Audioquest Dragonfly Cobalt Review

Technical review, measurements and listening test of Audioquest Dragonfly Cobalt. See if this dongle is worth its $300 price tag.
Text review and discussion: www.audiosciencereview.com/fo...

[@MrConcord75]

Between their cables and Dragonfly, is why I just avoid and don't bother with Audioquest.

[@bizkac]

13 bits distortion free, would be great with mqa codec

[@abdo-dr1tu]

LMAO!

[@vkvedam]

This was definitely required Amir, given the amount of hype it's got around these parts, honestly 🙄

[@AudioScienceReview]

Agreed. :)

[@squidcaps4308]

AudioQuest has more of these, abysmally bad devices.

[@sonichedgehog36]

Now, just to test their $10,000+ cables... ;)

[@Finn-McCool]

Just knowing that there are consumers out here that are not only convinced that a big thick black throbbing veiny power cable will even make their wife take notice, but also that it's worth $1000s of dollars to them? And to be convinced it actually has value!? Speaks volumes that it's not going to change any time soon. Amir needs an army of crusaders to help him and to uphold his integrity in the sphere. All I have are troll powers, no knowledge, no test equipment, no integrity 😆.

[@welderfixer]

@@Finn-McCool AWESOME post! I damn near blew my coffee out my nose reading it! 🤣

[@VXAce]

I really enjoy your videos, reading your reviews on the site can be quite daunting to try and understand. Your videos really help bring things to a point where I can understand the forum reviews and apply that information.

[@bardley6796]

Thanks Amir, another good one. The fact that so many eloquent and seemingly professional reviewers put their positive words on these products just shocks me. Credibilty drops like a stone when I hear your facts.. Shiny, nice paint and box, coupled with a good review- people will buy it!🤣

[@dennisbohner6876]

Thank you. Cutting through the BS is a task best done by a person with expertise and the equipment.

[@DanielLee-yj4df]

Thank goodness for your channel. All these misinformed, pretentiously snobby subjective reviewers can't compare to the information you are providing to us. The audiophile community is so corrupt and misguided that your analysis is a breath of fresh air. May you have continued success!

[@Bob.martens]

Darko, anyone?

[@vannk73]

@@Bob.martens Also Andrew Robinson, so pretentious.

[@Bob.martens]

@@vannk73 AR is actually one of the good ones. Smug, ok. At the end of the day he's just running a business, but he has integrity, reviews 'budget' systems and genuinely dislikes snake oil.

[@thegroove2000]

I eny your talent and expertise. Thank you for kindly sharing. It is much appreciated.

[@skip1835]

Thank you for this candid & excellent review Amir, I especially appreciated the description of your "listening" experience - I do use the Cobolt to stream internet radio into my main system for casual listening - from a laptop into a pre-amp - I'm guessing from your review that in those circumstances the Colbolt isn't being "asked" to "drive" any serious load - - I do think that the sound is pretty good given that I'm listening to "radio" - I've never used the Colbolt for headphones, only as an easy to implement DAC - - Based on your prior review, I did buy the Hidizs but to use it in a Windows 7 computer requires drivers which I haven't got around to messing with - the windows 7 laptop is only being utilized for the purpose I mentioned above so it's like having a "tuner" that would otherwise be collecting dust and or ultimately headed for the recycle bin. But anyway, your review has more than wet my appetite to "pit" the Hidizs against the Colbolt in a listening session - although I'm running a reference system - I bet, again based on your excellent review, that I doubt that I'll hear a big difference - in that you mentioned that the distortion present in the Colbolt is below what we can normally detect if it's not "pushed" by current/impedance demands and that it's otherwise fine - we shall see ! ( :

[@pmAdministrator]

Thank you, prof, for your valueable time. Let's keep in mind that every single video like this one, that you make at least, changes the world to a better place -- slowly, but surely. And I hope you keep making these videos, they're very valueable. One day the awereness reaches that certain point that the whole industry has to change.

[@danielgeiger7739]

Thanks for the review. Listened to it over Ether 2 headphones run through a DF cobalt (!), at least at low levels. Now I am lookin for a replacement ... Thanks for doing all those reviews and sensible tests.

[@amazoidal]

AQ is the biggest seller of snake oil out there. Almost all his wire is OFC that he marks up like it was OHNO.

