AQ DragonFly DAC

[blackraven]

I bought an AQ Dragonfly DAC version 1 for my son for Xmas. I am pleasantly surprised at the quality of the sound. He is using it with my hand me down gear-Parasound A21 amp, Van Alstine Ultra Plus preamp and PSB B6 speakers with a Maverick Audio Tube Magic DAC-1. The TM's usb section is just ok but the optical and coax with redbook CD sound great.

The DF sounds a little warm, smooth and detailed with good dynamics. It was well worth the $89 I paid on sale. It does not sound as good as the spdif and redbook CD in the TM though.

What really impressed me about the DF was that I was able to tell the difference between 44 and 96kHz music. I was able to download a song in both resolutions and was able to do a blind A-B test and every time I was able to pick out the 96kHz recording.

[Jacqueline]

I guess I was thinking that the DAC would also do the sound processing, but I guess that's still on-board to the motherboard. Since I'm not ready to pull the plug on a new system, and I'd like to get some improvement, then perhaps an external USB sound card, like the Sound blaster X-Fi HD would help? That way I'll bypass all the motherboard audio processing and at least achieve some marginal improvement.

[blackraven]

I guess I was thinking that the DAC would also do the sound processing, but I guess that's still on-board to the motherboard. Since I'm not ready to pull the plug on a new system, and I'd like to get some improvement, then perhaps an external USB sound card, like the Sound blaster X-Fi HD would help? That way I'll bypass all the motherboard audio processing and at least achieve some marginal improvement.

The sound still goes through the motherboard. My son has a high end X-Fi sound blaster card in his desk top and the DF blows it out of the water. All the computer is doing is sending a digital signal 1's and 0's to the DAC which is then being converted to an analog signal, no processing is going on by the computer. You would still be better off with a DF or some other external usb DAC than the Sound Blaster. The DF is great for the price and the fact that it is just a little bigger than a thumb drive. The newer version is supposed to be a smidge smoother.

What is it that you are looking for in a DAC or sound card?

Here are several USB DAC's that I would take over the Sound Blaster-

Digital-to-Analog Converters (http://www.audioadvisor.com/products.asp?dept=90&val=1)

iFi Audio (http://ifi-audio.com/)

[noddin0ff]

I bought an AQ Dragonfly DAC version 1 for my son for Xmas. I am pleasantly surprised at the quality of the sound. He is using it with my hand me down gear-Parasound A21 amp, Van Alstine Ultra Plus preamp and PSB B6 speakers with a Maverick Audio Tube Magic DAC-1. The TM's usb section is just ok but the optical and coax with redbook CD sound great.

The DF sounds a little warm, smooth and detailed with good dynamics. It was well worth the $89 I paid on sale. It does not sound as good as the spdif and redbook CD in the TM though.

What really impressed me about the DF was that I was able to tell the difference between 44 and 96kHz music. I was able to download a song in both resolutions and was able to do a blind A-B test and every time I was able to pick out the 96kHz recording.

Looks like a cute device. Is it true it is also a headphone amp? I'd be curious to use something like that on my laptop to drive my Senn's. In the pass I've used a full on DAC/AMP but a solution like this would be much easier to haul around. The headphone out on the laptop is just too anemic for the bigger headphones. Interesting.

[blackraven]

Looks like a cute device. Is it true it is also a headphone amp? I'd be curious to use something like that on my laptop to drive my Senn's. In the pass I've used a full on DAC/AMP but a solution like this would be much easier to haul around. The headphone out on the laptop is just too anemic for the bigger headphones. Interesting.

I don't believe that it is a headphone amp but you can plug your headphones directly into it and use your computer for volume control.

[noddin0ff]

I don't believe that it is a headphone amp but you can plug your headphones directly into it and use your computer for volume control.

The website lists it as "USB DAC + Preamp + Headphone Amp (http://www.audioquest.com/usb_digital_analog_converter/dragonfly-dac)". And the specs say

Output voltage: 2vrms
Minimum driven impedance(headphones, electronic input): 12 ohms
Maximum headphone driver output power: 125mW @ 32 ohms

But being an idiot in the electric world, I don't know if this represents significant amplification (for driving bigger headphones) relative to the standard headphone jack on a laptop.

Apple's specs seem to be
Maximum output voltage: 2 VRMS (+8.24 dBu)
Output impedance: < 24 Ω


​Just wondering.

[blackraven]

The website lists it as "USB DAC + Preamp + Headphone Amp (http://www.audioquest.com/usb_digital_analog_converter/dragonfly-dac)". And the specs say

Output voltage: 2vrms
Minimum driven impedance(headphones, electronic input): 12 ohms
Maximum headphone driver output power: 125mW @ 32 ohms

But being an idiot in the electric world, I don't know if this represents significant amplification (for driving bigger headphones) relative to the standard headphone jack on a laptop.

Apple's specs seem to be
Maximum output voltage: 2 VRMS (+8.24 dBu)
Output impedance: < 24 Ω


​Just wondering.


I think AQ is taking some liberty's in calling it a preamp and headphone amp. It is USB powered and uses the volume control of your computer or preamp that you hook it up to if connecting to a system rather than headphones.