Thanks so much for this vid, really answered my question, and not made me lose my time. Going for the Red as well since thats the flavor of music I listen to the most
You know something? You're bang on regarding the Red vs Cobalt. I've owned both and whilst the Cobalt is brilliant for my regular AOR, Prog and Classical music especially through my Grado PS500s the Red definitely has a bit of extra 'thump' for my occasional dance/trance MNDR, Gilligan Moss, Binary Finary etc. So you've IMHO made an important point and probably one that's missed out by many. Thanks so much, great review and to the point.
For the Dragonfly black, between the Apple dongle and that. I noticed a difference. Not in warmth or anything like you said, but specifically sound staging/dynamics. I use it with IEM's and my Sony XM4's, and it made both of them sound much better. I found it mainly effects the soundstage and imaging. Though, I also found it has a pretty pleasant effect on vocals and drums
@@DamianNocun I am, yes! I can't speak on the Red as I've never heard it, but personally I'm still using the Black and I'm loving it a LOT. Haven't regretted it at all, I use it daily. Absolutely love it man
Great review. I have the black and yes it just seems to amplify the music. I noticed you played “All by myself”. How does the red treat that kind of music?
Genre expose on dacs is hardly ever covered and one of the biggest reasons why so many people complain when they buy a dac and their music sounds weak.
If you have to have audioquest products get the red. The other ones kinda suck. Also actually get a good dac with good measurements from audio science review and good subjective review from TH-cam. These were good when they came out but now many other companies with way better dacs for way less than half the price
Great! 1. totally agree with your complaint about nobody talks about these DACs in terms of the different music genres 2. However, I have to disagree with you on dance music - red / live music - cobalt equation. For me, electronic musics already has enough boost on the lower end, so I'd like to add some other features to the music. When I listened Dua Lipa or other rather powerful pop musics, red was too much for me. Now that I switched to cobalt, wow, I love this little guy. Disagreement aside, love your pithy yet accurate review.
Goes to show you have to audition the equipment. I have hated some highly rated audiophile stuff and loved stuff like Bose that audiophiles hate. Reviews can only be a pointer.
Hello, thank you very much for your contributions to lovers of good sound...! I am from Chile, I am a teacher, thanks to your recommendation I bought the DragonFly Cobalt, the value was about $432, about $350,000 Chilean pesos. I have a good quality BOSE and Sennheiser headphones. What adapter do you recommend for an iPhone cell phone? The color of my Dac does not change despite using Spotify, TIDAl, Qobu or the computer, why is this happening? Please recommend good quality headphones and cables to get the most out of my Dac. Thank you very much in advance and greetings from Santiago de Chile
Hello you can use the Apple lightning to USB adapter which you can find on Amazon or Apple Store and just use your Bose headphones cable jack and you should be ok. You can also buy gold plated male to male aux cables to plug in from your Dragonfly Cobalt to your headphones if your headphone cables are detachable. Not all of them are detachable.
I have a red Dragonfly and the volume is very low with Android Phone. But after upgrading firmware to 1.07 the volume level now is much better. I also own an ifi XDsd dac amp and the sound quality between the two are pretty much the same. So there's little point in carrying a bulky dac amp around. By the way, this is a very to the point review.
ASR just did a testing on the cobalt, way outperformed by most nowadays $100 DAC dongles, the chip inside is fine but the amp sucks, high distortion and clipping specially in low impedance cans, if you use mid-high impedance cans you may not noticed the shortcomings, but asking $300 when performs around $50, is a shame; audioquest scam as usual.
@@drumphil00 "I find that the Red offers a more technical listening experience, whereas the Black submerses the listener in warmth..." Thisshitishilarious
Thanks for the review! I just purchased the red and was pretty impressed with the sound difference. I could only assume that the cobalt would do even more for the SQ. I was very tempted to buy the cobalt, but after your review I feel confident I made the right choice! Cheers mate!
So it’s 2024. I have an iPhone 14 Pro Max. I have just purchased a pair of B&W PX8’s (still boxed) and I will mainly be listening to house/dance music. First album I will be playing will be Renaissance on Apple Music. Should I purchase the red or cobalt given that a few things may have advanced since this video was created? I would really appreciate the advice, thank you!