[@danielgeiger7739]

@@amazoidal Duly noted! Guilt as charge for falling for marketing hype. Looking at the Hidiz S9 or that E1DA 9038D. Anything else to consider for Mac laptop dongle?

[@LtColDavenport]

Always interesting seeing you destroying myths! As a newbie in Audio, I always thought this AQ DAC were the one to get for good portable audio, now I learned something, again! Thanks!

[@peteleoni9665]

Thank you Amir!!! You are going to improve the industry!!!

[@zenboy2000]

About 4 years ago the Dragonfly Black and B&O H6 2nd Gen was my entry point into the audiophile hobby, I'm glad that I only paid about a quarter of the price for the Black.

[@DJR5280]

My entry was the same. Dragon fly V1.2 and the B&O H6. Still have both to this day. The male end of the USB port became loose a year ago and stopped working. I contacted AQ to see what it would cost to repair and they sent me a brand new one no questions asked. I still don't use though but it comes in handy sometimes.

[@APSuk2]

Thank you for the review Amir, these kinds of reviews with real measurements & scientific analysis are invaluable.

[@oscarmarfori613]

Almost considered buying this thing good thing I ran into your review thanks Engr. Amir 👍

[@Fatih-xl7yn]

I bought the ddHifi TC44b because of your review and its so well made and no issues with it. I cant tell ay difference compared to the apple dongle. But I like the design and prefer to use 4.4mm. Plus, its very good shielded, no interferences here in Germany, because of the GSM network (buzzing noise,I don't know how its called). That's a huge issue with other devices. I upgrades to the TC44C, because of 3.5mm instead of 2.5mm and the removable cable. Should be here in couple of days. Thank your for your great work with your reviews and educational videos!

[@user-hb1ve6mc6f]

Thanks for an honest review of the Cobalt! Please review Chord Dave and Chord M-Scaler, if possible. Have a nice day 😊

[@Mrch33ky]

Great review! Tried the red Dragonfly a number of years ago and returned it within a week. In my mind Audioquest, like Bose, is more of a marketing company than anything else.

[@emuclone154]

You should add beats by the one guy.

[@hello-gl6hc]

Hi Amir, thank you for doing these videos I have been enjoying them a ton, and I have especially been enjoying the educational videos. Would it be possible to do a video on what makes a good 'studio' or 'professional' headphone vs. what makes a good 'enjoyment' headphone (if such a distinction exists) in the future? Hope you have a good day :)

[@truegodofthunder]

I no longer buy any audio equipment until I check your site. Thank you for being a trusted buying companion.

[@user-eb5ri3nf9d]

How does the dragonfly cobalt match with the shure se 846?

[@puresound1856]

Nice job again! Keep up the good work!

[@cornerliston]

Hi Amir, good to see. One note for clarification: Music (today) isn't "mixed near zero," but it's mastered often to a maximum possible output level of -0.1 to -0.3 dB to avoid digital clipping* (mix and master being two completely different things.) : ) * If digital clipping is completely avoided by -0.1 dB is a different topic though.

[@mrcoolguy9739]

A lot of music is also mastered beyond that to the point of clipping (straight up to 0db or above) if you can believe that. I even saw a youtube video of a mastering technique that apparently makes the master sound "better" by using less limiting and compression so it sounds punchier and just letting it clip so it may be an actual loudness war technique to purposely clip instead of using quite as much limiting and compression.

[@cornerliston]

@@mrcoolguy9739 Maybe when an amateur does the master but I dare say a professional would never let that happen : ) Yes, there's plenty of techniques how to mix and master for good/better/different results. But digital clipping is rarely something that sounds nice. What intentional clipping may do is give a perceived loudness. But clipping the master signal output is rarely a good idea. Mixing engineers use a bunch of better techniques for that. What could be argued though is if say 0.1 or 0.5 dB of clipping is really audible. Probably depending on the character of the song.

[@formdissolve]

He said "near zero" so to me -0.1 to -0.3 fits that description. Back in the 00s they definitely did mix as high as 0 or over! One of the worst offenders was the RHCP album Californication which had massive digital clipping. My brother worked at Best Buy at the time and there were people that returned the CD thinking something was wrong with it. Another famous example is Metallica's Death Magnetic from 2008 which was so bad that fans complained and started a petition to have it remastered.

