Regarding the Apple Camera connectors- I haven’t really had any trouble, never with my DFB and very rarely with the DFC. I’ve had an occasional warning or drop-out using the DFC and the lightning camera connector 2.
The DFR and DFC pull just about as much power as the iPhone can handle. @Torq commented on this when the DFC first came out and people were first commenting about it.
I’ve never experienced any issue using Apple lightning camera connector 3 and power. If you have both, and only have an issue using the 2, or the 3 with no power, then it’s a power issue.
I had a skim through this thread and didn’t see any comments on the issue I am having with the DFR. I use the DFR, with the latest firmware, with my Microsoft Surface. I’m using Sony XBA-H1 IEMs. If I enable exclusive mode in Tidal to turn on MQA, the volume becomes outrageously loud. I have the “force max volume” setting off. I need to turn the volume in Tidal down to 1%, and the Windows system volume down to 1%, and it’s still too loud to listen to. I also get a static/popping sound, which I thought was clipping, but might actually be some sort of digital noise.
I’ve contacted Audioquest support three times, and they’ve only responded once, to my second email. I guess they don’t particularly care about customer service.
Has anyone had any success using the DFR with Tidal and exclusive mode?
I only use the DFC connected to iOS devices (iPhone/iPad) using the Tidal app, among other music services. I’ve never encountered volume issues other than occasionally when I switch between apps’ during music playback.
In my case when using the Tidal app, if it’s an MQA file then the DFC automatically recognizes it and uses the MQA filter (I don’t see an “Excusive Mode” option in settings), verified by the magenta light.
It sound like there may be a driver issue with the Surface.
The DFR works fine with Tidal on my Android phone (although my phone won’t output MQA). It’s just Windows I have the volume issue with. Also, if I use non-exclusive mode on Tidal, the volume is OK. I guess it could be a driver issue, but Audioquest’s website say that no driver download is required and there are no drivers available to download.
I also had a DFB and it did the same thing (I returned the DFB as the DFR is far superior in my opinoin).
It’s a little disappointing, since I like everything else about this device. No MQA for me I guess.
What’s interesting is that the Tidal app (iOS or Android) acts as a “renderer” for MQA, in essence performing the first ‘unfold’. The DFC should be recognizing this and performing the final ‘unfolds’.
Silly question, but do you have a Tidal Masters subscription? I’d also verify that you have the app set to playback as “Master”.
Yes, I do have the Masters subscription and MQA tracks show up as “masters” quality in Tidal (rather than Hifi). On that note, I haven’t tried any non-MQA tracks with exclusive mode to see if it’s an MQA issue or an exclusive mode issue. I’ll give that a shot later.
I’ve tried the DFR on another machine, and although the volume is a tiny bit better (ie. at 1% in Tidal and 1% in Windows it’s actually listenable), it’s still not very much control over the volume. And, I’ve noticed that touching the volume in Tidal results in lots of clicks and static sound, until I pause playback and restart it.
This only happens in exclusive mode, and whether the music is MQA or not is not a factor.
Using a different DAC (Bifrost 2) has zero issues, it’s only the DFR.
To summarize:
On two different Windows machines, I have virtually no volume control using Tidal and exclusive mode on the DFR. One machine is slightly better but both are too loud.
On both machines, touching the volume control in Tidal results in static noise during music playback. The noise stops if I pause and restart playback.
I also had thought that I wasn’t getting MQA on Android, but I am. I thought the LED was magenta but it’s actually purple. The two colours are not much different to my eyes.
At this point, given that Audioquest won’t respond to my queries, I’m basically giving up on using Tidal with the DFR in exclusive mode, unless someone else has a solution.
I’m not hating on the sound of the product as I have actually never tried it but I feel like for the price of the product I would like something more physically substantial if that makes sense? But I guess it can swing the other way as some people would prefer their DAC / AMP to not be bigger than their source etc.
I’ve never used a stick DAC. These Dragonflies, how do they sound on their own (i.e.without using an external amp? I’m curious because they feed off tiny laptop PSU’s that have neither the voltage nor the current found in even small PSU’s like the Micromega MyDAC or the Cambridge DACMagic 100. remember those days at the dawn of the mass-market home computer age when the only “audio” found in a typical computer was “beep” and squirrel noises. Since then I have, at the urging of pride-filled friends who were so excited about the “faulous” SQ of their newly acquired laptop that came with promise of nothing less than a sublime sound quality bliss from the Mega-Turbo-Nearly-Nuclear sound card tucked inside. nuclear Sound Blaster “Llive” card which, according to the salesman, sounded just as good as a Rush concert. That caught my attention enough to buy such a laptop for the purpose of audio bliss.
Audio bliss my a$$. The “fabulous” SQ sounded much closer to a cat fight than to Rush. I reverted to standard home audio with a Sugden A25 room heater mislabeled as integrated amplifier even though it generated more heat than music, Luxman CD player and a very decent pair of stand-mounted Paradigm Titans dating back to a time when Paradigned was still aware that several people in Canada did not have six-figure incomes. the time when. The next and last 3 or 4 times I got forced by politeness to comfirm the uber quality of one’s laptop audio, which was always bad, ranging from “atrocious” to “constipated horse.”
Ok now lemme have it and tell me about those little dragons please
I’m liking my Dragonfly Red so far. Definitely a significant improvement on its own over the onboard audio on my MacBook pro. Wider more dynamic sound with better separation and tighter control over the driver for a more refined sound. It doesn’t sound quite as good as my humble desktop stack (Topping D10 / Monolith Liquid Spark) but it is a pretty darn good portable solution that I can tuck into the little elastic strap in the Elegia case and take it everywhere with me and know I can get pretty sweet sound. I also like the fact that I don’t have to worry about charging it. So that’s a plus. I will say that I haven’t played with lots of different sources (yet) so I may not have the perspective of some of the others here, but I can say that I don’t feel like I’m really missing out on much when I’m listening with my Dragonfly on the go.