That’s a tough one. Considering the PX8s have excellent sound and bass reproduction you might be better off with a more rounded roll off sound that the cobalt offers but still you can get the red if you really want that thump in your dance music!
Hi. In case of Metal songs which one would you recommend? Watching your review now I'm more after the red one.. I'm really looking for much energy in music. BTW, I wanna use it with a Yamaha Amplifier and speakers. Would this RED DAC still be a good choice when connecting to not headphones, but amplifier and floorstanding speakers? Cheers! 😊
The red is a great choice either way but for rock and metal I noticed the blue is more cohesive, better overall balance. Red is far better sounding for electronic drums which is why it’s the better choice for dance/house music.
Lol for pop music in general (including Taylor Swift music) either one will do but you’ll like the blue one a bit better if you can afford the extra $$.
No that doesn't exist. Also a wireless DAC would defeat the purpose of being able to obtain high fidelity audio as wireless lossless audio does not exist... yet.
Totally agree with the musical genre thing. I got a LG G6 phone with quad dac, which some audio reviewers say is equivalent to the dragonfly black. There is a slight difference with loud music like pop, Taylor Swift recordings for instance. The sound is a bit fuller but I would take it or leave it. It isn’t a dramatic difference. But switch to jazz where the music has a lot of subtle effects, like little piano runs and wire brush scraping of hi hats and the difference is much more pronounced, like jumping up a bitrate level, eg 128kbps to 160kbps. Did you try the dragonfly black with something like a live recording of Stella by Starlight by Miles Davies? You’ll probably start noticing detail that is absent without a premium DAC. One of the DAC’s jobs is to lower the noise floor, so quiet subtle stuff like audience shuffling becomes a lot more apparent.
I agree on your comments about the sound quality of the Dragonfly Red vs the Cobalt. The Cobalt and the Red have similar sonic qualities, but the Red has a more punchy, upfront sound while the Cobalt has a smoother sound. For mobile usage, my thoughts was that the more forward sound of the Red would be better. Also, one way to make the sound of the Dragonfly Red smoother would be to add a Jitterbug noise filter.
thanks! I was thinking about "upgrading" to a blue - but now I'm thinking maybe I should just try a Blue out to see if I like it better for the music I listen to. Probably won't make enough of a difference that I'd notice as I'm usually in Active Noise Cancellation mode on an airplane or similar white noise areas. Thanks for this honest review!
just got the Cobalt and apart from making the volume 20-25% louder, absolutely no improvement in sound quality. Used it with my brand new Audio Technica and also Bose noise canceling….with laptop and also iPhone (with the more expensive iPhone camera adapter as suggested on AudioQuest website)….Seriously no quality improvement…..
It’s interesting. Some people here in the comments swear by the cobalt claiming it’s far superior. Give the red a try! The sound comes out thicker and warmer. Volume amplification output is the same on red and cobalt.
@@Killyang Maybe i just don’t have Audiophile hearing anymore lol 😂 It’s a little better on the laptop with the CD’s I transferred to my iTunes years ago, does nothing for Spotify on iPad or iPhone (except make it louder)
@@robhaddick1717 very interesting. Thanks for bringing this to light. I personally would not pay for the cobalt at 300 but I did not mention that in my review video. Maybe I should have. If you want a really good DAC and you don’t mind spending the money get the Chord Mojo!
You are absolutely right. The Cobalt drops a lot of the punch from any music that has any kind of somewhat explosive punch. I mean literally anything, even symphonic depending on the piece. Industrial, Crystal Method, or even late Sade and Duran Duran, you will notice it doesn't sound like you're used to.
sorry but the dragon fly black pisses on the 10 pound apple dac. watch terminator 2 movie using both then you will see hell of alot of difference. there is a better bite to the sound with the dragon fly. Is it slightly over priced i would say yes but not by much. Test it with flac or full hd movies the diffence is obvious. if testing using mp3 quality the difference is smaller.