[@felipeavalos3404]

THANK YOU, I was hoping to buy the red version for my son, I will start to look for a better one

[@robholt7486]

Another great expose. I have the $90 Black version and it's fine in reality, i.e. better than the phone or laptop output but it's disappointing to see AQ bettered by far cheaper devices. Time for a revamp of the design, as you say move to USB C, improve the headphone amp and address the clipping issue.

[@tomsavage6886]

Great video, review and explanation

[@LondonWater]

Thank you sir. I was just about to pull the trigger on this, and got lucky enough to find your video. So according to your chart, should I just buy the Hidiz s8? I’m going to watch your video on that, and probably buy one, since it’s like 1/3 the price😂👍

[@williamsmith1892]

I have the original Dragonfly, the Black 1.5, and the Red. I no longer use them, but I thought the Red sounded good, going from a laptop to the preamp through a splitter and RCA cables. In direct comparison, my Marantz SA-8001 CD player was better sounding than the Red. My newest DAC will arrive later this month, the Schiit Modius. I chose the Modius over the Cobalt due to reviews and lower price. Thanks for your insightful review.

[@ujean56]

Thanks Amir. I came very close to buying one of these but watching your videos I opted for the Hidizs S9. Keep up the great work!

[@morespinach9832]

Does that help? I feel neither really helps.

[@DescartesRenegade]

I used to work at a retail store that sold audioquest. My discount on their products were exceeding 90%. Product was sold to employees at 10% markup from wholesale. If i bought something for $10 this means it was sold for $100 and purchased by the retailer for a little over $9. If audioquest marks up even only 25% this means they sold it to the retailer for a little over $7. Something that conservatively cost audioquest $7 to make is sold for $100. The audio industry is a cash grab paid for by suckers

[@za1231in]

love it

[@michaelbeckerman7532]

Wow, SO glad I never spent the money to buy one of these - and I almost did! Thanks for the great review.

[@davidcrawford2498]

What DAC for AV system do you think is the best from your tests?

[@bigblueocean]

Yea.... But cobalt paint is really expensive 😂

[@Tacet137]

And probably toxic

[@valcriston]

😂

[@user-il2gy2rq5x]

any good altrenative dacs like dragonfly?

[@talktomenowxbmc]

Fantastic review!

[@JesusMartinez-mk6fc]

Great detailed video review Amir, thanks! Another Qon from AQ. After some commenters mentioned a review on the Cobalt from another KZbinr (Zeos) that was unknown to me, I went on to watch that review. Ok the guy is funny but clearly a hack; a great example of all it takes these days to call oneself an audio reviewer. First and last review I'll watch from that channel.

[@Lauren080508]

come on, not fair, zeos is the man!, but he is an entertainer, just disregard his conclusions, watch the new stuff while having a good laugh, worth it in my book. i learn my lesson though, I would not buy any new stuff until reviewed by ASR.

[@HiFiGOAudio]

True there are better options at way less price segment. Thanks for your honest opinion.

[@kingdavid7571]

Thanks, Amir. I hope you can review some four or five thousand dollar power cables some time. When a person reads magazine ads for these things, it starts to convince a person.

[@kombosto88]

I freaking love your videos, I even read comments 😁 🍿

[@giriprasadkotte9876]

Another audiophile myth just died 🤣

[@bluelithium9808]

There's no fixing stupid, it lives on and they'll sell a ton of them.

[@MegaEpstein]

One year as I'm using hidisz s9 pro, and very happy how it sounds

[@mw4609]

Amir, thank you for telling it like it is.

[@Mal-xz4zu]

My HD 650 sounds too quiet, playing Spotify Premium, directly out of my computer (ASUS chromebox), but my Graham Slee Novo headphone amplifer provides adequate volume, and it sounds good to me. Would a DAC improve the sound still further or this is a "reasonable" place to stop upgrading?

[@MemeScreen]

Will you be reviewing the PS Audio PowerPort Classic? I don't know if something like this is snake oil or not. Your thoughts would be appreciated.

