Sumflow Posted June 16, 2012 Share Posted June 16, 2012 I don't quite get this. You're volume control would still be in digital domain. I know what you mean, the only way a digital volume control can reduce sound is by degradation of the signal by destroying bits. The Dragonfly has its volume on the analog side. The Driver smiled when he lost his pursuer... Link to comment
Sumflow Posted June 17, 2012 Share Posted June 17, 2012 Wife singing along, everyone's happy. Isn't this the same conversion as the DAC HD, just in a different user interface. Do you see any reason that it is not giving you the same sound? The Driver smiled when he lost his pursuer... Link to comment
Sumflow Posted June 17, 2012 Share Posted June 17, 2012 Good morning, Seeing how it uses Gordon Rankin’s Streamlength USB protocol, and accepts Music Files Up to 24-bit/96kHz resolution just like the Halide Design Dac HD. Isn't it the same Dac in a mobile interface? The Driver smiled when he lost his pursuer... Link to comment
Sumflow Posted June 18, 2012 Share Posted June 18, 2012 I've only heard it through IEMs and a car stereo. The Dragonfly sure must be a nice unit. As I understand it it can be used to connect your computer to a home stereo system by bypassing the volume control. It has a 24-bit conversion chip, two clocks, and can hook up to a pre-amp or power amp. Other than the cords. do you really think it will sound different than Gordon's other designs? The Driver smiled when he lost his pursuer... Link to comment
Sumflow Posted June 19, 2012 Share Posted June 19, 2012 Hi Gordon, what I meant is that the Dragonfly is limited to small headphones Isn't the high end of Headphones 4-way IEM's anyway. 3.5mm is what performers use onstage making the tunes. The Driver smiled when he lost his pursuer... Link to comment
Sumflow Posted June 19, 2012 Share Posted June 19, 2012 bad for integrating with pre-amps/integrated amplifiers because of (good) cable availablity. Gordon made a product that ends in Rca's with Cryogenic wires, using the Streamlength USB protocol already. I am just waiting to see if Dragonfly causes the Halide to come down in price. The Driver smiled when he lost his pursuer... Link to comment
Sumflow Posted June 19, 2012 Share Posted June 19, 2012 Other work on the DAC chip and analog stage Halide handled or delegated to someone else. More reason for the Halide price to come down. The Driver smiled when he lost his pursuer... Link to comment
Sumflow Posted June 20, 2012 Share Posted June 20, 2012 Would make a very nice RCA DAC. Isn't that the point, a RCA has already been done using Gordon's Streamlength USB protocol. Zeros and ones go in the USB, and analog signals come out the RCA's.Every .. manufacturer has their own vision. The Driver smiled when he lost his pursuer... Link to comment
Sumflow Posted June 20, 2012 Share Posted June 20, 2012 Gordons recent reply goes straight to the heart of what I was saying. C'mon don't knock their output stage and DAC implementation just because Gordon didn't design them. I am in the market to upgrade my Dac to one with Gordon Rankin’s Streamlength USB protocol. I said lets do this, and AQ wanted a dac with minimum phase filters. .. I said look let me make what I originally suggested. Nothing great was ever created by committee. If Gordon does the whole design it will be better. I drive a Porsche not a Corvette. What I would like to know is what is Gordon working on now that does go into my Vintage McIntosh amp? Is there any degradation of signal expected going from Dragonfly silver outlets adapting to RCAs. And what would be the best way to do this, adapters, wires etc. or just go with a pure RCA design. The Driver smiled when he lost his pursuer... Link to comment
Sumflow Posted June 20, 2012 Share Posted June 20, 2012 You posted a picture of the answer to your question. Which question?..what is Gordon working on now? What he designing now? ..is there any degradation of signal going to RCAs? Or degradation of signal using an adapter? The Driver smiled when he lost his pursuer... Link to comment
Sumflow Posted June 21, 2012 Share Posted June 21, 2012 Sumflow, you can read all about Gordons products here: Wavelength Audio, USB DACS, Cardinal, Napoleon, Crimson, Cosecant, Brick, Royal, SIne, Tube DACS, SET Amplifiers Mahalo - I don't see the Dragonfly or the Halide on those pages. The concept page was the most interesting. Does anyone know how the Dragonfly should sound compared to the Halide Design Dac Hd? Will these new advanced, lower priced products, put pressure on the pricing of older products, or do you think they be able to stand on there own a while longer at any price? The Driver smiled when he lost his pursuer... Link to comment
Sumflow Posted June 21, 2012 Share Posted June 21, 2012 output impedance for this DAC- important for low impedance IEM headphones. Tim I don't speak impedance but will this help Drives Headphones Directly? Output voltage: ~= 2vrms Minimum headphone impedance ~= 12 ohms Maximum driving power: = 150mW The Driver smiled when he lost his pursuer... Link to comment
Sumflow Posted June 26, 2012 Share Posted June 26, 2012 Do I use the system volume control or the iTunes volume control, or does it matter? Did you try it both ways?..with iTunes, it is the system master volume control, rather than iTune's own, that you want to use. Keep the iTunes volume control maxed out. Wgscott has to be right because on an earlier Gordon Rankin Streamlength USB it says in Asian:Setting the volume slider on the computer will result hardware in the Proton to set the analog volume control for the outputs to the desired setting. The Driver smiled when he lost his pursuer... Link to comment
Sumflow Posted June 27, 2012 Share Posted June 27, 2012 Gordon's digitally controlled analog volume, like that found on the Wavelength Proton and the Dragonfly, will not cause you to degrade your sound when you reduce your computers volume, like it does on the Streamlength Halide Design Dac HD and other designs. The Driver smiled when he lost his pursuer... Link to comment
