We know you're a fan of Schitt DACs-would love to hear how you think this stacks up to the Modi ($99) or Bifrost ($399). Will have to pick up that Fellini/Rota CD!
Last night, I was listening to Pull Me Under by Dream Theatre on my Sennheiser Momentum headphones through the DragonFly Black. I was absolutely amazed by how much better the DragonFly makes my fav music sound. More wide, open and detailed, tighter bass and crisper high’s. Love my DragonFly!
I went to the store for the Dragonfly Red, but the output level was to low on Android and the new firmware wasn't available yet. So I bought the Dragonfly Black and I am very dissapointed. The dac isn't very clean sounding with sensitive iem or headphones. The Oehlbach usb bridge is much cleaner sounding, but has less gain. The Cobalt is just to expensive. Cobalt should be €200, the Red should drop to €150 and black to €80.
None of these DACs are a good user experience on android since android can’t natively push 44.1khz natively and the volume issue ( which that was addressed in a firmware update I think)
I’ve been using the upgraded Dragonfly Black for sometime now, along with my iPhone 8. This requires, as Steve pointed out, the use of the Apple Camera Adapter, but with the help of AudioQuest, I remain astonished at the sound quality of lossless and Hi Rez music that can be achieved with the iPhone and nice headphones. The portability and convenience are icing on the cake. With this new Dragonfly Cobalt, I anticipate that sound quality will further improve, and by the time I upgrade my smartphone, Apple will probably have replaced the Lightning connector with USB C, streamlining portability as well. I am a 70 year old audiophile and a retired audiologist, and am fortunate to still maintain normal hearing sensitivity. That won’t last forever, but in the meantime, I’m enjoying my music collection (classical & jazz) wherever I go, thanks to the quality made possible by technology such as this!
Kris Moodley - thank you for the helpful info; I’m aware that Chord is impressive gear, and will look into this as I really don’t want to upgrade my iPhone this Fall with Apple’s new releases. My phone still works perfectly and would like at least one more year with it. Thanks again!
Why would an amp that you plug in to the wall have a weak amplifier? Computers / phones tend to have crappy amplifiers but not stereo amps that you plug in.
@Taffy O'Keefe it's interesting to hear about your experience. Perhaps the DAC in your Cambridge is on par with the Dragonfly's performance. For shits and giggles, I pitted my Dragonfly Red against the DAC in my Marantz PM6006. Didn't expect to hear a difference. Tested an old Dire Straits number (You and Your Friend). At first I thought the Dragonfly was malfunctioning, because only the right speaker was playing...then the left channel kicked in and the soundstage opened up. (Didn't realize that the song actually starts like that...well at least it wasn't enough to notice on the Marantz.) Wow. At least a 25% improvement in overall sound quality. Dragonfly really opened up the soundstage and was way more punchy. That was the Red. If the Cobalt is even better, then it must sound amazing.
I actually use the Dragonfly out of my laptop streaming Tidal into my amp when listening to my home-rig and my system just simply comes alive lol!! There is no other way to put it!!
I’ve tried the red and cobalt and I like the red better. Because “sounds a lot better” is his opinion, I recommend you try both. If you like a more neutral sounding dac, get cobalt. The red has a more fun sound
@@mensrea1251 , I should have added "to my ears" at the end of my comment 😀 at the end of the day, what one thinks sounds best to their ears trumps most everything else 👍🏼
Probably depends on the headphone, but I greatly prefered the cobalt to the red on my Grado hemps and marginally (but not enough to justify the price difference) preferred it on Sen HD 600s.
@@87oceanwave if you can try both, then decide, that is the way to go. I can't speak to what you prefer since I don't know how you like your music to sound...
I'm using the AQ Dragonfly Black 1.5 w/ the AQ Jitterbug and their Dragon Tail . . . w/ comes in the box w/ the 'Cobalt'. I had to purchase the 'Black' in 'sections' during last yrs hullabaloo. But, the parts are similar to the whole Cobalt or Red. I can really feel and sense the difference when listening to 24/96. Qobuz will switch a piece from 16/44.1 to 24/96 while you're listening, by request. Wow . . . digital music and electronics in general (micro chip etc) have really advanced in rapid fashion, hard to keep up with changes, but it's all good, just like a wealth of new music is. Keep on bangin' those LPs, Steve. I used to use a Michelle 'Orb' TTB, modified Rega 300 arm, low-output MC . . . still love analog, but at my age, retired, and tired . . . I can't seem to wanna go through all 'that', again. Gezi-gezun, as we say in das olde cuntry.
Don’t fret. I have both the Red and the Cobalt and while the Cobalt does sound better than the Red as Steve described, the Red still sounds really good and does MQA with a firmware upgrade.
@@Cap683 Just out of interest. If you were to put a % to the improvement over the Red, what would that be? 2% better? 25% better? I have the Red and it still blows me away how good it is. In fact, the blows away the DAC in my Marantz PM6006. At least 25% better. Tempted to upgrade to the Cobalt...but if it's only 1% better...probably not worth it.
Cobalts measure similarly or worse compared to the Reds, but cost $100 more. It’s mostly just hype. Just buy the Reds and call it a day and spend the $100 you save on a a pair of good chifi iems.
What measurement are you referring to, mensrea? Have you even tried the Cobalts, or the Reds, or are you going off of something you overheard while standing in line at Starbucks? It's doubtful anyone is going to just buy the Reds and call it a day based on your opinion/hearsay.
The DragonFly acts as a transport, that regenerates the data stream, for better timing than any smartphone will provide. Also, in order to reap "all" of the benefits of MQA content, you must be able to 1) render the data stream, and 2) perform the core decoding (otherwise, you get CD quality, which could sound very good, but will fall short of MQA's full sound quality improvement). Absent a MQA certified DAC (assuming the DragonFly is certified), then you will not benefit from time smearing correction that is inherent in all hardware.
Steve - can I drive Hifiman He400i using DragonFly Red or Cobalt? Is there a huge difference between both to worth pay extra £100 for Cobalt? I tend to use it on my laptop/desktop.
Steve. smash down the wall and hook this up to your hifi rigs. With your phone or from your PC if it has a USB C port and of course play lossless format sources. I've got an original Dragonfly DAC attached to a PC which I put thru my hifi set up. I had ripped all my CD's to FLAC and still do that. It also allows me to stream all sources through hifi but of course they vary in quality. My equipment is marginal but I believe this kind of setup is perfectly capable of producing audiophile results. Let me know if I am wrong. I believe using PC's, or phones, as the sound source could boost the popularity of HiFi in general because people already have the equipment and they love to use them. All that's needed is an amp and speakers.