I should have been clearer.I don’t listen to music on the go so I wouldn’t be using this as backup DAC on a laptop setup. I seek something compact yet advanced enough to handle many formats. I had the Dragonfly Blue in mind. Yesterday my main DAC (Naim DAC V1) lost its life during a thunderstorm and as if this wan’t bad enough my backup DAC acted wondy all day then just froze: no lights, not power, no mothing. It’s as dead as a rock so I didn’t have any DAC of my own left to replace the other two but in March my BIL who ows an audio shop had loaned me a Simaudio Moon 280D DAC/Network receiver that can play just about anyformats at resolutions up to 385kHz 32 bits in usb mode.which is almost as high as what Fooobar can achieve. Thst is satifacty satisfactory. I emplied hafl thr till for third and last time. I’m running of living space with headphones displayed in every room Hifiman, Susvara ill br hrld proners while Whail I’ll be om vactio to Scotlnd in a few weeks… unless Covid decides other wise
Edit: sorry for the typos, I hadn’t slept in nearly 40 hour due to extreme heat and central AC that don’t work because the super said he wad forbidden to turn it on until next Monday. I wonder if the CEO of the company that owns the complex has his AC working? Greedy bozos. The photo of the DAC is not one of my actual machine obviously, it comes from Moon’s website. Mine is silver but otherwise identical. For buying it I was given Tidal free for a month or so, as well as Roon and Audirvana I assume is for training purposes in the operation of the remote which is almost as ill-designed at that of my TV cable provider. I already learned one lesson: don’t push buttons at random for kicks. Doing so the unit switched to standy mode and it took me like half an hour to bring it back to life. This is not plug-sand-play, to say the least. Also, many features require the unit be connected to other Moon components like preamp and standalone headphone amp that costs $12,000. I’ll pass on those unless I win the lottery. The unit is made in Canada. If it proves to be worthy of mine eating Kraft Dinner for two weeks after paying for it I’ll do a write-up on it. One initial remark: no plastic, large size and heavy.
@MuzeMuff - Sound quality with the Red is good, has been kind of a standard for years for a portable / and also used for desktop, DAC. I prefer the ifi xDSD or Chord Mojo (that’s as exotic as I own but I’ve heard a lot more gear - Chord Hugo 2, TT, DAVE, Benchmark, etc.) but I still enjoy the Red, and it’s great to have whenever the power runs out of the other DACs - since it’s powered by your laptop, a great foolproof backup really. I haven’t used the Cobalt, but think the consensus was it might be an improvement and have some more power if you need it, good option if you don’t already have the Red. The Red also gains improvement from an ifi usb3 for noise reduction (think the audioquest jitterbug would be similar). Super easy to use.
Darko’s done a few reviews of the Dragonfly line over the years:
Of note, Manley was also using Reds paired with their amps at CanJam last year.
Excuse me, but who wouldn’t? Those are very impressive little units and I have them on my list of potential emergency backups. Because that’s what it will be for: a backup in case the Moon fails. Maxed my CC on it so it better not lol. But even $20,000 amps can fail so I’m not taking any chance. Right now I’m considering the DACMagic 100. It’s getting old but it would be good for temporary duty. And it’s only $199 (the original price was over $500).
If I wasn’t retired (I’m only 56 but had to retire at 50 due to back injury that left permanent sequels like not being able to stand up for more than a few minutes or suffer unbearable nerve pain for the next 20 hours or so and strong painkillers make me sick. I was a heavy equipment operator) I would certainly lean towards a Dragonfly for portability and acceptable SQ from a laptop provided the latter would be properly equipped for audio, which pretty much amounts to having as powerful a PSU a laptop can handle, since dragonflies run off it.
A DFR or DFC may be a good bet. Sounds like ValentineLuke has experience with the Cobalt, too.
Advantage is it’s a DAC/amp solution, doesn’t need external power, and very robust. Very quick setup.
(For me, seamless integration with Tidal on a Mac laptop also - a plus if you use MQA.) A few years ago, the DFR was considered one of the best DACs under $500 from what I’ve heard.
There’s a great site I know of that has a generous 365 day return policy to try stuff also (though I wouldn’t want to take advantage of it)!
Damn right they don’t. Until several years ago I only used USB-powered DAC’s. Many people don’t realise it but that equates to having on-demand variable power that was only limited by the computer’s USB controller. The caveat is that you have to have both a powerful PSU (at least 600w) and a generous allocation of power to the USB ports from the CPU. Typically you would find that in a gaming motherboard with the on-board sucky audio switched off in BIOS so it wouldn’t inject EMI noise into the signal and snag power that can be better used elsewhere (to the USB outs, for example). Those DACs were not very expensive but experienced users can turn them into a powerhouse either as-is or with easy mods. They’re rare nowadays and more often than not they’re now just an option on the source selector of TOTL DAC’s… olr made into dragonflies
Those are very impressive little units and I have them on my list of potential emergency backups. Because that’s what it will be for: a backup in case the Moon fails. Maxed my CC on it so it better not lol. But even $20,000 amps can fail so I’m not taking any chance. Right now I’m considering the DACMagic 100. It’s getting old but it would be good for temporary duty. And it’s only $199 (the original price was over $500).