![]() ![]() On the other end of the spectrum, the Noble M3 IEMs which I’ve found to be too bright in the past, were still bright, but rather than feel sharp at the top end they felt more smooth and airy. With the DragonFly, the bass in the 99 Classics cleaned up nicely, and was much more coherent without losing any of its power or depth. In particular, Meze Audio 99 Classics tend to have slightly muddy bass with most sources. I tested it with a variety of headphones and IEMs, and found that it brought out the good aspects of each, and even tempered some of their shortcomings. There is no noticeable “edge” in the signal, or any noise. The output is balanced, and crystal clear. So, why not buy one of them? The key difference with the DragonFly Cobalt is that while its distinguishing feature is its portability, it’s a great DAC in its own right. Portability is great, but if you’ve spent any time researching portable audiophile gear, you’ve probably seen a few dozen ads for various cheap portable DACs for your phone or laptop that might even be smaller than a DragonFly. If you want to connect it to an iPhone, you’ll need to purchase a USB to Lightning adapter separately. The connection on the DragonFly itself is a standard USB-A, and you can get it packaged with either a USB-C or MicroUSB DragonTail adapter for easier connection to your laptop or Android phone. Speaking of plugging it in, the DragonFly Cobalt is plug and play with most modern OSes and smartphones. Plug it in, and it’ll convert your 1s or 0s to actual music. This is a simple, straightforward, single purpose device. There are absolutely no hardware controls or adjustments – it doesn’t even have its own volume knob. The included DragonTail adapter adds some additional size, but even with the adapter attached it’s significantly smaller than almost any other DAC/Amp out there.Īs far as features, well… there’s not much to be had in that department. The Dragonfly Cobalt is about the size of a standard ¼” cable terminal, and handles both signal and power through the single USB connection. Knowing what a DAC is, and why you need one, I’m looking at AudioQuest’s latest, the DragonFly Cobalt, and asking “Should I buy a DragonFly?” The Build and Design In the intervening years, I’ve discovered what sorts of products were actually worth buying, and, in a sense come full circle. “Obviously nothing could possibly improve the sound of headphones designed by the man himself – Dr. ![]() ![]() I had first encountered the original DragonFly in my blundering days of Beats headphones and SkullCandy earbuds, I was skeptical. The AudioQuest DragonFly series has made a bold promise from the beginning: plug this little USB dongle into your computer or smartphone and it will transform the way your music sounds. ![]()
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