I just bought a Dragonfly Cobalt but is rejected by my iPhone and IPad. A message appears on screen saying This device is not supported by this IPad. What should I do? Thanks
How do you think the Cobalt stands up against the more expencive DACs like the Hugo2? i got the Cobalt with my Momentum 3 headphones and it sounds amazing. i wonder what i will get if i get an really expencive DAC. do you think its worth upgrading? Ohh im not an Audiophile...not yet ;)
Getting headphones will take you wayyyy further than a DAC where you are buddy. I went from Momentum 3 to P9 and the difference was insane, way more than Chord Mojo on vs off. The Momentum 3 are what, a £100 wired headphone equivalent? Most of the price is BT tech. Grab some P9s for £700, or focal Elegias, Celestee, they'll blow you away
People please, the prices Audioquest uses are just ri-di-cu-lous! I mean black 100, red 200, cobalt 300!?!? (this is in both usd and eur) Realy? That is just completely arbitrary (!) pricing that is in no way related to production cost. The black quickly fell back from 250 to 100 after intruduction of the other 2 dragonflies. In no way do these prices reflect production cost! They are just trying to milk the market and different people's budgets for maximum profit. People please send a message to audioquest by NOT buying this product. They are just USB sticks that cost maybe 20 to make, the red, the black, the cobalt. Maybe a fiver difference for the DAC chip. Starve audioquest to make their pricing more realistic. They are a cable company that first saw the USB DAC opportunity. The prices of these products will within time drop significantly because they're just a bunch of generic parts slapped on a USB stick. Stop listening to the handfull of "audiophile guru's" or websites (whathifi) that they pay to drop their name and keep people afraid of buying competitors that cost 10 times less. Look on Whathifi for a review of Topping DACS for example (good DACS from China) not a mention A.N.Y.W.H.E.R.E.? Why? Because they don't pay to have their name dropped. How do you people think websites like whathifi or mr. Guttenberg make money!? It's a bunch of insiders that meet over coffee and play you, the consumer, for a fool! I bought a generic chinese 15 euro dac on amazon and later one of 150 (cambridge audio dacmagic) and eventhough the price difference was a 1000% the difference in sound was more like 10% (dacmagic slightly better). DAC's are sooo insanely priced and Audioquest is the king of them all. 100, 200, 300? Come on, that's just an insult. Oh and lots of people are complaining about the cobalt's jack and USB being loose and rattling in the plastic shell. Cheap parts sold at a premium!
Audioquest sells extremely overpriced products. A lot of the features they claim are nothing more than snake oil. I recommend you check out the Monolith USB DAC. It is a DAC with a similar form factor to the Dragonfly. It actually has better specs than the Red, but according to tests, it has the EXACT SAME SOUND as the Dragonfly Cobalt with no discernable difference. And the best part is that it costs 97 dollars on Amazon. The price has fluctuated recently, when I got it it was around 47 dollars, so I wouldnt be surprised if it drops again. Given this, I recommend the Monolith over both the Dragonfly Red and the Cobalt because of the cheaper price. The only downside is that it is made with cheap plastic, but it provides better sound and more features than what Audioquest provides, so that is only a minor complaint.
Hi Steve. Just found your channel a month ago. Enjoying your content very much thank you! While I enjoy my LP´s on my Sansui AU-555 (1974), I also enjoy music on the go since the Walkman era and just recently found out about DAP´s. I decided to buy a Hiby R3 DAC/DAP with Hiby Seeds IEM´s. I went for a DAP because phones use up alot of battery when using audio, so DAP it was. Can you please do a video on best budget/mid-price IEM´s and maybe a overall runthrough of which are bass heavy, reference, and types of IEM´s? Looking for a allrounder IEM thats not to bright. Again, thank you for your very informative videos and know how.
Is it best to Max out the source volume on phone and adjust volume using a dac/amp? Or to Max the volume on the amp and adjust from source? I can't find a definitive answer.
Monolith make one for a fraction of the price and it is higher res than the Dragonfly. Only caveat is it is a plastic enclosure. The cobalt has quality control issues and the headphone jack wiggles over time.
i own one of them.... it doesn't really sound that great, too boring, I don't use the hires features, and it doesn't really have much of an impact and felt too... precise
@@duke86fan That's kind of the point. The sound signature should be coming from the headphones, not the amp. If you wanted to add color to your sound then I'd suggest using a system wide eq, for e.g. Pulse Effects for Linux or APO for Windoze 10. Having a neutral sound to begin with gives you more control over the signature. If a neutral signal is making your headphones sound too clinical and percise, I'd be looking at the headphones, not the DAC amp.
@@jakeduggan3854 but the dac didn't add that much detail or texture or nice sound... are you saying that the Sennheiser 58X would be too clinical and precise... what my issue is is that it sounds boring and there is no real punch given from the sound you are given. what would you recommend, especially since a dac is supposed to make your system sound better (also i hate EQ because its too difficult compared to just getting equipment that works well. other issues include the fact that I plan to use 2 different headphones one open and one closed for portable usage, and also the fact that if you just need something that sounds super neutral and that's that you might as well be using a computers built in audio, especially since its much cheaper and as long as you don't need bit perfect audio or something you probably wont notice a difference)
@@duke86fan Most sennheiser headphones are known to be mid forward and bass neutral. They are great for clinical listening but they are not know as "fun" headphones. My favorite "fun" headphone is the Sony MDR-1A. The 1A isn't know as an audiophile headphone but I really enjoy the sound signature. It has a mid bass hump which I enjoy. It doesn't muddy the midrange and the highs are pleasant. I also enjoy listening to IEM's (in ear monitors). If you like a good clean sound with a great bass impact then I'd suggest looking at Blon 03 IEM's. As for just using your computers inbuilt sound, no, More power using a headphone amp will drive your headphones much better especially if they are 300 OHM headphones. You'll introduce amp distortion if you try to drive a high impedance headphone with a PC's inbuilt sound card. End of the day, don't fall for the audiophile BS about headphones. Buzz words like neutral and clean always translates to sterile and boring. I own JBL HLS speakers, they are not audiophile speakers but I really enjoy the Harmon curve they produce. I like a warm signature that doesn't muddy the mids and highs that are there but don't hiss my hears off. I chased the audiophile route for a long time. For me it was not a waste of time as I learned one thing. Sound is subjective, what a reviewer hears wont necessarily be what you hear.
@@jakeduggan3854 the thing is the MDR1A is not an open back headphone (I was looking for both an open and closed back so I can listen to one when I am more alone and the other for vacations). was thinking the MDR1A for closed back or the beyerdynamic DT770. i also use the final E3000 IEMs and they sound fantastic, clean but also bassy and fun without feeling as boring and lulled.. i just want an open back that has more impact than the 58X but the same detailed and nice sound (also a DAC and an amp are not the same, a DAC might make a difference to the sounds and the soundstage and color it a bit but the amp is just supposed to make headphones louder)
You’ll hear a difference. I currently use the red, and previously had the Black since before there was a red, combined for nearly ten years. The steady companion has been an inexpensive pair of Shure SE215s, which I think cost me 99 bucks back in 2011. When compared to plugging my earphones into my laptop and phone, there is a marked difference in depth, dynamics, and extension. To be sure, if I had better IEMs or a headphones which could resolve even more, the effect would be more pronounced. Any of the dragonfly DACs are a terrific upgrade, and might be the best first piece if you’re thinking about starting down the audiophile or hi-fi road.
I have that very same Sennheiser Hd1 Momentum’s that you have. Is the sound quality improvement worth it on a pair of headphones that are less expensive such as those, while using Dragonfly Cobalt, or is it not as worth it as if I had a 4000 dollar pair like yourself?
Hi Steve , please can you answer me question... all I have is an iPhone 8 with Apple Music and amazon music but no access to high end audio files, I want to buy the cobalt to use with my sennheiser HD 599’s, can I ask will that sound ok as a set up using Apple Music and the headphones with the cobalt? How can I improve the sound? Sign up for high end audio??
Did you tried KaiserTone for iPhone? It’s a high res player with lots of options. It’s an paid app. You can also download KaiserTone Medley which is free to try out the functions of this great music player. And it also supports Apple Music subscription playback. I think it will sound amazing if you combine this app with the Dragonfly DAC.
In reference to the Apple camera adapter, you showed and used the larger USB3 model from Apple. Can the standard USB model camera adapter be used as well or does it have to be the more expensive USB3 model. Thank you.