[@sunninho]

I'm curious about the new THX Onyx dongle DAC, would like to see an analysis/review of that

[@AudioScienceReview]

I have done that already: www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/thx-onyx-review-headphone-adapter.22223/

[@phpn99]

A positive side effect of your work is that it helps expose 90% of audio reviewers, manufacturers and salesmen as the charlatans they are. KZbin is filled with these - you all know their names ; they speak authoritatively of stuff they are clueless about, with the implied pretence they have some God-given ability to judge good from bad. Preposterous, and ultimately as damaging as political demagogues.

[@Bob.martens]

Just a question: what do you think of Hans Beekhuyzen?

[@axr2431]

I drive my Stellia (35 Ohm) with these using my phone. Havent noticed any clipping (I dont blast it). Is it because of Stellias high sensitivity? Lacking ability to test, I too bought a Cobalt couple of months ago per all the hype and online reviews. Thanks for your reviews.

[@kristoffer8740]

The Stellia's are quite efficent.

[@CheezeCracker]

Amir, regards to your test on square wave and internal DAC clipping, I'm suspect that the Radsone EarStudio ES100 does this horribly. Any chance, if you find a moment of boredom, that you could run this quick test on the ES100, if you still have it kicking around?

[@thewolfthi]

Sheeple followers of John Darko definitely needs to watch this! No hate at all to Darko but he really needs to stop recommending Audioquest equipment, especially these dacs.

[@k1mura92]

John Darko shuts off his comment section because he doesn't want the truth about the audio industry out there. It would jeopardize his channel, because sponsors wouldn't be sending him stuff to review if their scamming got shit on. KZbin isn't the cult that head-fi, SBAF and other audio sites are. So he literally can't have his comment section open. I think it says everything anyone needs to know about the content of his videos - he's just spouting subjectivist delusional garbage that has no basis in reality.

[@mikrophonie5633]

@@k1mura92 Ding ding! We have a winner!

[@AmbientWanderer]

He's being sponsord by Audioquest , so what do you expect? :P

[@mcsenny4793]

Could you perhaps review the FiiO BTR5? It seems like it's very popular so some good insight would be much appreciated by many.

[@basileus9343]

The Qudelix 5K uses the same dac/amp chips therefore you can get an idea by watching that review

[@gullibleskeptic3237]

@@basileus9343 the qudelix sounds quite different though. I prefer its sound over the btr5.

[@melgibbson8955]

thanx for the info. do u have reviews on portable dacs that are worthy for samsung phones and focal headphones? I,m allergic to bs and distortion and I,m glad this review on cobalt which I almost liked. I,m streaming qobuz 24 bit

[@kevchavez]

Is Audioquest Dragonfly Cobalt compatible with Grado Labs SR80e? Just making sure before I make a purchase because other people complain about hearing lots of hiss, pops and clicks.

[@Justin-fy7xk]

I tried this cobalt and i noticed that the bass was way over the top and the sound was not balanced. I much prefered the sound coming from the basic pc output.

[@bobdylan6237]

Not surprising really, Audioquest are the biggest snakeoil merchants in the business.

[@WarthogDoctor]

Never buy Audioquest anything

[@billymisfits]

i gotta ask did you measure this dac while connected to a Windows machine? With Windows there is indeed significant noise caused by digital amplification. When I connect Cobalt to an Apple device like an iPad or MacBook it's dead quiet and sounds pretty good. The problem is with Windows. Dragonfly needs a driver for Windows to resolve this issue.

[@CeeStyleDj]

He used his Audio Precision unit. Nothing to do with Windows. What you see is just software graphs used in Windows.

[@allancopeland6342]

Can you recomend a good dac. Im a newbie to this area. Would use this for phone and computer. Thanks

[@chefsteve8381]

Hidizs S9

[@lumntoob999]

Hidizs s8 or s9

[@cel4145]

Tempotec Sonata HD Pro dongle. Read Amir's review www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/tempotec-sonata-hd-pro-review-headphone-adapter.22625/

[@Jon-nz3dm]

I've learned a lot since getting back into the hobby over the last few months. One of the most interesting things I've learned is that Audioquest is pushed by huge youtube channels and companies but their products seem to be either incompetent or even complete snake oil scams. You've got folks like Darko using their $5000 speaker wire with the stupid battery attached to the cable...he pushes all of their snake oil and talks about people that don't believe it like they're illiterate peasants. Audio snobbery will always be here I guess

[@CeeStyleDj]

It's a shame.

