THE THREE BROTHERS AUDIOQUEST—The DRAGONFLY BLACK REVIEW
This then is the true story of three headphone Amps/preamplifiers/USB DACs—the DragonFly Black, Red, and Cobalt—three Brothers, if you will, their source-powered ease of use, their rising levels of musicality, resolution, engagement, efficiency, and their outstanding value to cost to musical fidelity ratio. It will be told across three distinct reviews.
Each of the three AudioQuest DragonFly headphone Amps/preamplifiers/USB DACs have been lauded by reviewers and critics alike, have made their way onto numerous “Best of the Year” lists, and have won their share of awards and accolades. One has simply but to listen to, well, any one of the Three Brothers to understand the “why” of it all. They are as listed in the subtitle of this review—wondrously musical, beautifully engaging, and exceptionally cost effective! This I’ve come to discover over many months of listening with the DragonFly Cobalt, which I had purchased independently of the review, and subsequently with the DragonFlys Red and Black which were provided for review. Further, they have opened up to the wider world the opportunity to listen to music with exceptional fidelity and at real world costs, as allied to their computers or smart devices, regardless of platform—PC, Mac, iOS, Android.
A Sound History—The DragonFlys (short)
Once upon a time—August 10th, 2012—AudioQuest (Irvine, CA) introduced its first iteration of the DragonFly series—the DragonFly 1.0. Its compact size, efficiency, musical fidelity, and the ‘housing’ of a headphone amplifier, preamplifier, and a USB DAC within its pocket-sized, metal frame, would be of signal importance to the entirety of the audio industry. And the DragonFly 1.0’s debut would also spawn a multitude of ‘like’ competitors. AudioQuest would, however, continue its development with the introduction of the DragonFly 1.2 (2014), the DragonFly Red and Black (2016), and the DragonFly Cobalt (2019). For the purposes of this and coming reviews we will evaluate the DragonFly Black, Red, and Cobalt, which are all currently in production.
We begin our first review of the AudioQuest DragonFly line—The Three Brothers— with the DragonFly Black.
Dragonfly Black (Sound)
Whether iOS (iPhone X), Android (Samsung 10), Mac (PowerBook Pro), or PC, when one’s In-Ear-Monitors (IEMs) or headphones are disconnected from one of the above sources and the DragonFly Black is placed between source and headphones, a goodly number of things are immediately apparent. (NOTE: before playing music you may wish to reduce volume, as there is an amplifier in the DragonFly)
With the DragonFly Black as conduit of sound, you will notice immediately the volumetric growth—height, width, depth—of the musical soundstage being fed to your ears by computer or SmartDevice. As my fifteen-year-old daughter was to comment after placing the DragonFly Black between headphone and smartphone, “Wow, it’s like my headphones (IEMs) have become much bigger (mimicking over-the-ear headphones). And the voices are much clearer too. I’m hearing a lot more. And some things I’ve never heard before (in music that she was very familiar with).” And I would concur.
Further, and the difference will be quite noticeable for all whose hearing remains intact, the DragonFly Black will deliver a musically cohesive world and detail far above what a $99.00 DAC should bring. The word that immediately comes to mind is ‘engaging.’ As I am decidedly not a recording engineer or allied to a record/movie production company, I tend to seek out that which is eminently musical—smooth, a wonderful dollop of warmth, rich timbre—and transparent, so as to more accurately flesh out the drama and immediacy of the story behind/within the music.
Bass
The DragonFly Black’s bass is substantial, relatively fast with good body and layering. It will not find the “Holy-Bass-Head-Grail (few do this well),” but its journey will be musically rewarding across the bass region. Maxwell’s Sumthin’, Sumthin’ (Maxwell’s Urban Hang Suite, Columbia) now plays as I write. It is allied to the Meze RAI PENTA (an economically unbalanced pairing, indeed) and the DragonFly Black renders a taut and wonderfully musical presentation across this bass rich track. Suffice to say, that the DragonFly Black can rise to the occasion with much more expensive partners.
Midrange
There is ample body across the midrange, detail, glorious musicality with good layering. It is the marriage of warmth and engagingly sufficient detail, which also finds voices forward in the mix and well rendered. I listen now to Shirley Horn’s Beautiful Love (You Won’t Forget Me, Verve Reissues) and there is good inner detail, which allows one to hear the forming and articulation of both word and phrase, with zero sibilance. That incredibly more expensive two-channel systems could not achieve a similar result, not that long ago, is eye-opening in the extreme!
Treble+
The DragonFly Black’s treble is nicely extended (though certainly not the last word in extension), energetic, yet sweet, which evokes a wonderful musicality and it is never strident or harsh or wincing. The DragonFly Black, like its DragonFly brethren, is more a music lover’s instrument than an audio professional’s scalpel.