The standard Apple USB adapter can be used just like the USB3 adapter shown in Steve’s video. Interestingly, however, is that on AudioQuest’s website, they point out that of the two, they recommend the USB3 adapter because it is more reliable, and sounds better! After I read that, I curiously tried plugging in my headphones to try both adapters (I have pretty much every cable & adapter Apple makes!) to compare them, but could not discern any audible difference between the two. Perhaps prolonged listening comparison might reveal something, but didn’t have the time to fully evaluate. Anyway, AudioQuest says the standard adapter was the cause of random “ticking” or “clicking” sounds which some listeners complained about.
Anyone having build quality issues with the Cobalt? Was thinking of getting the Cobalt but hesitant due to the problems I had with the Red after a year of careful use.
For 1/6 the price, I can get an iBasso DC01 DAC, which is similarly portable, has BALANCED 2.5mm output, and certainly delivers better than 1/6 the SQ.
For a bit less than the DC01 (if you can find one), I can get a Hidizs Sonata HD, and for even less than that a Soditer Pixel 2 adapter. Neither of them are as good as the Cobalt, but it's hard to justify its much greater expense for not that many times greater SQ that you get in comparison. Not even the Black would be a good buy vs. any of these alternatives.
@@thomasferrarojr.9772 Because the sound difference will likely not be substantial enough to warrant spending all the money. There are diminishing returns
Does the streaming device have any effect on the quality of the final sound input? I have an Audioquest Dragonfly Black on the way, and was wondering if I should expect any difference in sound between my (very basic) Acer Aspire 5 laptop and (even more basic) Motorola G4+ smartphone. The Dragonfly Black will be feeding a set of Beyerdynamic DT770 Pro (32 Ohm) headphones. Will a Dragontail/OTG cable - unavoidable, if I want to pair the phone and the Dragonfly - be a detriment to overall sound quality? For the moment, let's ignore user interfaces and convenience.
@@chickenmuffin He is asking if the device housing the digital file (phone, laptop, etc) has any influence on the final sound produced by the Dragonfly. I would assume it should not as long as the original digital file is piped direct to the Dragonfly and bypasses any audio or DAC functionality of the device housing the actual file. It is a very good question.
Steve, I currently have the RED and I wwanted to ask if you think I should get the Cobalt if all I'm using is my Bose Sounlink II Around-Ear headphones ? I'm probably going to buy the Sennheiser 6XXX mass drop. Thx , Steve
May have to get this because it'll no doubt be better than my S9 DAC. It is whether the red vs Cobalt is THAT much of a difference in reality for the average audio person, because you can buy the Reds second hand for probably cheaper now. Double the price new... so is it double the quality? The next one, Sapphire may sound better still, so where does it stop?
@@dalethorn2 What exactly is different then? Can it handle higher rated headphones? Less battery useage? I may just pick up a cheap red and see if I can spot the difference.
The internals are different, but the sound isn't significantly different, unless someone with good sensitivity up to 19 khz hears it. I have lots of high-res music where I can tell a big difference from the Black to Red, but from Red to Cobalt is subtle, unless someone finds the perfect combination of ancillary gear and settings that makes the difference more obvious.
MrLagerblad I said that Hi-Rez hasn’t fulfilled its promise of better sound quality. With exceptions of course, but for the most part there’s precious little Hi-Rez new music coming out. So called high Rez from old analog recordings, sure but is that really Hi Rez?
Steve I was playing TIDAL high res audio via my smartphone's Bluetooth I was impressed by the sound. Is there a way to improve it ? Are there USB BLUETOOTH DACs like the Cobalt?
These things are made to be portable (on the go gear) I assume that most people wouldn't be using something like this and would have something permanent for home listening. A desktop dac/amp etc. So my question is. Where and how often do you go somewhere outside of your home where it's quiet enough to hear the differences in these portable Dacs/headphone amps that justifies the $300 price?
The dragonfly is a great little amp. That being said, I'm still not convinced that high-res actually sounds better than CD quality in the first place. In fact, I seem to prefer the CD Flac rip through an old dac alot of the time.
@@comiplaynow4624 I don't know that it's quite that simple, is it? My DT880 600 ohm, 96 db cans need a lot of power, and 96 isn't exactly horrible. I 'think' it's a combo of impedance and sensitivity that determines how hard cans are to drive. And then add in the whole voltage thing ... but I am not an expert on this stuff by any means.
Try stating a Dragonfly sounds good over at audiosciencereview.com and you will be banned as a troll. Never have I experienced such a narrow minded discussion forum. Unless you agree with their measurements you are provocative. Appalled!
Does anyone have an opinion (famous last words) on what would likely be better, the new Dragonfly Cobalt vs. the TEAC AI-301DA connected via USB? What about the Dragonfly Red or Black vs. the TEAC as a headphone amp?
For android users like myself, I purchased a Cobalt that came with a USB-C to USB converter. So I can plug the USB-C into my phone or tablet, plug the Cobalt into the USB end and then plug my 3.5mm heaphones into the jack. This improves the audio quality coming out of my phone regardless if im listening to Tidal or watching youtube videos. Like Steve said, you will need to purchase an extra adaptor for iOS in order for it to do what you want it to do.
All the dragonflies have amps in them. I'm not sure if there's a way to redbook line level out but even if there is you'd still be pushing the signal through a cheap op-amp or whatever is in those things. I personally would not.
Steve I have to disagree with your review on the Cobalt. Got it last week and was not impressed. In fact I prefer the DAC built in my iPad. Yes it’s better than my iPhone DAc. But I listen to on my iPad. The Cobalt doesn’t really provide so much power for my Beyerdynamic DT 1990 PRO. Also the Cobalt doesn’t have good depth in soundstage. It’s quite flat actually. Like instruments are placed side by side. It does have a wide soundstage which is probably what you are hearing. Another thing I did not like was that the low end on the Cobalt is a bit on the loose side. It is a relaxed sound which I don’t like. Drums do not hit hard and instruments fail to impact. Sending it back to try the Mojo.
I bought the cobalt to see if it was as good as the Mojo I already had, I wanted something even more portable than the Mojo. In the end I returned the Cobalt as the Mojo had more power and delivered a more mature sound. Soundstage was wider and cohesive. I agree with your comments about the Cobalts soundstage. With the mojo you should upgrade the usb cable otherwise it can sound a little harsh and unrefined if used via USB. I have a Audioquest Carbon usb cable.
@Club Soda Sorry, I was referring to hooking up these DACs to my home HiFi system, amp, preamp, speakers, etc. I was wondering how the Audioquest Cobalt in my home HiFi would sound compared to a Schiit Modi Multi-bit. Thanks
There's no reason you can't use this with your main system too. Just need a 1/8 to RCA cable. My first DAC for my home system was a very good sounding $60 used Geek Out 450, which is the same design as the Dragonfly units. This will even drive an amp directly, although I personally want a volume knob I can touch, as opposed to using digital.
I just picked up the cobalt at Toronto's AudioFest. I'm generally please with it after a few days of use, but the dealer I purchased it from advised that I shouldn't expect peak performance out of it for a while, as it needs time burning in. Any intelligence on how long this should be? Also, I'm listening to The Fellini Album in MQA on Tidal as I write this. So lovely.
Wait just a few days ago you had a whole video about how hi-res was basically worthless; today you go overboard about how great it is to get hires on a phone???????