Sumflow Posted July 1, 2012 Share Posted July 1, 2012 ..the generic USB cable does the job. You added another distortion link in the chain. If you wanted the Dac suspended in the middle of the cord with no loss of data and everything OCD clean, for just twice the price you could have gotten the Halide without the analog volume control. The Driver smiled when he lost his pursuer... Link to comment
Sumflow Posted July 1, 2012 Share Posted July 1, 2012 I don't know if there are any audible negative effects with the short cable. You did not just add a short cable, you added two non-pro connections, and a small gauge wire. All of which theoretically could degrade your signal. The better your headphones the more likely you are to hear it. Results will probably be more extreme when you try it amplified into studio monitors. In theory you want to keep your path as pure as possible. Your system is only as good as the weakest link in the chain. No link, is better than a strong link. You put in a weak, (uneccessary from a sonic perspective) link. So the USB filters out some of the digital data? The USB filters do not filter out any of the digital data, but lowering the sound on a digital volume control will degrade bits. The Gordonfly uses an analog control to prevent this degradation for computer audiophiles. The Driver smiled when he lost his pursuer... Link to comment
Sumflow Posted July 1, 2012 Share Posted July 1, 2012 ..there is no way the short USB cable could be the weakest link in the chain. The fact is that the best cable of all, would be no cable at all, a direct physical connection between components. http://www.wireworldcable.com/philosophy.html He had a direct connection and weakened it by putting in two connections and a wire. The Driver smiled when he lost his pursuer... Link to comment
Sumflow Posted July 1, 2012 Share Posted July 1, 2012 ..the question is "does it matter?"In a recent post at the Asylum Tony Lauck quoted Ayn Rand saying:There are two sides to every issue: one side is right and the other is wrong, but the middle is always evil. The man who is wrong still retains some respect for truth, if only by accepting the responsibility of choice. But the man in the middle is the knave who blanks out the truth in order to pretend that no choice or values exist, who is willing to sit out the course of any battle, willing to cash in on the blood of the innocent or to crawl on his belly to the guilty, who dispenses justice by condemning both the robber and the robbed to jail, who solves conflicts by ordering the thinker and the fool to meet each other halfway. In any compromise between food and poison, it is only death that can win. In any compromise between good and evil, it is only evil that can profit. In that transfusion of blood which drains the good to feed the evil, the compromiser is the transmitting rubber tube . . .You bet it matters, when you can afford to, upgrade your signal path, do not damage it. For those who see things like Ayn Rand - Tony Lauck - Computer Audio Asylum The Driver smiled when he lost his pursuer... Link to comment
Sumflow Posted July 6, 2012 Share Posted July 6, 2012 as well as the very good sound quality definitelyYes Paul but how does the sound compare to the Proton in your living room? The Driver smiled when he lost his pursuer... Link to comment
Sumflow Posted July 12, 2012 Share Posted July 12, 2012 Welcome bobeau ~ San Diego, I recognize the name. .."this is a 24 bit Sabre chip (9023), .. is relatively power and cost efficient." The Driver smiled when he lost his pursuer... Link to comment
Sumflow Posted August 9, 2012 Share Posted August 9, 2012 I didn't do this measurement. Misinformation The Driver smiled when he lost his pursuer... Link to comment
Sumflow Posted August 17, 2012 Share Posted August 17, 2012 USB allows volume conditioning directly which is used here. This means the volume control is part of the system wide volume control located on the system tool bar and NOT in the application. This is where I see confusion. Gordon says use the system wide volume control, but AudioQuest says use iTunes.Adjusting volume level:...When using DragonFly in this “variable output mode,” we recommend setting the computer’s main volume control to full, and turning down the music player’s (iTunes is an example of a music player) volume to 25% or less of the maximum output, in order not to damage either equipment or your ears, then adjust as desired. When used in this way, DragonFly’s onboard 64-position analog-domain volume control is able to preserve full resolution and maximum sound quality. Also why 64-position? http://www.musicdirect.com/documents/pdf/AAQDRAGONFLY.pdf The Driver smiled when he lost his pursuer... Link to comment
Sumflow Posted August 20, 2012 Share Posted August 20, 2012 We are not advising anyone to bypass the analog volume control. In fact you cannot bypass the analog volume. The only audio output on Dragonfly is the 3.5 mm. analog output. What we are suggesting is that you set the computer’s midi output to max, then adjust the player’s output to suit. This just shows that you cannot trust marketing types or customer service. By setting the computer’s midi output to max you by-pass the analog volume control. And as any Audiophile can tell you, when you adjust the player’s digital output you usually lose resolution. AudioQuest is going to have to fix the owners manual. The analog volume control in the DragonFly is controlled by the main system’s volume control. The Driver smiled when he lost his pursuer... Link to comment
Sumflow Posted September 19, 2012 Share Posted September 19, 2012 This is a game changer nks for pushing things forward guys. New Dragonfly review. The Driver smiled when he lost his pursuer... Link to comment
Sumflow Posted September 20, 2012 Share Posted September 20, 2012 The Driver smiled when he lost his pursuer... Link to comment
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