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AudioQuest

AudioQuest Dragonfly Cobalt USB Digital-to-Analog Converter

    • Based on 4,276 reviews
Condition: New
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$199.95 Why this price?

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Availability: In Stock.
Fulfilled by Walts TV
Arrives Sunday, Nov 17
Order within 23 hours and 22 minutes
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Style: Cobalt


Features

  • Native Resolution up to 24-bit / 96kHz
  • DAC Chip ESS ES9038Q2M DAC chip with minimum-phase slow roll-off filter for more natural sound
  • Plays All Music Files: MP3 to MQA and Hi-Res
  • Compatible with iOS Mobile Devices (requires Apple Lightning-to-USB adaptor) and Android Mobile Devices (requires USB adaptor)
  • Dimensions: 57mm (l) x 19mm (w) x 12mm (h)
  • Connectivity technology: Wired
  • Connector type: USB Type A

Brand: AudioQuest


Mounting Type: Usb


Interface Type: USB


Number of Channels: 1


Product Dimensions: 2.24"L x 0.75"W


Is Discontinued By Manufacturer ‏ : ‎ No


Product Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 0.55 x 0.55 x 2.36 inches; 4.2 ounces


Item model number ‏ : ‎ DRAGONFLYCOB


Date First Available ‏ : ‎ June 13, 2019


Manufacturer ‏ : ‎ AudioQuest


Best Sellers Rank: #21,635 in Industrial & Scientific (See Top 100 in Industrial & Scientific) #12 in Signal Converters


#12 in Signal Converters:


Customer Reviews: 4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 4,276 ratings


Frequently asked questions

If you place your order now, the estimated arrival date for this product is: Sunday, Nov 17

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Similar Products

Top Amazon Reviews

    • Enjoy great sound + scoff at those who take out 2nd mortgages to pay for their gear
Style: Red
Review Image by KC_Crunch KC_Crunch
Review Image by KC_Crunch KC_Crunch
I discovered the audiophile world (or rabbit hole, depending on who you ask) several months ago, and have enjoyed trying various headphones + DACs/AMPs + hi-res tracks over that time. My goal is to (1) find combinations I like and stick with them vs endlessly salivating over things I don't own, (2) find good values that fit my lifestyle and make common sense (e.g. no telling my kids they can't go to college because I need new headphones, but also not fooling myself into thinking a $20 pair will somehow sound summit-fi) and (3) never become the guy who uses snooty "audio sommelier" terms I read all too often on message boards. In the DAC/AMP world I've already gone through the Fiio Q1 (was fine, but didn't really do much for me) and the OPPO HA-2 (looked super slick -- made everything louder -- but ultimately was too harsh/sterile in the treble dept). I've lusted over the Chord Mojo for quite some time and would love to listen to it. I have no doubt it sounds great! But my fear is that it won't sound "$600 great" to me (see point #2 above). And then I stumbled across the Darko review of this new Red just a few weeks ago and knew I had to try it. I'm playing it through an iPhone 5s connected via the Apple CCK (using Onkyo HF Player), an iPod Touch 6th Gen (through Korg's iAudioGate) and also through my Macbook Air (using Roon). Set-up is super duper quick and intuitive. Audioquest did a really nice job in including a detailed booklet written for the layperson, telling you everything you'd need to know (and why, which is sort of cool in the audio world -- too many companies treat you like you've already got a Master's Degree in HiFi Audio). Extra bonus: Audioquest ALSO threw in a nice travel pouch + a coupon voucher to HDtracks + a 60-day complimentary trial to Roon (this is super nice, as the trial period from Roon themselves is just 14 days). If you haven't read up on Roon I'd highly recommend it --- it allows you to play higher res tracks on your Mac computer...it's a lot more fun/intuitive/exploratory than the native iTunes player...it integrates with Tidal...and it absolutely makes your music sound better. Same thing with Onkyo HF Player for your iPhone. At any rate, let's cut to the chase. How does the Red sound? Quite good -- IF (1) you have good headphones, and (2) you're taking advantage of better sources (like the players I described above). If you don't do any of that, it will make your music sound louder but not necessarily a lot better. I'm using HIFIMAN HE400s, which are great reviewed/open style/planar magnetic headphones. They're efficient already so don't necessarily need an amp, but most everything sounds better with an amp. Anyway, if you're curious how exactly the sound improves with the Red, here's my best way to explain it: more full, and more realistic. Picture a comb -- imagine that this is a visual representation of your music without a DAC/AMP. Now, imagine that all those tiny spaces between the teeth of the comb get filled in -- this is the DAC/AMP going to work. It feels like it fills in gaps/missing info/details you didn't realize were there, so overall everything sounds a little louder/clearer/lusher/more realistic/more enjoyable. There's more bottom end to kick drums...more "plucking" you can sense on guitars and bass notes...more snap on snare drums...and little things like hi-hat cymbals suddenly sound real, vs a digital copy of what's real (if that makes sense). Also, there's more separation between instruments, creating the "space" that you read about, so it feels like you're in the studio surrounded by musicians rather than just being presented a wall of sound. I did an A/B test of a rock song I'm familiar with, listening to identical sections with and without the Red. Without, I found that the bass guitar disappears into the drums...sometimes you'd hear it, and sometimes you wouldn't (would just be sort of muddy). But with the red, there is a distinct bass guitar playing alongside a distinct drummer playing. Don't get me wrong -- the overall effect is not a massive night/day difference that bowls you over -- so don't go in expecting that or you'll be disappointed. Instead, if you take the time to get good copies of music + good headphones + good sources, then you WILL take notice of the improvement and enjoy the positive contributions the Dragonfly brings and you'll want to listen to more of your music. Also, geeky cool thing that's actually helpful: the dragon on the device glows and changes colors, to tell you what sample rate your music is. BOTTOM LINE: Sound is superb. Value is great. The care they put into the booklet + add-ins are nice surprises. Convenience is top notch. And the fact that it is pretty future-proof (they designed it to accommodate firmware updates) is great. If any of the above describes your philosophy, I think you'll really enjoy it. --------- UPDATE 1 MONTH LATER: I was going to be eternally curious about the CHORD Mojo, so I went ahead and decided to audition that as well. I spent about a week with it, and my 100% honest-to-goodness takeaway was: I personally could not hear an audible difference between the DragonFly Red and the Mojo. They both make my music sound better, but neither one is better at making it sound better (to my ears, anyway). I'm sure there are measurements or tests or something that prove Mojo "wins"...but I couldn't pick up on it. I have no clue if that's because there IS no discernible difference between the two, or my equipment isn't good enough to reveal that difference (although I use Hifiman HE-400s, Westone W30 and Audeze Sine, all of which is a far cry from entry level gear) or my ears just aren't "golden" enough to tell. Who knows - I'm sure others swear they can tell one from the other. At any rate, Mojo definitely sounded great....but so does Red. And Red is 1/3 the cost, firmware upgradeable, much more discreet/portable and never requires charging (I already had one annoying instance where I sat down to listen to music, but Mojo's battery died 10 minutes later and had to be recharged for 3 hours). Thus, I returned Mojo and am keeping the Red. ... show more
Reviewed in the United States on May 1, 2016 by KC_Crunch KC_Crunch
    • IPhone 7 is Perfect Excuse to Take to Take The Leap!
Style: Red
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 :) ... show more
Reviewed in the United States on September 23, 2016 by Carlos B.

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