@@thelastrhino2581 , reviews are a matter of opinion. I found that I don't share his opinion on what sounds good so I've found that I've really not enjoyed some of the products he's recommended
Danny Hoffman All I said was that the sound quality I was getting on really good headphones from an iPhone was really spectacular. The fact that it was Hi-Rez was cool. With that Fellini album, there are exceptions, rare executions to hi Rez BS. For the most part high rez is worthless.
Lay off. You have to remember Steve's making reviews aimed at the general audiophile public. He may not personally care for hi-res, however he's fully aware it's an important capability and feature for a lot of people interested in a Dac like this. There's nothing disingenuous happening here, in fact quite the opposite.
Hi Steve, love your channel and recently bought the DragonFly Cobalt too! A short question - can I drive a Preamp like Schiit Freya+ with Cobalt? There is already a Headphone Amp inside Cobalt to boost its output voltage to 2.1V. Is it too high for a Preamp? Looking forward to hearing from you :)
I would love to get an informed, technical answer to this, too. I use a Schiit Saga+ as a tube preamp for my SACD player (using an Arcam irDACii), my turntable and phono stage and my cassette deck. I also run my iPhone with AQ Cobalt through the Saga+ when I want to play MQA downloads from Tidal. I haven’t run into issues yet and it sounds great, so I’m assuming it’s technically sound. I’m somewhat new to the audio gear world, though, and wasn’t 100% sure about this approach. Cheers!
I use a monoprice usb DAC already, but I dunno whether to use a dragonfly red or a cobalt as an upgrade, I barely notice a difference with the monoprice, and I am just connecting to 58X. And 300 dollars feels way too expensive when I already have a usb C adapter and can possibly just do a red with a jitterbug
I know this may sound unusual but i find the built in DAC in my Samsung Galaxy Note 9 sounds far superior to this Audioquest Colbalt. Yes the Colbalt goes far louder as id expect, but for normal listening levels it sounds muddy and the highs sound recessed. I returned this for a full refund
Could not agree more Steve. I have both the red & the cobalt and the difference is quite clear( pun intended!) . The Cobalt is well worth the extra hundred bucks I paid for it. Bigger soundstage, more detailed and with more body overall. The red is quite good though but there´s just no comparison. ´Nuff said!
Hello Steve, thanks for this great video. After watch it, a question popped up. Since Tidal offers MQA also without using the Audioquest Cobalt. Is there a difference with or without? Kind regards Maurice
I would say that its a big difference. Using my android phone without my Cobalt i first thought that i did get mqa quality but it really isnt, since my phone does not come with a MQA decoder, the cobalt does have a MQA decoder built in so it enables true MQA. Some android phones does have a problem with usb output so you have to use a separate audio player app, which is a pain in the ass in itself.
Dac's When can we stop paying so much for High-end Dac's when they use basically the same chips and other goodies as lower price DAC's. No one really needs to pay more than 300.00? It's like cables!
Damn dude, Steve has the best review and I'm on my 10 seconds in. Man came out wearing a dashiki
Thanks again Steve, always a good job. We’re just now exploring hi res, but this realm of audio tends to be expensive. We’ll keep you posted.🎧
I just got this and I’m so pleased that I did.
We know you're a fan of Schitt DACs-would love to hear how you think this stacks up to the Modi ($99) or Bifrost ($399). Will have to pick up that Fellini/Rota CD!
Not even close to either of those....
Last night, I was listening to Pull Me Under by Dream Theatre on my Sennheiser Momentum headphones through the DragonFly Black. I was absolutely amazed by how much better the DragonFly makes my fav music sound. More wide, open and detailed, tighter bass and crisper high’s. Love my DragonFly!
I went to the store for the Dragonfly Red, but the output level was to low on Android and the new firmware wasn't available yet. So I bought the Dragonfly Black and I am very dissapointed. The dac isn't very clean sounding with sensitive iem or headphones. The Oehlbach usb bridge is much cleaner sounding, but has less gain.
The Cobalt is just to expensive. Cobalt should be €200, the Red should drop to €150 and black to €80.
Try the.Oppo HA-2 or HA-2 SE dac/amp
They dont produce them any more but you can get a nice second hand for $150-200
None of these DACs are a good user experience on android since android can’t natively push 44.1khz natively and the volume issue ( which that was addressed in a firmware update I think)
I am a fan of the Dragonfly series so I'll continue to up the ante with this dac.
I’ve been using the upgraded Dragonfly Black for sometime now, along with my iPhone 8. This requires, as Steve pointed out, the use of the Apple Camera Adapter, but with the help of AudioQuest, I remain astonished at the sound quality of lossless and Hi Rez music that can be achieved with the iPhone and nice headphones. The portability and convenience are icing on the cake.
With this new Dragonfly Cobalt, I anticipate that sound quality will further improve, and by the time I upgrade my smartphone, Apple will probably have replaced the Lightning connector with USB C, streamlining portability as well.
I am a 70 year old audiophile and a retired audiologist, and am fortunate to still maintain normal hearing sensitivity. That won’t last forever, but in the meantime, I’m enjoying my music collection (classical & jazz) wherever I go, thanks to the quality made possible by technology such as this!
Kris Moodley - thank you for the helpful info; I’m aware that Chord is impressive gear, and will look into this as I really don’t want to upgrade my iPhone this Fall with Apple’s new releases. My phone still works perfectly and would like at least one more year with it. Thanks again!
The Cobalt is significantly better than the Black, not so much the Red.
This one is definitely a tempter
Akira.
I compared Dragonfly Black, Red and the internal Wolfson DAC in my Cambridge CXA80 amp and all three sounded the same to me.
That's not really surprising. Unless it's night and day difference, it would be tough to differentiate. Associate equipments matter as well.
The Black and Red are *very* different. The Red and Cobalt are very similar.
@@dalethorn2 audio memory is very short and I honestly thought they sounded the same.
Why would an amp that you plug in to the wall have a weak amplifier? Computers / phones tend to have crappy amplifiers but not stereo amps that you plug in.
@Taffy O'Keefe it's interesting to hear about your experience. Perhaps the DAC in your Cambridge is on par with the Dragonfly's performance. For shits and giggles, I pitted my Dragonfly Red against the DAC in my Marantz PM6006. Didn't expect to hear a difference. Tested an old Dire Straits number (You and Your Friend). At first I thought the Dragonfly was malfunctioning, because only the right speaker was playing...then the left channel kicked in and the soundstage opened up. (Didn't realize that the song actually starts like that...well at least it wasn't enough to notice on the Marantz.) Wow. At least a 25% improvement in overall sound quality. Dragonfly really opened up the soundstage and was way more punchy. That was the Red. If the Cobalt is even better, then it must sound amazing.
Hi, Steve.
You forgot to mention that the minijack output can be plugged into a good amplifier system just using a minijack to RCA connectors cable.
Right. That’s how I listen to Qobuz and Tidal. Qobuz sounds amazing. I have it powered by my trusty Parasound 220 WPC amp to new pair of KEF Q350.
I actually use the Dragonfly out of my laptop streaming Tidal into my amp when listening to my home-rig and my system just simply comes alive lol!! There is no other way to put it!!
I’ve tried the red and cobalt and I like the red better. Because “sounds a lot better” is his opinion, I recommend you try both. If you like a more neutral sounding dac, get cobalt. The red has a more fun sound
Ramisdad Actually, the Cobalts measure similarly or worse compared to the Reds (but cost $100 more!), so your subjective impressions aren’t far off.
@@mensrea1251 , I should have added "to my ears" at the end of my comment 😀 at the end of the day, what one thinks sounds best to their ears trumps most everything else 👍🏼
I ordered both and in the first few seconds listening decided to send the red one back.
