AudioQuest DragonFly 24/96 Asynchronous USB DAC / Headphone Amp

[HiFiInsider]

I got this to fix my OCD.

 

[wgscott]

Why do the DF to sit flush?

[HiFiInsider]

Why do the DF to sit flush?

 

I think that's how it should fit on the MacBook, but it doesn't so the generic USB cable does the job.

[Sumflow]

..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.

[HiFiInsider]

I don't know if there are any audible negative effects with the short cable. Perhaps Gordon can chime in?

[wgscott]

I think that's how it should fit on the MacBook, but it doesn't so the generic USB cable does the job.

 

I agree. I am just wondering why it works (makes a flush connection) with the USB extender?

[wgscott]

You added another distortion link in the chain.

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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.

 

So the USB filters out some of the digital data?

[Sumflow]

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.

[Julf]

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.

 

We are talking about an USB cable, not an audio cable, right? How, in your view, could adding a couple of connectors degrade the signal?

 

Your weak link picture is cute, but has nothing to do with the situation at hand - there is no way the short USB cable could be the weakest link in the chain.

[Sumflow]

..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.

[Julf]

The fact is that the best cable of all, would be no cable at all, a direct physical connection between components.

Theoretically, yes. In this case the question is "does it matter? "

 

He had a direct connection and weakened it by putting in two connections and a wire.

Yes he did. But is that theoretical, marginal weakening significant if the chain has other points that are much weaker?

[Sumflow]

 

..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

[Julf]

In a recent post at the Asylum Tony Lauck quoted Ayn Rand

 

I rest my case.

[The Computer Audiophile]

Please don't turn this thread into a cable argument. Such a discussion can be had here -> http://www.computeraudiophile.com/f8-general-forum/great-cable-and-interconnect-swindle-etiology-12488/

[HiFiInsider]

That cheap cable is just temporary till the DragonTail hits the streets. I hope the delay was due to AQ making sure the DragonTail doesn't degrade the sound.

[Sasaki]

I got AQ Dragonfly and it works fine with my tiny Linux platform. This is Sharp Linux tablet which is discontinued now. This is based on Ubuntu 9-04. Since this is an ARM machine, choice of player software is limited. I found Exaile and Listen works well. I use right-angled USB adapter to hook it up.

This setup looks like the smallest computer audio system but this setup sounded excellent to my surprise. A linux wonder ...

 

Click picture to enlarge

[Julf]

This setup looks like the smallest computer audio system but this setup sounded excellent to my surprise. A linux wonder ...

 

It looks larger than my Nokia N9 (also ARM, also Linux)...

 

[labjr]

It looks larger than my Nokia N9 (also ARM, also Linux)...

 

 

Can you plug the Dragonfly into that thing?

[Julf]

Can you plug the Dragonfly into that thing?

 

 

With a special cable and a software hack that enables USB master functionality it should be possible...

[Jud]

BOO-YA! After more than a little mucking about, I'm listening to Alison Krauss with mpd running on FreeBSD through the Dragonfly.

 

The sound is worth it.

[AudioDoctor]

BOO-YA! After more than a little mucking about, I'm listening to Alison Krauss with mpd running on FreeBSD through the Dragonfly.

 

The sound is worth it.

 

NICE! I think I may get one for travelling.

[Jud]

NICE! I think I may get one for travelling.

 

Highly recommended for that purpose - access to over 1000 tunes thru my laptop made a couple of cross-country plane trips go by in a flash. And a simple aux cable will run it through most car stereos.

[AudioDoctor]

Highly recommended for that purpose - access to over 1000 tunes thru my laptop made a couple of cross-country plane trips go by in a flash. And a simple aux cable will run it through most car stereos.

 

I detest flying, but that may make it bearable.

 

edit: actually, I detest flying on airline planes, and passing through TSA checkpoints. I actually love flying itself, and would rather have my own plane.

[50000]

I received a DragonFly today. Listening via Audirvana+ (direct, integer) through Ultrasone 8 headphones, and with my laptop power supply unplugged, the DragonFly's sound is better resolved than that of my headphone output. Bass is excellent, low-level detail is better, headphone-output-mud has cleared somewhat, and the music is on these grounds more interesting and involving. That's the good news. I also hear upper-midrange hardness and distortion and lower-high-frequency edge. For me, this translates as digititis and sibilance on female vocals and a general upper-midrange sharpness and subtle spittiness that is dissonant to my ear ... in that way digital does best.

 

I'm listening out of the box, so these qualities may ameliorate with time (they have somewhat already). My hunch, however, is that despite a cleaner, better resolved sound in other respects, I will find listening through this device fatiguing. I already do. I'm unsure I prefer it to my iPod.

 

I think I'll hook a Hynes supply to it to see what results.

[50000]

I used the DragonFly as a DAC for an Ncore amplifier I patched together today. I think the device sounds better in this mode. I don't hear as much digital edge or sibilance. Mercman posted over an AA saying his DragonFly sounded better used as a signal source for an amplifier. If this device does in fact sound better in low-current operation, I suspect operating it at higher currents required by headphones causes an extra measure of jitter, among other things, given the several sources of psu voltage noise that current will cause or induce.