[@Bob.martens]

Darko is pathetic.

[@kkjrees]

Your right about darko, I questioned his motives for reviewing an ikea speaker and boy did he give me both barrels, expletives and the rest, when he uses a 3rd party to go through comments

[@sainaveenbali]

I hate Darko half hour videos anyways, half of them are pictures clicks , I be like just come to point and tell about product. I have already unsubscribed him

[@dropthehammer1360]

@@sainaveenbali not his loss.

[@FalleNoah]

Would like to see review of a recently hyped dongle CX-Pro CX31993.

[@thegroove2000]

Thank you.

[@thegroove2000]

I trust you.

[@richardmelville5973]

Audio Quest seems to be all about snake oil.

[@richardmelville5973]

@Douglas Blake I do own a single AQ product -- a record clamp that I bought in 1980. It's actually OK.

[@martijnbos9873]

This is very surprising to me. I owned a dragonfly red until recently and I absolutely loved it. It sounded WAY better than my laptop 3,5mm jack or Apple’s lightning to 3,5mm converter. I have only compared it with the dragonfly black and cobalt as far as dongles go though. When comparing it to a proper exterbal soundcard (ifi micro dac) it of course sounded worse, but not by that much. I have used it with several headphones, of which a Hifiman Sundara, which is relatively hard to drive, and also Audeze LCD - X. Both sounded great and I never heard any distortion, even at high levels. I would describe it with all the buzzwords people around here hate so much: “‘musical”, “wide” etc hehe

[@martijnbos9873]

@@bunkerbusterexplore Agreed. Sound is so personal. However there is some merrit to meassurements as well I think, but it should be seen in context. For example, say that a set of IEM's has a high beep at 17khz, but it is very soft. Meassurements might help you detect this flaw prior to buying, instead of noticing it one week after purchase. However, my hearing reaches about 15khz, so for me it doesn't matter.

[@Lauren080508]

you are missing the point, you can have the same experience with dongles that cost 3 times less, smh

[@martijnbos9873]

@@Lauren080508you can shake your head all day long, but as long as we can't measure things like soundstage and imaging claims like the one you just made are not accurate in the slightest

[@Lauren080508]

@@bunkerbusterexplore haha nice language, i will not lower myself and resort to insults, i do have several dongles including an audioquest, my top guy is te the hidzz S9 pro, clean transparent little marvel, but if i want to drive my H800s or my Dean Clark RT which are more power hungry I use my Xduoo Link2 Bal. Try to drive those cans with your overpriced audioquest dongles, and you'll see, lol

[@Lauren080508]

@@martijnbos9873 the fact that soundstage/imaging is always poor in IEMs regardless the equipment and great in cans like the HD800s makes most people who knows about the matter it is related with resonances in the headphones cups. The HD 800s has huge cups, I have also the AKG 371, great sound but absolutely no soundstage, the AKG 371 has very small cups.

[@doctorzingo]

Just a small detail: at around 13 minutes, you seem to have highlighted the Dragonfly Red instead of the Cobalt. (It's the same measurement value so it doesn't matter.)

[@davidkosa]

This would obviously measure better if you used it with the PS Audio Noise Harvester.

[@Starstreak170]

Thanks for the review. Audioquest are such a scummy company.

[@davidlong1786]

The fact that one of Stereophile's former "reviewers" left Stereophile to work for Audioquest should tell you enough. He was always an idiot as a reviewer and liked to hype the companies that made questionable over priced crap-ola.

[@dikomig6856]

Hiya. Would you do a review of ifi go blu?

[@AudioScienceReview]

Sure, I will be on lookout for one.

[@StringerNews1]

I see a lot of snakes without moisturized skin.

[@pokerbarloahavia]

great review brother can't wait till you review the CSS Audio DIY kits. A lot of people say it's the best speaker in the market.

[@user-hb1ve6mc6f]

Martin Logan Neolith Speakers, Focal or Totem are the best speakers in the world

[@marcosr2]

Great review, Amir. Nice to see that you are on youtube with these great videos

[@kyron42]

Have you tested LG quad-dac phones?

