AudioQuest DragonFly Black v1.5 Plug-in USB DAC + Preamp + Headphone Amp

What’s Old is New Again.All the reviews out there in the blogosphere/vlogosphere that tout the Dragonfly Cobalt and its ability to enhance your listening experience are overwhelmingly positive, so you can certainly look up any of those reviews from an expert’s point-of-view. But from an Average Guy’s view (like me), I can definitely hear the difference when using this device.I tend to listen to music in my car more so than any other place. And, for that, I usually stream music via my phone (Amazon Music HD) through the car’s AUX port. I have been doing this by simply taking a high quality 3.5mm audio stereo cable with two male heads and plugging one head into the AUX port and the other into the phone’s headphone jack. I own an LG G8 Thinq (the last flagship phone LG made in 2019 prior to exiting the smartphone segment; and this phone features that rare headphone 3.5mm headphone jack). Back then (and even today in late 2021), that in-phone DAC was generally regarded as the best by quite a margin (the phone’s max sample rate output is 24-bit / 48 KHz).Meanwhile, I own a 2014 BMW 3 Series and I have done lots to improve its musical components. I’ve upgraded my amplifier (Up7BMW) and all speakers/A-Pillar tweeters (FOCAL brand). And, I purchased an Equalizer app on the Google Play Store. Still, wanting higher fidelity, I then purchased the Dragonfly Cobalt DAC.Immediately, even with all of the upgrades that I’ve invested into my car’s sound system, I could hear a musical boost. And when I play my favorite songs, old and new, the enhanced fidelity peels back all of these musical elements that I had never really noticed before (a more pronounced drum beat; the sliding of the fingers along the neck of a guitar; the raw emotion of a singer’s voice; better defined strumming from a generally-hard-to-notice acoustical guitar, etc… - what audiophiles would describe as neutrality). I’ve read various articles stating that listening to your radio does sound muddy, which it does. You can (and I can) hear a difference when playing a CD. But, adding a good DAC takes it up one notch further, and you feel like you’re right there in the front row of a concert or at the recording studio itself.Now, your listening experience may differ because not everyone “hears” the same or perhaps as well. So, if seeing a number helps you to visualize improvement (although “seeing-is-believing” is different than “hearing-is-believing” in this case), here’s what I’m seeing with my LG G8 ThinQ. Without the Cobalt, the phone’s DAC can stream music at up to a sample rate of 24-bit / 48 khz, which is pretty good. I know this because with Amazon Music HD, you can press the music quality “badge” to bring up this kind of info. Now, with the Cobalt plugged in, the output increases to 24-bit / 96 khz. I’ve read that the max output, though, would be 24-bit / 192 khz, so let’s quickly talk about that pinnacle of sound quality for a second. The only way of possibly getting there from my readings (and I’m sure there are other ways that I haven’t discovered yet) is by subscribing to Tidal’s HiFi Plus Tier (which is their top tier) AND also downloading onto your phone an app called USB Audio Player Pro (also known as UAPP). Somehow – and I profess my ignorance on this as I’m not a sound engineer – this app plus the Dragonfly Cobalt plus its ability to play well with Tidal (the technical term sound engineers use is “unfolding”) allows access to that 24-bit / 192 khz musical experienceAnyway, as you’ll already know, the Dragonfly has this helpful light that defines the quality of the music you’re hearing. Unfortunately though, unless you’re paying $240 a year for Tidal’s top hi-res tier, that light then also gives you a sense of FOMO. I pay $80 a year for Amazon Music HD (as I am already an Amazon