@@econautx awesome!
Probably depends on the headphone, but I greatly prefered the cobalt to the red on my Grado hemps and marginally (but not enough to justify the price difference) preferred it on Sen HD 600s.
I don't agree with Steve. As a long-time red user I found that I enjoy the red more. You need to compare it yourself and then decide.
@@87oceanwave if you can try both, then decide, that is the way to go. I can't speak to what you prefer since I don't know how you like your music to sound...
I'm using the AQ Dragonfly Black 1.5 w/ the AQ Jitterbug and their Dragon Tail . . . w/ comes in the box w/ the 'Cobalt'. I had to purchase the 'Black' in 'sections' during last yrs hullabaloo. But, the parts are similar to the whole Cobalt or Red. I can really feel and sense the difference when listening to 24/96. Qobuz will switch a piece from 16/44.1 to 24/96 while you're listening, by request. Wow . . . digital music and electronics in general (micro chip etc) have really advanced in rapid fashion, hard to keep up with changes, but it's all good, just like a wealth of new music is. Keep on bangin' those LPs, Steve. I used to use a Michelle 'Orb' TTB, modified Rega 300 arm, low-output MC . . . still love analog, but at my age, retired, and tired . . . I can't seem to wanna go through all 'that', again. Gezi-gezun, as we say in das olde cuntry.
Thanks. I ordered the red -- my audio sophistication is insufficient to hear the difference the blue might make -- and I saved $100.
Don't discount yourself ....you never know unless you try it !
Will you ever review beyerdynamic products? Preferably the DT 1990 pros
Federico Fellini's Orchestra Rehearsal is an interesting watch.
you could get high rez on a phone for a few years now. fiio dac/amps, mojo, several other dac/amps.
Theyre shit....
I have not even properly burn in the Red yet and now they are selling another Dac. Mr Audioquest seems to think that I can grow cash in my backyard...
But you can in your basement, I had a friend who did that back in the day. His electric bill was pretty high tho. 😁
Don’t fret. I have both the Red and the Cobalt and while the Cobalt does sound better than the Red as Steve described, the Red still sounds really good and does MQA with a firmware upgrade.
@@Cap683 Just out of interest. If you were to put a % to the improvement over the Red, what would that be? 2% better? 25% better? I have the Red and it still blows me away how good it is. In fact, the blows away the DAC in my Marantz PM6006. At least 25% better. Tempted to upgrade to the Cobalt...but if it's only 1% better...probably not worth it.
Given price point and size it may make sense to offer a comparison with the Modi, no?
I was hoping he would offer a comparison of the two.
NICE !!! -Another product I need to audition one of these days.
Takes my Sennheiser HD6XX to a new place. Does the same for my Campfire Comet. Love it!
How does it sound like ?
Great review Steve as usual. The only thing is I wish the Cobalt played 24/192 kind of a bummer it's limited to 96 but still very good.
Samsung Note running Tidal - Oppo HA-2 SE DAC/Amp - Little Bear B4-X Portable Tube amp.
Cobalts measure similarly or worse compared to the Reds, but cost $100 more. It’s mostly just hype. Just buy the Reds and call it a day and spend the $100 you save on a a pair of good chifi iems.
What measurement are you referring to, mensrea? Have you even tried the Cobalts, or the Reds, or are you going off of something you overheard while standing in line at Starbucks?
It's doubtful anyone is going to just buy the Reds and call it a day based on your opinion/hearsay.
Sounds good, but have to say the LG V30 phone can also drive just about any headphones. And sounds very good too.
True, but according to John Darko the dragon fly sounds better than LG V30 and V40
The DragonFly acts as a transport, that regenerates the data stream, for better timing than any smartphone will provide. Also, in order to reap "all" of the benefits of MQA content, you must be able to 1) render the data stream, and 2) perform the core decoding (otherwise, you get CD quality, which could sound very good, but will fall short of MQA's full sound quality improvement). Absent a MQA certified DAC (assuming the DragonFly is certified), then you will not benefit from time smearing correction that is inherent in all hardware.
@@marksmithers9779 subjectively sounds better.
The Quad DAC on the LG V30 by passes the chipset that Android phones use. It assesses the file directly.
@@ianorigbo7617 & can recharge+listen at the same time 😊
It's been a long time that there are apps that allow you to play your own hi-res files on iPhone. You don't need Tidal.
Trying to imagine a world where they call it the Red 2 and only charge $200. Where’s that world?
It isn't a Walmart product, it's very unique and I'm thrilled to be able to have one.
Steve - can I drive Hifiman He400i using DragonFly Red or Cobalt? Is there a huge difference between both to worth pay extra £100 for Cobalt? I tend to use it on my laptop/desktop.
Steve. smash down the wall and hook this up to your hifi rigs. With your phone or from your PC if it has a USB C port and of course play lossless format sources. I've got an original Dragonfly DAC attached to a PC which I put thru my hifi set up. I had ripped all my CD's to FLAC and still do that. It also allows me to stream all sources through hifi but of course they vary in quality.
My equipment is marginal but I believe this kind of setup is perfectly capable of producing audiophile results. Let me know if I am wrong. I believe using PC's, or phones, as the sound source could boost the popularity of HiFi in general because people already have the equipment and they love to use them. All that's needed is an amp and speakers.
Will this work with an iPod touch and the iPad as well? Great review Steve!
You'll need a lightning to USB3 for iPad. I use my Cobalt to iPad, Dragonfly 3.5mm to Aux 1 on my preamp to use in my stereo. Qobuz sounds amazing.
I just bought a Dragonfly Cobalt but is rejected by my iPhone and IPad. A message appears on screen saying This device is not supported by this IPad. What should I do? Thanks
How do you think the Cobalt stands up against the more expencive DACs like the Hugo2?
i got the Cobalt with my Momentum 3 headphones and it sounds amazing.
i wonder what i will get if i get an really expencive DAC.
do you think its worth upgrading?
Ohh im not an Audiophile...not yet ;)
Getting headphones will take you wayyyy further than a DAC where you are buddy. I went from Momentum 3 to P9 and the difference was insane, way more than Chord Mojo on vs off. The Momentum 3 are what, a £100 wired headphone equivalent? Most of the price is BT tech. Grab some P9s for £700, or focal Elegias, Celestee, they'll blow you away
People please, the prices Audioquest uses are just ri-di-cu-lous! I mean black 100, red 200, cobalt 300!?!? (this is in both usd and eur) Realy? That is just completely arbitrary (!) pricing that is in no way related to production cost. The black quickly fell back from 250 to 100 after intruduction of the other 2 dragonflies. In no way do these prices reflect production cost! They are just trying to milk the market and different people's budgets for maximum profit. People please send a message to audioquest by NOT buying this product. They are just USB sticks that cost maybe 20 to make, the red, the black, the cobalt. Maybe a fiver difference for the DAC chip. Starve audioquest to make their pricing more realistic. They are a cable company that first saw the USB DAC opportunity. The prices of these products will within time drop significantly because they're just a bunch of generic parts slapped on a USB stick. Stop listening to the handfull of "audiophile guru's" or websites (whathifi) that they pay to drop their name and keep people afraid of buying competitors that cost 10 times less. Look on Whathifi for a review of Topping DACS for example (good DACS from China) not a mention A.N.Y.W.H.E.R.E.? Why? Because they don't pay to have their name dropped. How do you people think websites like whathifi or mr. Guttenberg make money!? It's a bunch of insiders that meet over coffee and play you, the consumer, for a fool! I bought a generic chinese 15 euro dac on amazon and later one of 150 (cambridge audio dacmagic) and eventhough the price difference was a 1000% the difference in sound was more like 10% (dacmagic slightly better). DAC's are sooo insanely priced and Audioquest is the king of them all. 100, 200, 300? Come on, that's just an insult. Oh and lots of people are complaining about the cobalt's jack and USB being loose and rattling in the plastic shell. Cheap parts sold at a premium!