[@l_jin]

Yeah, LG quad-dac was reviewed. It's an okay dac and the best among smartphones. You can check on their website.

[@AudioScienceReview]

Yes, it is a very good DAC: www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/review-and-audio-measurement-of-lg-g7-thinq-smartphone.4468/ Difficult to use though since it senses the headphone impedance and decides on its own to limit power. There are hacks to get around this.

[@kyron42]

@@AudioScienceReview thank you very much. It's a pretty LG stopped making phones.

[@mvv1408]

Well, you'll have to pay for the MQA option, so your otherwise perfectly fine 16/44.1 PCM can be "enhanced" and you finally can hear your music "as the artist intended it". Those technicians at Philips sure didn't know what they were doing, fortunately there is Bob Stuart to outsmart them all and add more "value" to our DACS. Because when it's more expensive, it sounds better.

[@bernardopkmDP178]

The equation is simple, more snake oil = higher price 😂

[@user-hb1ve6mc6f]

Chord Dave + Chord M-Scaler

[@Bob.martens]

@@user-hb1ve6mc6f Anything less than a 10k DAC is an insult to your ears! Everybody knows that, right?

[@user-hb1ve6mc6f]

@@Bob.martens DCS BARTOK

[@hartgemini007]

Hi Amir- on your recommendation I decided to buy both the HIDIZS S9Pro & Ifi Go Blue from Amazon to compare to my current Audioquest Cobalt which according to you is complete rubbish. I currently use the Cobalt with Sennheiser IE800 IEM’s along with Snug custom made ear mouldings which sounds far superior to the inferior IPhone DAC. Connected the HIDIZS first hoping I would be amazed at the difference you mentioned instead couldn’t stop laughing at how poor it was both in detail and lack of power especially in terms of the bass which was dreadful. Then connected the Go Blue which was very close to the Cobalt but certainly not any better but leagues ahead of the Hidizs. Thankfully because I bought both on Amazon I returned both. I also own what you would call a crazy high end MSB system with expensive cable etc which you say makes zero difference despite what literally millions of people around the World clearly disagree with , so we are all wrong and can’t hear differences I find laughable personally. Personally when buying any audio product I test it over long periods before I decide to buy them as like most people wasting money on something that is clearly no better makes zero sense. On Amazon there are over 1000 positive reviews for the Cobalt & a 37 for the Hidizs S9 Pro? Having worked in the Hi Fi industry over 20 years ago I’m fully aware that reviews are cooked all the time however there are certain reviewers that offer great advice also with no monetary gain to be had therefore more believable . I do agree with your review on the Audioquest speaker cables with the DBS battery gimmick -complete nonsense so I use Jorma which are far superior product

[@kyron42]

John Darko loved the cobalt

[@phototristan]

Because they're a sponsor of his site!

[@chefsteve8381]

So ! Don't make it good !

[@kyron42]

Maybe John is smoking too many funny cigarettes when he listens to music and that is interfering his perception.

[@geoff37s38]

I do not take much notice of Darko’s opinions. I listen to his flowery analogies and am left knowing less than I did before watching his review.

[@amazoidal]

It's for mobile freaks that are hard up for a portable DAC.

[@Finn-McCool]

Imagine how many reviews they buy, how many products they comp and how much marketing they do and it's astounding that it's not a $400 dough-hackey. Just having Paul at PS AUDIO mention them may have cost them $1000s but as we know, his subliminal selling techniques are Dalai Lama level 7th chakras bonus MARIO KART red shell LINK xtra life ❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤ effective.

[@petermartin9494]

Thanks very much, very useful. Especially since it exposes some audio "reviewers" as completely useless idiots. No need to mention their names, they know who they are.

[@mikaeljohansson2254]

I wish I had known this channel a year ago. 😂 I got my unit as a gift, but I never understood the hype with it. At least, my unit can still function good as a scratching back tool 😊

[@TheAppleExperience]

In audio every thing is about matching ( synergy) the right components to get good sound. I don,t use a spectrum analyzer to evaluate a product as a customer i use my ears instead.

