AudioQuest DragonFly DAC USB Digital Audio Converter - Cobalt

Product Information

The preamp can play at very loud volumes and can drive most if not all headphones with ease. The device does not overly drain power from you phone's battery either. In scripting, shooting and cutting a short film about an audio product, our intent is for the bigger picture not to be lost to the details that can otherwise cause the pursuit of better sound to be seen as an elitist geek fest. For some veteran audiophiles, that’s all part of the fun but for newcomers, too much tech talk is a turn-off. The units were and are extremely popular and loved by audiophiles all over the world. The reasons are simple: At the heart of this tiny DAC is a powerful processor that’s 33% faster than before. Faster processing means more accuracy and less distortion. It also draws less current, helping to preserve your smartphone or laptop’s battery life.

I doubted that music could sound any good on a mobile phone. I was very wrong and super impressed how good this tiny USB plugable device is. Unfortunately, our Installation Service excludes all gas appliances. It is the customer’s responsibility to find a gas safe engineer to connect the appliance. Any work conducted by a third part gas safe engineer will be at the customer’s expense and we will not accept any liability for their work. If the installation is complete and the DragonFly is not visible you may need to restart your computer to complete the installation. AudioQuest likes MQA and they were fast to jump on the MQA wagon and make the DragonFly an MQA renderer. In this article and video we explain and show how to set up your DragonFly for MQA streaming in Tidal.

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I find the sonic differences between the various high-resolution digital audio codecs far less obvious.

For starters, the Cobalt is noticeably more resilient to noise and interference when used as an OTG device than either of the older DragonFlys. At points where the older models (and things like the Chord Mojo) are producing cellular interference noises, the Cobalt isn’t. For the avoidance of hyperbole, the differences aren’t huge but given that all extraneous noise is unwanted, it gives the Cobalt an advantage. Whatever AudioQuest has done here is extremely effective and when you combine it with the small overall size of the Cobalt, this has to be seen as one of the most effective mobile solutions going and if you are solely looking for a DAC to bolt onto a mobile phone, this is something you should take into account. A pop-up dialog will inform you when the update is finished. You may then quit the AQ DM and use your updated DragonFly normally. THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS" WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND. AQ DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESS, IMPLIED, OR STATUTORY, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, TITLE, NON-INFRINGEMENT, THAT THE SOFTWARE WILL RUN UNINTERRUPTED OR ERROR-FREE OR WARRANTIES ARISING FROM CUSTOM OF TRADE OR COURSE OF USAGE. THE ENTIRE RISK ASSOCIATED WITH THE USE OF THE SOFTWARE IS ASSUMED BY YOU. Some jurisdictions do not allow the exclusion of implied warranties, so the above exclusion may not apply to You. In case you’re not really familiar yet with the DragonFly units, I suggest to read up on the previous models first, and especially the one on the Red. The AudioQuest DragonFly Cobalt sounds superb, with relentlessly crisp and clean audio. It’s especially good if you listen to MQA on the Tidal streaming service.

What We Don’t

The Cobalt isn’t just a Red front-loaded with AudioQuest’s own Jitterbug. Cobalt’s USB receiver chip is different and its DAC chip is different. The Cobalt trades in some of the Red’s sonic (the hedgehog?) get-up-n-go for a more masterful command of dynamics. The DragonFly Cobalt uses a Sabre ES9038Q2M 32-bit audio DAC with a 140dB dynamic range and a Sabre 9601 headphone amplifier. AudioQuest designed the DragonFly series in concert with legendary Wavelength Audio founder Gordon Rankin, one of the true pioneers of USB audio. Tidal users should investigate the Cobalt because of its built-in MQA renderer, which works seamlessly to unfold the audio. The sonic image was like an analog photo: atmospheric, with a good depth of field, never overpixelated or oversharpened.

Any extended warranties offered by Peter Tyson are free. We do not include any form of insurance terms such as accidental damage or loan equipment cover. IMPORTANT-READ CAREFULLY: DO NOT INSTALL, COPY OR USE THE ENCLOSED SOFTWARE, DOCUMENTATION (AS DEFINED BELOW), OR ANY PORTION THEREOF, (COLLECTIVELY "SOFTWARE") UNTIL YOU HAVE CAREFULLY READ AND AGREED TO THE FOLLOWING TERMS AND CONDITIONS. THIS IS A LEGAL AGREEMENT ("AGREEMENT") BETWEEN YOU (EITHER AN INDIVIDUAL OR AN ENTITY) (COLLECTIVELY "YOU" AND "YOUR") AND AUDIOQUEST ("AQ"). AudioQuest has beefed up the included accessories with a form-fitting DragonTail female USB-A to male USB-C adapter. AudioQuest is a US based company and the EU headquarters is located in the Netherlands. AudioQuest since the 1980’s is mostly known for their cables but they became even more popular among “head-fiers” when they started releasing personal audio gear with an excellent price-quality ratio. The ES9038Q2M is a mobile version of the ES9038PRO, the PRO version is currently the benchmark in audio performance, and is the favored part in the audiophile community.We reserve the right to refuse installation should our engineers think that the existing electrical or plumbing points are unsafe and in need of maintenance or if they are unable to install to existing furniture.