AudioQuest Dragonfly Digital-to-Analog Converter (Open Box)

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 experience Anyway, 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 consider A) 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, $100 In 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.