[@andreasmoller9798]

I have the dragonfly red witch sound very good to my ears, as dac to my main system

[@audioreviews]

Cobalt ist natürlicher und runder im Klang als die Red, besonders am oberen Ende. Ich hab eine Kiste voller Dongles und die Cobalt klingt bei weitem am besten. Was der hier erzählt ist Käse. Die Rote klingt auch sehr linear, ohne Bumps...etwas energischer halt. Auch gut. Wenn die Leute sich hier einreden, AQ sei Snake Oil, dann ist das auch inkonsequent wenn man bedenkt, dass die diese Dongles erfunden haben.

[@DJR5280]

Be careful here. If it doesn't measure well on a graph it's junk.

[@andreasmoller9798]

@@DJR5280 its actully not junk at all, as long as your happy and enjoy what you buy it will be fine, i don’t always listen to what people have to say, as they have their own preference, and sound is very subjective that is most true about speakers

[@audioreviews]

@@DJR5280 ...just like any tube amp. Check out the measurements by John Atkinson for Stereophile...same result, different interpretation. The DragonFly Red has a very small battery drain...but using a 23 ohm/93 dB sensitivity headphone as done by ASR requires a lot of current...and if it does not get it, it clips. I have tested quite a few dongles (mainly with iems) and some of the ones that measure well sound metallic. It is a general problem of theoretical physics that electromagnetic waves cannot be 1:1 translated to acoustic waves. Listening is essential for...ermm...determining audio quality. I do have all 3 DragonFlys and the two Earmen and a bunch of others. Red is very good, sonically.

[@audioreviews]

Red is absolutely untouched in its price class.

[@chefsteve8381]

Zeos reviewed this yesterday you just destroyed his credibility with this review lol

[@fieldcar]

Yeah. That was a painful watch after reading amir's article first. It was a final nail in the coffin for me trusting his reviews. The previous was the hype over the goldplanar gl2000. They have a substantial 1KHz peak.

[@thobiasmartin4768]

He said it sounded good and sometimes distortion sounds good He tried with different headphones / IEM and said it won't run some He also said it wasn't worth 300$ Soooo wouldn't say his credibility is gone Just that Z likes some strange stuff And by the way he ended the review by saying he doesn't recommend buying it soooo did you even listen to both of the reviews ? Because they both agree just different point of views and techniques of jugement People like tubes because they distort sound That thing is the same just badly designed solid state I personally wouldn't buy this thing even if it was 20$ because I won't give a dime to people that say their cables improve sound and charge 14 000$ for 3 meters of XLR cables

[@chefsteve8381]

@@thobiasmartin4768 yes he said he would pay $200 for it ,lol .don't get caught up in his world class shilling. and distortion is only good in 2nd and 3rd harmonics on tube amps not solid state amps, but i do agree about the cable BS.

[@apexracing741]

@@thobiasmartin4768 Tube distortion is like vinyl distortion, it can be pleasing to the ears. Digital distortion is not.

[@thobiasmartin4768]

@@apexracing741 Distortion is nice when you enjoy it It's about personal preference I like some old mp3 player's sound if you measured them they would show garbage numbers But I find their sound warm and nice All about personal preference If knowing that some DAC / amp is throwing good numbers at you is making your ears happy then go with it Personally I go by what pleases my ear without knowing anything about it and I'm happy like that

[@Lauren080508]

It was expected, after all is audioquest, still a shame, anyway many are crossing fingers for the Fiio BTR5 to be reviewed by Amir, so popular out there after rave reviews from most all youtubers.

[@juliangst]

I had the dragonfly black a few years ago and was really happy with it and sometimes even preferred it over my desktop dac amp. This shows again that measurements aren’t everything.

[@davidlong1786]

No but sighted bias sure is.

[@syke76]

You want to make sure you are not confusing sound signature with performance. I have the dragonfly red, and on some iems, it sounded rather nice. But that's because of the warmer signature that help compensate the detailed nature of some my iems. If I were to compare to something that measures well on Amir's list, I do hear more details and separation but very likely it would be to the point of being a little too jarring and thin sounding for my liking. Point is, on certain setups the dragonfly would work well to your preference due to its sound signature but that does not mean it performs well across the board. They are two separate things.