Prime member). Now, for just $80 a year and despite not being able to reach that 24-bit / 192 Khz threshold, I can still attain musical nirvana. So, Amazon Music HD is totally worth it. And the Dragonfly Cobalt, IMHO, is totally worth it too.But, as with all things subjective (like hearing), your mileage may vary. Will this be worth it to you? In this case, there are four things that you’ll want to considerA) Can you hear the difference? Again, some of us have better hearing than others. If you can’t hear much the difference between music over the radio and music on a CD, then you probably won’t hear much of a sonic upgrade here.B) How many hours a day will you use this? That is, why purchase a pricey doodad if you’re only going to use it now and then? It’s kind of the same in-your-head argument when you think about joining a gym or subscribing to Disney+.C) Think about your music source. The idea of a DAC is to allow it to further “unwrap” the audio file to allow for that richer listening music (again, using that term “neutrality”). But, if you’re listening and happy with Spotify Free or any other lossy music tier (usually the free ones with possible ads), those files won’t have much to reveal anyway. The entry point at which to consider whether to invest in a DAC or not is when you are subscribing to a hi-res music service (i.e.: Quboz; Amazon Prime HD; Tidal Hi-Fi; etc…).D) Finally, think about the equipment that will be outputting your sound (e.g. earphones, earbuds, speaker systems). If they are of low quality, then a DAC probably won’t do much. And keep in mind that this DAC would also probably cost MORE than most run-of-the-mill earphones, earbuds, speakers).Oh, I do want to bring up one thing if you subscribe to Amazon Music HD. I saw on their FAQ page that Amazon Music HD is not always reliable in giving max audio quality if it doesn't sense a super-fast internet connection (or maybe if a lot of subscribers are trying to stream hi-res music at the same time – let’s call it ‘congestion’), so I’ve seen the light turn both powder blue (denoting a bitstream of 96 KHz) as well as cobalt blue (denoting a bitstream 48 KHz for the same song during different times of the day, but never below that number if you’ve set songs to play at HD or better quality). In fact, on its FAQ page, it does say, “For streaming, the current source file quality may change due to varying network conditions.” So, if you’re subscribing to Amazon Music HD and see this happening, it’s not the Cobalt malfunctioning.Finally … here’s a question you’ll want to ask yourself and a suggestion. Have you looked at the THX Onyx? It is also a very well-regarded DAC and probably a 2nd place runner-up if you read the various reviews out there about DACs (with the Cobalt being the consensus winner when talking about power/portability). However, at the time of this writing, the Onyx is currently on sale for $150 (down from about $200, and can be found here on Amazon or on Razer.com). Hmmm… $150 for the Onyx vs $330 for the Cobalt? That does make the Cobalt a tougher sell, actually.Again, the only real downer here is the price. $330 seems pricey, even though it’s a svelte yet powerful top-of-the-line product.If you are willing to consider really good dongle DACs with perhaps less of a svelte/compact form factor that cost just half as much, you may also want to check out these very worthy alternatives, also found here on Amazon.- THX Onyx, $150- Helm Bolt DAC, $150- Astell & Kern USB-C Dual DAC Cable, $100In the end, the Dragonfly Cobalt is a 5-star product (although I’m not convinced that it’s $150 better than the THX). I’m very happy with this product. If you tend to listen to music quite a bit to complement your day, then investing in a really good DAC like the Dragonfly Cobalt makes for a solid purchase decision.Good luck on finding what suits you best.