Audioquest sells extremely overpriced products. A lot of the features they claim are nothing more than snake oil. I recommend you check out the Monolith USB DAC. It is a DAC with a similar form factor to the Dragonfly. It actually has better specs than the Red, but according to tests, it has the EXACT SAME SOUND as the Dragonfly Cobalt with no discernable difference. And the best part is that it costs 97 dollars on Amazon. The price has fluctuated recently, when I got it it was around 47 dollars, so I wouldnt be surprised if it drops again. Given this, I recommend the Monolith over both the Dragonfly Red and the Cobalt because of the cheaper price. The only downside is that it is made with cheap plastic, but it provides better sound and more features than what Audioquest provides, so that is only a minor complaint.
I’ve got the Second Black I’m Happy. By the way have you cleaned up a bit your background room looks a little more organised and a little Les chaotic
Hi Steve. Just found your channel a month ago. Enjoying your content very much thank you! While I enjoy my LP´s on my Sansui AU-555 (1974), I also enjoy music on the go since the Walkman era and just recently found out about DAP´s. I decided to buy a Hiby R3 DAC/DAP with Hiby Seeds IEM´s. I went for a DAP because phones use up alot of battery when using audio, so DAP it was. Can you please do a video on best budget/mid-price IEM´s and maybe a overall runthrough of which are bass heavy, reference, and types of IEM´s? Looking for a allrounder IEM thats not to bright. Again, thank you for your very informative videos and know how.
Is it best to Max out the source volume on phone and adjust volume using a dac/amp? Or to Max the volume on the amp and adjust from source? I can't find a definitive answer.
The instructions for the original Dragonfly were to max out the source volume and adjust the playback volume
Would the E1DA 9038S match the SQ of the DragonFly Cobalt?
Monolith make one for a fraction of the price and it is higher res than the Dragonfly. Only caveat is it is a plastic enclosure. The cobalt has quality control issues and the headphone jack wiggles over time.
i own one of them....
it doesn't really sound that great, too boring, I don't use the hires features, and it doesn't really have much of an impact and felt too... precise
@@duke86fan That's kind of the point. The sound signature should be coming from the headphones, not the amp. If you wanted to add color to your sound then I'd suggest using a system wide eq, for e.g. Pulse Effects for Linux or APO for Windoze 10. Having a neutral sound to begin with gives you more control over the signature. If a neutral signal is making your headphones sound too clinical and percise, I'd be looking at the headphones, not the DAC amp.
@@jakeduggan3854 but the dac didn't add that much detail or texture or nice sound... are you saying that the Sennheiser 58X would be too clinical and precise... what my issue is is that it sounds boring and there is no real punch given from the sound you are given. what would you recommend, especially since a dac is supposed to make your system sound better
(also i hate EQ because its too difficult compared to just getting equipment that works well. other issues include the fact that I plan to use 2 different headphones one open and one closed for portable usage, and also the fact that if you just need something that sounds super neutral and that's that you might as well be using a computers built in audio, especially since its much cheaper and as long as you don't need bit perfect audio or something you probably wont notice a difference)
@@duke86fan Most sennheiser headphones are known to be mid forward and bass neutral. They are great for clinical listening but they are not know as "fun" headphones. My favorite "fun" headphone is the Sony MDR-1A. The 1A isn't know as an audiophile headphone but I really enjoy the sound signature. It has a mid bass hump which I enjoy. It doesn't muddy the midrange and the highs are pleasant. I also enjoy listening to IEM's (in ear monitors). If you like a good clean sound with a great bass impact then I'd suggest looking at Blon 03 IEM's. As for just using your computers inbuilt sound, no, More power using a headphone amp will drive your headphones much better especially if they are 300 OHM headphones. You'll introduce amp distortion if you try to drive a high impedance headphone with a PC's inbuilt sound card.
End of the day, don't fall for the audiophile BS about headphones. Buzz words like neutral and clean always translates to sterile and boring. I own JBL HLS speakers, they are not audiophile speakers but I really enjoy the Harmon curve they produce. I like a warm signature that doesn't muddy the mids and highs that are there but don't hiss my hears off.
I chased the audiophile route for a long time. For me it was not a waste of time as I learned one thing. Sound is subjective, what a reviewer hears wont necessarily be what you hear.
@@jakeduggan3854 the thing is the MDR1A is not an open back headphone (I was looking for both an open and closed back so I can listen to one when I am more alone and the other for vacations). was thinking the MDR1A for closed back or the beyerdynamic DT770. i also use the final E3000 IEMs and they sound fantastic, clean but also bassy and fun without feeling as boring and lulled.. i just want an open back that has more impact than the 58X but the same detailed and nice sound
(also a DAC and an amp are not the same, a DAC might make a difference to the sounds and the soundstage and color it a bit but the amp is just supposed to make headphones louder)
Will this benefit all sound even through budget IEMs? Or is it only worth it if you have very high end headphones/speakers etc?
You’ll hear a difference. I currently use the red, and previously had the Black since before there was a red, combined for nearly ten years. The steady companion has been an inexpensive pair of Shure SE215s, which I think cost me 99 bucks back in 2011. When compared to plugging my earphones into my laptop and phone, there is a marked difference in depth, dynamics, and extension. To be sure, if I had better IEMs or a headphones which could resolve even more, the effect would be more pronounced. Any of the dragonfly DACs are a terrific upgrade, and might be the best first piece if you’re thinking about starting down the audiophile or hi-fi road.
Great review Steve, how would you compare colbalt vs ifi hip dac pls for sound quality? Thanks
I have that very same Sennheiser Hd1 Momentum’s that you have. Is the sound quality improvement worth it on a pair of headphones that are less expensive such as those, while using Dragonfly Cobalt, or is it not as worth it as if I had a 4000 dollar pair like yourself?
Hi Steve , please can you answer me question... all I have is an iPhone 8 with Apple Music and amazon music but no access to high end audio files, I want to buy the cobalt to use with my sennheiser HD 599’s, can I ask will that sound ok as a set up using Apple Music and the headphones with the cobalt? How can I improve the sound? Sign up for high end audio??
IS that Kanto Tuk behind you - The White speaker? Review it please!
What do you think about Austrian Audio Headphones?
hi Steve. have you tried ibasso dc02? if you have, how does it compare to the cobalt? i'm considering buying one of them. thanks
Did you tried KaiserTone for iPhone? It’s a high res player with lots of options. It’s an paid app. You can also download KaiserTone Medley which is free to try out the functions of this great music player. And it also supports Apple Music subscription playback. I think it will sound amazing if you combine this app with the Dragonfly DAC.
I use Audioforge Equalizer (parametric). It's the best player in the universe.
dalethorn2 Thanks for sharing, I will check this equalizer out!
Thank you fir the video,
Dragonfly cobalt vs Schitt Modi 3 to use with powered speakers, anyone has opinion?
What will give a better results?
In reference to the Apple camera adapter, you showed and used the larger USB3 model from Apple. Can the standard USB model camera adapter be used as well or does it have to be the more expensive USB3 model. Thank you.