[@juliangst]

@@davidlong1786 if I had any bias it wouldn’t be towards the dragonfly but my other amp, but the dragonfly ended up sounding better. It’s probably because of the sound signature and not the distortion or technicalities of the unit

[@xulonn]

@@juliangst Please be aware that there is only one "accurate sound" and that a "Sound Signature" (if it truly exists) is actually a distortion of the "accurate" sound. It is o.k. to prefer some forms of distortion - but don't refer to such a sound signature as "accurate".

[@audioreviews]

Most people who talk about snake oil here are blind followers...likely none of them has tried the Cobalt.

[@ForbesPhoto]

But John Darko called his review "Excellence EVERYWHERE w/ AudioQuest's DragonFly Cobalt" and Audiophiliac Gutenburg "wowza"! How could this be? (now, where is that sarcasm emoji?)

[@sakusaaristo191]

Who says we don't have super heroes amongst us, as these two (and many other audiophiles) bend reality with power of their minds :D

[@AmbientWanderer]

He would do when he's getting paid to say that. lol

[@BrentLeVasseur]

Yeah I have two of these things and the build quality, especially on the wiring on the headphone jack is crap. They break really easily. Also my MOTU M2 has a better sounding DAC, can power higher power hungry headphones like the Arya when connected to my iPad Pro (where as the Cobalt can’t) and the MOTU is $50 cheaper to boot. As for the noise floor, the quality of your source matters a lot. If you are connecting this DAC to a noisy PC then your output will measure badly. However if you connect it to a good source with low noise then it should measure pretty well. It’s not a horrible sounding DAC, but it’s not an outstanding DAC either. It is a low end solution for making your iPad/iPhone sound better than the standard headphone jack, which it accomplishes pretty well. What I have discovered is that the quality of your streaming source makes a much bigger difference then the quality of your DAC. Why? Because the DAC is always downstream and has to take what you give it. If you feed a DAC a crappy signal, it will sound crappy. If you feed it a great low noise signal, then it should sound good. That’s why a high quality streaming source paired with a mediocre DAC will sound better than a high quality DAC paired with a low quality streaming source in 99% of the cases.

[@MrKallemyran]

"I just see no reason for this to exist what so ever" 🤭

[@HeliBenj]

Ohh this one should be good

[@blanchbacker]

This should be good :)

[@kyron42]

We'll soon find out.

[@emuclone154]

Indeed.

[@morgul0]

That's kind of what I suspected when buying the red one

[@ubtrippin9980]

Audioquest strikes again!

[@zyghom]

I am SHOCKED!

[@masterxyr]

don't touch the wires....

[@Old_Sailor85]

Almost as good as their cables...

[@jtavegia5845]

Thanks for exposing the truth.

[@joemato]

Audioquest knows that there are lots of gullible "audiophiles" around and they are earning on that. I don't exempt myself but with Amir I'm getting better and better at spotting hype (or snake oil as you may like it) from real performance and thus saving me a lot of money. Thanks Amir!

[@jumpstat]

Thanks for the indepth review. Another subpar product from AudioQ. Their products are very expensive in my country and many dealers sells them unfortunately.

[@jules153]

A friend of mine has one of these and he says this sounds as good as his Chord Mojo.

[@HeliBenj]

Yep, sounds about right. Chord is also selling you magic that doesn’t exist

[@brandall101]

@@HeliBenj The Mojo and Hugo 2 have been measured by Amir and they perform decently enough - far, far better than this.

[@dentboxhero1717]

To still have those thing priced so high it's laughable. Things have caught on and moved past Audioquest and for a fraction of the price.

[@user-oc2hl3wm4u]

Waiting for ibasso dc 03......

[@cryptout]

I would be buying any AQ gear. Many cheaper and technically better options out there.

[@rolliseventeen]

I knew it, but couldnt proof it. I saw so much hipsters running around with this sticks at german High End Messe and it was clear to me: This can only be complete BS. Running a cheap Shanling M0 mobile, sounds grat for me. Using a really cheap Sabaj A3 in the kitchen with Fostex NF1´s and this is also ok. After watching a few ASR vids, i plan to diy a Amp and upgrado ti Rasp Streamer. I know, i cant hear the diff, but hey, have to use my new solder tool. ;-)

[@ariakobudice]

18:54 Right on Amir, too many reviewers measuring digital audio products based on "feeling" and how much they getting paid. May have broken ears as well