Sound Summary
For some, if not many, music lovers (especially the budget conscious), the DragonFly Black will represent the Alpha and Omega—the Beginning and the End—of their headphone amplifier/preamplifier/DAC journey. The DragonFly Black will easily lift computer and smart device alike from their purgatory of “unmusicality” and the more apt one’s headphones, the more marked the difference will be.
Functionality
The DragonFly Black represents true plug-and-play functionality and it plays well and easily with iOS, Android, Mac, and PC. However, for USB-C terminals it will need the proper connector—USB-A (female) to USB-C (male) bridge (Dragon Tail, Apple Camera, etc.). The DragonFly Black is a source-charged (no need to pre-charge it), plug-and-play solution, that will play anything Tidal (including MQA) Spotify, and Qobuz (though its few albums above 24bit/96kHz will be made to conform to the DragonFly Red’s limit—24bit/96kHz) have to offer and beautifully.
For the young, using the DragonFly Black headphone amp/DAC will be second nature and for the balance of us, it may well be incredibly intuitive. Its diminutive size means that it can travel by pocket anywhere in the world.
The Wrappings and Accessories
The packaging for the various DragonFlys is Utilitarian-Big-Box (as in mass-market electronics store). Not particularly exciting, nor is it the embodiment of high aesthetic design. That said, it is designed to price point, apparently, and not to the musical bonafides of the enclosed DragonFlys, as that would require an immediate aesthetic design upgrade. But then, who buys a DAC for its packaging?
In terms of accessories you will get a decently executed, synthetic (read plastic-like, possibly rubber) pouch for protecting/containing the DragonFly DAC. That’s it folks, utilitarian efficiency.
The Specifications
DragonFly Black (LED indicator color code):
Standby (Red),
44.1kHz (Green),
48kHz (Blue),
88.2kHz (Amber),
96kHz (Magenta),
MQA (Purple)
Volume Control: Analog Volume Control
Output voltage: 1.2
Headphone Amp: Texas Instruments TPA6130
DAC Chip: 32-bit ESS 9010 with minimum-phase fast roll-off filter
Microcontroller: Microchip PIC32MX
Dimensions: 12mm H x 19mm W x 62mm L
Dragonfly Black—Look and Feel
The DragonFly Black is solid, of metal and thus weighty (relative to size), beautifully made, fit-in-the-palm-of-you-hand sized, that could, in some ways, be considered a miniature Tardis (“Dr. Who” reference) for what it carries internally and what it delivers to the world.
Conclusion
The DragonFly Black represents a beautiful solution for those wishing to rescue their computers and ‘smart devices’ from the purgatory of ‘unmusicality’ to the ‘garden,’ if you will, of musicality, plain and simple. And at a micro-pittance of the price we two-channel folks (read stereo—speakers, amp, CDP, DAC, etc.), not that long ago, paid to get similar sound (or lesser sound).
Imagine, with this bite-sized headphone amplifier/preamplifier/DAC, a goodly pair of headphones, and/or a computer or a smart device we, collectively, have access to a literal world of music! And that music via the DragonFly Black will now engage heart and mind and soul. Highly recommended!
Music—Qobuz exclusively
Alexander Tharaud—Tharaud Plays Rachmaninoff
Omar Sosa—Ballads, Calma
Patricia Barber—Verse
Rickie Lee Jones—Pop Pop
Sade—Lovers Live
Sheku Kannah Mason—Inspiration
Tracey Chapman—Where You Live
Olafur Arnalds—Island Songs
Olafur Arnalds—The Chopin Project
Hilary Hahn—Tchaikovsky
Mechell Ndegeocello—Bitter
Maxwell—Maxwell’s Urban Hang Suite
Sarah Jarosh—Undercurrent
Annie-Sophie Mutter—Tchaikovsky/Korngold: Violin Concertos
London Grammar—If You Wait
Stevie Wonder—Innervisions
Alexandre Tharaud—Tharaud plays Rachmaninov
Gidon Kremer—"Preghiera" (Rachmaninov : Piano Trios)
Marvin Gaye—What’s Going On
Miles Davis—Kind of Blue
Jóhann Jóhannsson—Orphée
Ancillary Equipment
iFi xDSD
Samsung S10
iPhone X
MacBook Pro
Meze Rai Penta
Meze Empyrean
AudioQuest
2621 White Road
Irvine, CA 92614
(949) 790-6000
info@audioquest.com
www.audioquest.com
PHOTOGRAPHY—CHRISTOPHER MARKQUART