alternatives to AQ dragonfly?

Discussion in 'Audio Hardware' started by dchang81, May 19, 2020.

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  1. dchang81

    dchang81 Forum Resident Thread Starter

    are there alternatives to the AQ dragonfly for a usb stick style dac? i got one years ago, and it doesnt seem like there's much else out there. nothing inherently wrong with the dragonfly, but im surprised there are no competitors.
     
  2. Brother_Rael

    Brother_Rael Senior Member

    Meridian Explorer 2 (with adapters) but that's not a like for like of course.
     
  3. patient_ot

    patient_ot Senior Member

    Location:
    USA
    Are you specifically talking about dongle-type DACs the size of a USB stick or pack of gum? If so, there are a truckload of them out there but they are typically sold through places like Amazon or Massdrop, not hi-fi retailers. ASR measured a bunch of them and the performance differences between different ones were sometimes quite dramatic IIRC.
     
    L5730, Jacob29 and Chilli like this.
  4. Chilli

    Chilli Pretend Engineer.

    Location:
    UK
    Which Dragonfly? Ifi make a number of portable units, I'm at the budget end of things so I have a Cyrus Soundkey.
     
  5. SBaradaran

    SBaradaran Forum Resident

    Location:
    Twain Harte, CA
    Ibasso DC01 and DC02 are cheaper alternatives that are well regarded. Cambridge Audio used to make something like the DF.
     
  6. slcaudiophile

    slcaudiophile Forum Resident

    Location:
    Salt Lake City
    why do you want an alternative? for a couple hundred bucks it sounds good. does it complete with more expensive dacs? of
    course not but for what it is all AOK. i use mine everyday with Tidal on my run.
     
    Bill Why Man likes this.
  7. johnny q

    johnny q Forum Resident

    Location:
    Bergen County, NJ
    Perhaps if the OP can tell us why he is looking to move on from the DF, if there is "nothing inheritantly wrong with it." Perhaps something that provides better sound? Supports 24/192? Che pasa? :)

    I couldn't be happier with my modest $99 Dragonfly Black. BUT, I do wish it did 24/192.
     
  8. slcaudiophile

    slcaudiophile Forum Resident

    Location:
    Salt Lake City
    why? are you able to describe the sonic different between 24/192 and 44/96?

    not to put you on the spot just wondering actually? i’ve not done a comparison.
     
  9. dchang81

    dchang81 Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Sorry, to clarify I'm not moving on or whatever. Just surprised other companies didn't try bothering to compete at the cheapish USB stick style dac.
     
  10. johnny q

    johnny q Forum Resident

    Location:
    Bergen County, NJ
    Jeez - ya know, I was going to ask that we don't go down this rabbit hole of sampling rates and can we really hear the difference etc etc - please, don't drag this guys thread down with that stuff, there are plenty of threads around here where that stuff is argued to the nth degree.

    I have a a lot of 24/192 bit files. Period.
     
  11. slcaudiophile

    slcaudiophile Forum Resident

    Location:
    Salt Lake City
    i suspect it’s the same reason no one has come up with a new google when google is so good?
     
  12. SBaradaran

    SBaradaran Forum Resident

    Location:
    Twain Harte, CA
  13. SBaradaran

    SBaradaran Forum Resident

    Location:
    Twain Harte, CA
    oops duplicated a link. Here is the correct one.

    iBasso DC01
     
  14. bmoregnr

    bmoregnr Forum Rezident

    Location:
    1060 W. Addison
    This Lotoo PAW S1 is coming out this month. I have it on pre-order. I really like the PAW 6000 so I hope they get close to that. Lotoo PAW S1 Portable USB DAC-Amp

    I have the Dragonfly Red and while I like it I don't find it particularly thrilling so we'll see how this compares.
     
  15. JayDog

    JayDog Well-Known Member

    Location:
    Chicago
  16. bmoregnr

    bmoregnr Forum Rezident

    Location:
    1060 W. Addison
    I am very happy with the Lotoo PAW S1 over the DFR right out of the box and via an iPhone, no going back for sure. I always found the DFR to be fairly stiff/glassy and very linear meaning nothing really stood out from anything else top to bottom but for some tinkle-y high end differentiation; it was accurate, analytical and stretched the top to bottom image maybe. The S1 has better mids/bass, more musical, more engaging; maybe a more interconnected feel and the highs are incorporated more within the upper mids, but that is my taste so this does nicely.
     
    KALEX likes this.
  17. Radio

    Radio Forum Resident

    Location:
    Michigan
  18. Radio

    Radio Forum Resident

    Location:
    Michigan
  19. Rick58

    Rick58 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Eagle, ID, USA
  20. KiranPasupuleti

    KiranPasupuleti New Member

    Location:
    Hyderabad
    Hi, I am considering upgrading from AQ DFB to Lotoo Paw S1, I use it with Tidal on desktop. My headphones are Meze 99c. Looks like you find the S1 to be an improvement over DFR. Do you have any feedback if it is going to be an upgrade over DFB too?
     
  21. bmoregnr

    bmoregnr Forum Rezident

    Location:
    1060 W. Addison
    I had the DFB before the DFR as on paper it seemed to be a better fit with Etymotic balanced aperture IEMs and I thought analog volume might be better. It’s dark and balled up compared to the open but to me glassy/toppy DFR. The S1 sits right in the middle for me iphone out into Etymotics, open, nice midrange, frankly I just don’t think about it now; very musical which I care about more than technical things. I hate to point to other forums but all things mobile audio get talked about tons more over here if you have not been there yet Lotoo PAW S1 - Designed for HIFI on the go with Lotoo PAW quality and the first USB DAC-AMP with dual 3.5mm & 4.4mm output
     
  22. charlie W

    charlie W EMA Level 10

    Location:
    Area Code 254
    I have used the Monoprice USB DAC for 3 weeks and I think it's great. It were a cheaper alternative to AudioQuest's Dragonfly series. Initially, I had bought to send a line level audio signal to my AVR from my iMac. It requires Apple's Lightning to Digital Camera adapter(Lightning to USB female connector) to work with my iPhone 7 and it's a dramatic improvement over the tiny Lightning headphone adapter Apple sells for $10. The DAC can handle PCM up to 32-bit/384kHz and DSD256 but no MQA.
     
  23. CBackley

    CBackley Chairman of the Bored

    I bought a Dragonfly Red in late 2019. It has kept me sane many days over the past year and a half. This morning, it crapped out on me. No sound in the right channel! If I nudge the headphone connector to the edge of the unit, I briefly get sound in both channels. But I have to hold it there. I tested other headphones, MacBook instead of iPhone, and a different USB 3.0 camera adapter. Same problem across all setups. There doesn’t appear to be any lint or other foreign object in the Dragonfly port. I think it’s DOA. As tempted as I am to buy a replacement, I’m hesitant because this Red died on me in less than two years.
     
  24. Riktator

    Riktator Surfer of the Audio Waves

    Location:
    Pugetropolis
    I was looking hard at the Dragonfly Cobalt and ended up buying the Clarus Coda. So far I'm quite pleased.
     
    CBackley likes this.
  25. woody

    woody Forum Resident

    Location:
    charleston, sc
    CBackley likes this.
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