The standard Apple USB adapter can be used just like the USB3 adapter shown in Steve’s video. Interestingly, however, is that on AudioQuest’s website, they point out that of the two, they recommend the USB3 adapter because it is more reliable, and sounds better! After I read that, I curiously tried plugging in my headphones to try both adapters (I have pretty much every cable & adapter Apple makes!) to compare them, but could not discern any audible difference between the two. Perhaps prolonged listening comparison might reveal something, but didn’t have the time to fully evaluate.
Anyway, AudioQuest says the standard adapter was the cause of random “ticking” or “clicking” sounds which some listeners complained about.
Thornton Hepworth , Thank you for sharing your experience and helpful information.
Anyone having build quality issues with the Cobalt? Was thinking of getting the Cobalt but hesitant due to the problems I had with the Red after a year of careful use.
For 1/6 the price, I can get an iBasso DC01 DAC, which is similarly portable, has BALANCED 2.5mm output, and certainly delivers better than 1/6 the SQ.
For a bit less than the DC01 (if you can find one), I can get a Hidizs Sonata HD, and for even less than that a Soditer Pixel 2 adapter. Neither of them are as good as the Cobalt, but it's hard to justify its much greater expense for not that many times greater SQ that you get in comparison. Not even the Black would be a good buy vs. any of these alternatives.
That's the age-old maxim of diminishing returns.
Heard the treble is very harsh
I'll stick with my LG V40
Why? The V40 is good, I have it. But it won't sound like this or power as wide a range of headphones as capably. Just two different things.
@@thomasferrarojr.9772 Because the sound difference will likely not be substantial enough to warrant spending all the money. There are diminishing returns
@@MrJackSterbenc Perhaps.
@@thomasferrarojr.9772 The lg v40 uses the same ESS Sabre DAC that is in most high end stabdalone music players anyway
@@MrJackSterbenc I understand that. I have one. However, the amp is much more powerful in the Dragonfly Cobalt. Not even close.
Does the streaming device have any effect on the quality of the final sound input? I have an Audioquest Dragonfly Black on the way, and was wondering if I should expect any difference in sound between my (very basic) Acer Aspire 5 laptop and (even more basic) Motorola G4+ smartphone. The Dragonfly Black will be feeding a set of Beyerdynamic DT770 Pro (32 Ohm) headphones.
Will a Dragontail/OTG cable - unavoidable, if I want to pair the phone and the Dragonfly - be a detriment to overall sound quality?
For the moment, let's ignore user interfaces and convenience.
What
@@chickenmuffin He is asking if the device housing the digital file (phone, laptop, etc) has any influence on the final sound produced by the Dragonfly. I would assume it should not as long as the original digital file is piped direct to the Dragonfly and bypasses any audio or DAC functionality of the device housing the actual file. It is a very good question.
Steve, I currently have the RED and I wwanted to ask if you think I should get the Cobalt if all I'm using is my Bose Sounlink II Around-Ear headphones ? I'm probably going to buy the Sennheiser 6XXX mass drop. Thx , Steve
For use with the Bose, no it would not make sense to buy the cobalt. With the Sennheisers? Sure!
@@SteveGuttenbergAudiophiliac Thank you, Steve :-)
Dude those senn 6XX with the Red are sweeet!! I have that combo using with my iPhone and it’s delish
Wow, the stuff I have to buy just to connect my Apple devices to anything normal.
You don't have to, the cheap Apple dac is good enough for most people. Actually sounds pretty great.
Welcome to the Dongle Life my friend. We livin dat Dongle Life!! LOL!!!
@@petergabriel1606 unfortunately the Apple 3.5mm caps out at 24/48. Where these can go up to 24/96.
May have to get this because it'll no doubt be better than my S9 DAC.
It is whether the red vs Cobalt is THAT much of a difference in reality for the average audio person, because you can buy the Reds second hand for probably cheaper now.
Double the price new... so is it double the quality?
The next one, Sapphire may sound better still, so where does it stop?
@Kris Moodley I may have to opt for it. Seems like a one stop solution for desktop/phone
There is extremely little difference between Red and Cobalt.
@@dalethorn2 What exactly is different then? Can it handle higher rated headphones? Less battery useage? I may just pick up a cheap red and see if I can spot the difference.
The internals are different, but the sound isn't significantly different, unless someone with good sensitivity up to 19 khz hears it. I have lots of high-res music where I can tell a big difference from the Black to Red, but from Red to Cobalt is subtle, unless someone finds the perfect combination of ancillary gear and settings that makes the difference more obvious.
How does the dragonfly cobalt match with the shure se 846?
Hey Steve, when are you going to review those Kanto Tuks in the background?
Use the Cobalt with my B&W PX. Shindo silver cable as connection and Samsung 10S and Tidal = Like a lot :-)
But didn’t you say that hi res wasn’t a thing? 🙄🙄🙄🙄
MrLagerblad I said that Hi-Rez hasn’t fulfilled its promise of better sound quality. With exceptions of course, but for the most part there’s precious little Hi-Rez new music coming out. So called high Rez from old analog recordings, sure but is that really Hi Rez?
Steve I was playing TIDAL high res audio via my smartphone's Bluetooth I was impressed by the sound. Is there a way to improve it ? Are there USB BLUETOOTH DACs like the Cobalt?
SMSL SU-8
Dont use bluetooth
Usb dac's??😂😂🤷♂️
Many will use this and be completely content.
Jim Griffin “All life is suffering.” The Buddah, and he wasn’t even an audiophile.
@@charlescoutret6808 They do a lot of chanting live tho
These things are made to be portable (on the go gear)
I assume that most people wouldn't be using something like this and would have something permanent for home listening. A desktop dac/amp etc.
So my question is.
Where and how often do you go somewhere outside of your home where it's quiet enough to hear the differences in these portable Dacs/headphone amps that justifies the $300 price?
Bingo!
The dragonfly is a great little amp. That being said, I'm still not convinced that high-res actually sounds better than CD quality in the first place. In fact, I seem to prefer the CD Flac rip through an old dac alot of the time.
The Abyss's are only 32ohm. So, still wondering if they'll push cans with much more impedance.
He did mention that the headphones he used were hard to drive although he didn't give any numbers
32 ohm, 91 db sensitivity. You do know that you have to be more sensitive to sensitivity than impedance, right? 😜
@@fredpasta6488 👍i respect your wordplay.
Higher ohms are easier to drive
@@comiplaynow4624 I don't know that it's quite that simple, is it? My DT880 600 ohm, 96 db cans need a lot of power, and 96 isn't exactly horrible. I 'think' it's a combo of impedance and sensitivity that determines how hard cans are to drive. And then add in the whole voltage thing ... but I am not an expert on this stuff by any means.
Try stating a Dragonfly sounds good over at audiosciencereview.com and you will be banned as a troll. Never have I experienced such a narrow minded discussion forum. Unless you agree with their measurements you are provocative. Appalled!
With some cheap headphones like Sigva 006?
The best DAC
steve, what’s your take on the audiolab m-dac nano?
How does this stack up to the NextDrive Spectra X?
Welcome to MQA, sir! We've been waiting for you, and wanting to make your acquaintance!
Does anyone have an opinion (famous last words) on what would likely be better, the new Dragonfly Cobalt vs. the TEAC AI-301DA connected via USB? What about the Dragonfly Red or Black vs. the TEAC as a headphone amp?
The Red and Cobalt are very close in sound quality, but the Black is not.
