and the DACport, but once I buy a Dragonfly (haven't had the time to run to Best Buy yet) I'll compare and report back here.

 

I would be interested to read that.

 

For me, the winning part of the DF is it's size and simplicity.

 

So, I went to the Brentwood Best Buy to pick one of these up today. The layout of the store was very confusing. After searching around everywhere I could think of--the scattered headphone aisles, the "music technology" aisle (whatever that is), the small computer speaker aisle, and the shelf dedicated to sound cards--I gave up. I asked a Best Buy employee for help locating an Audioquest Dragonfly and he had no idea what I was talking about. The long and the short of this shopping trip is that I never did find it and left Best Buy emptyhanded.

I guess I'll order off Amazon. So much for instant gratification!

 

I hate it when that happens. They really need to find a way to make it a good and successful shopping experience for shoppers so they don't lose sale to Amazon, again.

 

Absolutely. I'm listening to it now at a cafe as I write this. I've been using it with Audirvana and iTunes. I found that I had a little 6" USB extender cable like yours around the house the other day, so I use it with that instead of in the USB port on the MBP. I'll get the DragonTail if AQ ever decides to ship the thing...

Plus it sounds great with some Shure SE535s!

 

At Best Buy, the higher end audio gear is in the Magnolia Home Theater section. And that's where I saw the Dragonfly. If you go back to Brentwood it's hanging on the wall to your left towards the back.

 

Thanks for the heads up. I'll check back in a few days. I didn't even think to go into the Magnolia section. It's off to the side, kind of jammed into the corner when you walk in. I just walked right past it.

 

AudioStream has a review up. I think they like the value for money.

 

What Hi-Fi also has a review in its Oct edition. 5-star rating. And they don't even mention Gordon Rankin once.