First of all, my setup relevant for this review is iPhone 7 Plus & iPad Pro, V-Moda Crossfade M-100 wired/wireless headphones, audio source a mix of Apple Music (at 256), audio podcasts (below 256) and a touch of some songs ripped from CD into Apple Lossless format.I have always been on teetering the fence on whether to go the route of the portable external DAC. Carrying around a digital media player is far too inconvenient an option for me, and the DACs on the market were either too bulky, pricey or battery intensive to make the switch. As rumors started circulating of the 3.5mm port's demise on the iP7 started floating, I starting looking around again and found this gem. The Dragonfly has met my expectations, and I would say even if you have a device with a traditional 3.5mm port, it is worth using this anyway (supported easily through any Apple device with a Lightning port and USB Camera adapter - sold separately). Now getting into the experience...Setup and form factor/convenience is a slam dunk here. The device itself is literally just the size of a thumb drive and is actually pretty stylish. The green dragonfly on the front is actually and LED status indicator that basically let's you know when the device is on standby, or when in use, the quality of the content playing (green, blue, amber for example for different quality levels of source content). Since tons of people will now be walking around with the apple 3.5mm adapter, explaining what this "fancy" one is may be a source of a brag moment for some audiophiles out there. Setup on any Apple device is literally plug and play. One end into the USB camera adapter, the other into your headphones of choice and done. The device immediately recognizes the player as a standard audio source. It is also possible to download a device manager to an actual computer, plug in the dragonfly and update to future software versions, but as of now, it is still version 1.0, so no updates are necessary/available - but it is good to know that if any efficiencies or features can be gained in the future through software update, the process is simple enough.Sound quality is a definitive improvement. Whether you listen to music through Apple Music, Spotify, Podcasts or rip your own, I can say that there is noticeable quality difference, regardless of of the bitrate quality of the rip. That said, I will not the key areas of improvement I observed.1. Distribution of sound across the spectrum - this is the most immediately noticeable. I typically had to fiddle with the iPhone or iPad's internal equalizer to get the soundstage where I liked, but now, it's off completely. Sound distribution here is set well. I listen to a mix of genres but mostly R&B, Hip/Hop, EDM, Rock and top 40, and sound here would fit any of them well. Intricacies of that distribution will also depend on your headphones, but I can say the Dragonfly as the source is FAR better than the DAC inside Apple's devices. This is also one of the categories that is noticeable regardless of the headphones you are using. Even on a $30 pair, it's noticeably better.2. Clarity/Separation of sound - this is also immediately noticeable but mileage will vary depending on your headphones and quality of the audio source. Even on a cheap pair of headphones, the sound will definitely be more crisp, but on a nice pair of headphones, the sound is more crisp AND you can truly hear separation amongst the sounds at different ends of the spectrum. Also, those subtle echos, bright spots and intricate sounds are simply more clear, hands down. I have the luxury of having a pair of headphones that can function as wired 3.5mm or wireless bluetooth, and comparing the difference in sound clarity between wired directly to iDevice, bluetooth and wired through Dragonfly is definitively noticeable. Bluetooth having the easily lowest rank amongst the three options.3. Volume - This thing can push even a decent set of headphones pretty hard. Prior to the Dragonfly when plugging my headphones directly to the device, even at max volume, it was loud but tolerable and I could not get the headphone's drivers to distort at all. The dragonfly let's me up to about 80-90% volume (depending on the type of song) before it's too loud for comfort and at 100%, the headphone drivers are pushed too hard. They key is there is a much better sweet spot at high volume with no distortion that is sublime.In terms of potential downsides, there are a few things to be aware of but none that I would say should stop you from making the leap. First is battery life. The Dragonfly takes power from whatever device you've hooked it to, but another huge win here in that I have noticed no real difference. This could also be because previously I was using the iDevice's equalizer which also uses a bit more battery than not. In real world use, adding on the Dragonfly is a marginal, it all noticeable difference in battery life. Second is that as with any device plugged into the lightning port, you cannot charge the device and play through this at the same time unless you buy a separate adapter. And that adapter is UGLY and too large. I've still caved and bought the 2nd adapter that allows charging and playing and keep it on my desk for the rare occasion I need it but on the go use the regular usb/camera adapter. If you'd rather only have one and don't care about appearance, you can buy the larger adapter only, instead of buying both. Lastly, is that no in-line wire controls or functions are supported through the Dragonfly. This means, if your headphones have embedded volume, skip/previous, play/pause controls embedded in the wire, they will not function; also, microphone function will not work. So if you receive a call, you'll have to swap out the Dragonfly OR take the call with speaker or embedded mic in the iPhone.All in all, very happy with my purchase. One thing this has led me to hope for even more is that Apple adds higher bitrate streaming to the Apple Music service because once you get on this level, every little bit helps :)