Total newbie question. But would these help with the audio quality when watching movies on my iPhone or iPad? I’d love advice on that.
For android users like myself, I purchased a Cobalt that came with a USB-C to USB converter. So I can plug the USB-C into my phone or tablet, plug the Cobalt into the USB end and then plug my 3.5mm heaphones into the jack. This improves the audio quality coming out of my phone regardless if im listening to Tidal or watching youtube videos. Like Steve said, you will need to purchase an extra adaptor for iOS in order for it to do what you want it to do.
@@Slaphappy1975 Hi, you can use Dragonfly Cobalt in a micro usb with otg?
@@BestAnimeFights32 hi, I'm not sure if that is possible. USB-C and USB are but not sure about micro-USB
Can I use the Dragonfly in my main system? Is that not advisable?
Of course you can. Just run a cable from the D’fly to your amp’s line in.
All the dragonflies have amps in them. I'm not sure if there's a way to redbook line level out but even if there is you'd still be pushing the signal through a cheap op-amp or whatever is in those things. I personally would not.
How does it sounds with a Hifiman Sundara?
Yes. Yes it is.
Steve I have to disagree with your review on the Cobalt. Got it last week and was not impressed. In fact I prefer the DAC built in my iPad. Yes it’s better than my iPhone DAc. But I listen to on my iPad. The Cobalt doesn’t really provide so much power for my Beyerdynamic DT 1990 PRO. Also the Cobalt doesn’t have good depth in soundstage. It’s quite flat actually. Like instruments are placed side by side. It does have a wide soundstage which is probably what you are hearing. Another thing I did not like was that the low end on the Cobalt is a bit on the loose side. It is a relaxed sound which I don’t like. Drums do not hit hard and instruments fail to impact. Sending it back to try the Mojo.
I bought the cobalt to see if it was as good as the Mojo I already had, I wanted something even more portable than the Mojo. In the end I returned the Cobalt as the Mojo had more power and delivered a more mature sound. Soundstage was wider and cohesive. I agree with your comments about the Cobalts soundstage. With the mojo you should upgrade the usb cable otherwise it can sound a little harsh and unrefined if used via USB. I have a Audioquest Carbon usb cable.
How does it compare to budget Schiit Modi 3?
I have a similar question. How does the sound compare to the Schiit Modi Multi-bit
@Club Soda Sorry, I was referring to hooking up these DACs to my home HiFi system, amp, preamp, speakers, etc. I was wondering how the Audioquest Cobalt in my home HiFi would sound compared to a Schiit Modi Multi-bit. Thanks
@Club Soda Thanks for your timely response .. What I was getting at was the quality of the DAC sound..
Bought it last week, sounds great
Hi Steve, did you buy that or was it a gift from Audioquest?
Of course he didn't buy it. It was sent to him for review purposes. How could anyone afford to review gear that they had to buy?
The problem isn't the $300 purchase. The problem is the $5000 worth of professional time invested in evaluating it and writing it up.
Can this hook from an Amazon echo to a receiver?
You should try the new Audiolab m-dac nano portable dac. Crazy good for $200 and more features.
Compared to mojo?
Is it possible to set the headphone jack as a line out?
Yes, when you put the volume at 0db
There's no reason you can't use this with your main system too. Just need a 1/8 to RCA cable. My first DAC for my home system was a very good sounding $60 used Geek Out 450, which is the same design as the Dragonfly units. This will even drive an amp directly, although I personally want a volume knob I can touch, as opposed to using digital.
I just picked up the cobalt at Toronto's AudioFest. I'm generally please with it after a few days of use, but the dealer I purchased it from advised that I shouldn't expect peak performance out of it for a while, as it needs time burning in. Any intelligence on how long this should be? Also, I'm listening to The Fellini Album in MQA on Tidal as I write this. So lovely.
Try the phone LGV20 OR LGV40 (no need for another dac)
Not good as Cobalt
Only comparable with Red
Wait just a few days ago you had a whole video about how hi-res was basically worthless; today you go overboard about how great it is to get hires on a phone???????
Yes, I caught that too. Steve generally sounds like an honest guy, but this review seems suspect.
@@thelastrhino2581 , reviews are a matter of opinion. I found that I don't share his opinion on what sounds good so I've found that I've really not enjoyed some of the products he's recommended
Danny Hoffman All I said was that the sound quality I was getting on really good headphones from an iPhone was really spectacular. The fact that it was Hi-Rez was cool. With that Fellini album, there are exceptions, rare executions to hi Rez BS. For the most part high rez is worthless.
Lay off. You have to remember Steve's making reviews aimed at the general audiophile public. He may not personally care for hi-res, however he's fully aware it's an important capability and feature for a lot of people interested in a Dac like this. There's nothing disingenuous happening here, in fact quite the opposite.
Does the Cobalt have more gain than the Red?
Not in my tests.
Do you vape with it too?
Will it beat the Schitt?
Kicks the Schitt out of that schit. Actually I have no clue just wanted to say that. Lol
Hi Steve, love your channel and recently bought the DragonFly Cobalt too! A short question - can I drive a Preamp like Schiit Freya+ with Cobalt? There is already a Headphone Amp inside Cobalt to boost its output voltage to 2.1V. Is it too high for a Preamp? Looking forward to hearing from you :)
I would love to get an informed, technical answer to this, too. I use a Schiit Saga+ as a tube preamp for my SACD player (using an Arcam irDACii), my turntable and phono stage and my cassette deck. I also run my iPhone with AQ Cobalt through the Saga+ when I want to play MQA downloads from Tidal. I haven’t run into issues yet and it sounds great, so I’m assuming it’s technically sound. I’m somewhat new to the audio gear world, though, and wasn’t 100% sure about this approach. Cheers!
I use a monoprice usb DAC already, but I dunno whether to use a dragonfly red or a cobalt as an upgrade, I barely notice a difference with the monoprice, and I am just connecting to 58X. And 300 dollars feels way too expensive when I already have a usb C adapter and can possibly just do a red with a jitterbug
And compared with the Chord Mojo ?
Isn't the Chord much more expensive?
Pretty similar, mojo is more relaxed,
I know this may sound unusual but i find the built in DAC in my Samsung Galaxy Note 9 sounds far superior to this Audioquest Colbalt. Yes the Colbalt goes far louder as id expect, but for normal listening levels it sounds muddy and the highs sound recessed. I returned this for a full refund
Could not agree more Steve. I have both the red & the cobalt and the difference is quite clear( pun intended!) . The Cobalt is well worth the extra hundred bucks I paid for it. Bigger soundstage, more detailed and with more body overall. The red is quite good though but there´s just no comparison. ´Nuff said!
yeah nah. I have this and E1DA 9038 2.5mm balanced, and E1DA craps on the cobalt... no more money for audioquest-ionable.
Hello Steve, thanks for this great video.
After watch it, a question popped up.
Since Tidal offers MQA also without using the Audioquest Cobalt.
Is there a difference with or without?
Kind regards
Maurice
I would say that its a big difference. Using my android phone without my Cobalt i first thought that i did get mqa quality but it really isnt, since my phone does not come with a MQA decoder, the cobalt does have a MQA decoder built in so it enables true MQA.
Some android phones does have a problem with usb output so you have to use a separate audio player app, which is a pain in the ass in itself.
The Cobalt renders MQA, but does not decode.
Dac's When can we stop paying so much for High-end Dac's when they use basically the same chips and other goodies as lower price DAC's. No one really needs to pay more than 300.00? It's like cables!
Not this time. The technologies of the Cobalt are new.