Thank you for this review, I am not really into high end audio but I listen to hours of audio both for work and play. I required a sound card at some point so I tried a couple of generic ones and was not impressed at all. I finally got a good deal on the Dragonfly black and, thinking I had nothing to loose, tried it. Audio is very clean and it provides enough power for all my headphones, some of which my laptop and other sound cards barely could habdle. I am satisfied and interested in the red version. While the black may not be the greatest bang for your money I really have no complaints. Perhaps it could be differentiated if they made it smaller and more portable.
I bought both cobalt and red, cause I was gonna send one of them back anyway. I’m keeping the cobalt, I don’t hear any noticeable difference between the two, but I’m keeping the more expensive one because it’s smaller and it fits better in the iPhone camera dongle (the red one sticks out slightly). If you are trying to choose between the two, I recommend the red one if you want to save some money. if you’re a snob, buy the cobalt one ;)
I use the DF COBALT as a preamp into the STAX SRM-353X CLASS A earspeaker driver with STAX SR-L700MK2 electrostatic earspeakers. The COBALT had the best sound no matter what music in my collection I listened to.
I have the DFR and it’s amazing. It generates very high quality sound, when I use it with my Toyota Camry sound system. Dynamics, transparency, and detail are all excellent, and it never sounds harsh.
@@originalmachine85 I just connect the 3.5mm jack of the DFR to the aux input on the Camry, using a 3.5mm cable. Select the aux input on the radio and you’re good to go. Plug n’ Play.
This review is only to compare the dragonfly series with each other. There are certainly better and worse DACs out there for the same price! I haven’t tried the audient id4 to be able to speak on it.
Was looking at the red but for slightly lesser, I got the iFi Zen DAC amp V2 instead. It’s not portable though can be move around as long there is a USB connection. Less portable and bigger in size but it's a MQA decoder, can play 32bits 384khz, DSD256, DXD384, Pentaconn 4.4mm balanced, 6.35mm and a 16 Core chip.
I've been using the RED, which my father in law lent me, for a couple weeks. I've been extremely impressed. So I just found the COBALT brand new at 199€ (Red price) at german etailer Auditorium, and pulled the trigger. What a deal! Edit: Most of what I listen to is fusion/jazz/rock, stuff with instruments, a lot more than electronic. So your review helped me decide on the Cobalt!
Awesome observation…. I’m a Jazz aficionado (swing, cool, bop…) so, given your review “cobalt” would be for me. Loved the advice on the black…plain and simply.
Wow. So much bullshit about a deficient device in terms of audio fidelity. Dave G made the only sensible comment so far. "They are both very bad. High distortion." Go look up some of the measurements from the Audio Science Review test.
hi i was wondering if a portable DAC would improve the audio quality if im using a Audio 64 U6t IEM (around $1.2k USD) but currently only streaming on spotify (bitrate sucks) or shld i be focusing on downloading quality files instead? (using an iphone btw) or shld i get a DAP?
You don’t need a DAP. It’s basically a watered down smartphone. My personal opinion is that it’s all about the source file. The better the source quality the better it is for the overall listening system. I noticed that even an average sound system streaming a full wav master on Tidal sounded better than a high end system streaming compressed audio like mp3. Think of it this way… would you rather have a high quality representation of a shitty sound or would you rather have a medium quality representation of a high definition sound?
I tested the black and red before deciding which to buy and I found the black to be no real improvement over the Apple lightning to 3.5 mm adapter and the analog output of my iMac. It did sound a lot better than the output on a $500 PC. The Red did however provide a clear difference over the black so I went with it and have been very happy with my decision. After reading the cobalt reviews I came to the same conclusion that it isn't necessarily better than the Red, just different. I could see myself having both and chosing based on the type of music if I had the money collecting dust, but I'm very happy with the Red so far.
yes this revie is excelent. Like as you said, no one said about music what you listening.. Ok my question is... I listening rock, some metal band and i love Drum & Bass music. Which one is better red or cobalt? xD best regards :)
Thank you for doing this video. I have read in one other review the dragonfly red has more of a punch in sound and could be a better choice but you have convinced me. I do have the dragonfly black and, while I would not say it is worthless, it is certainly overpriced. I got mine second hand for a good price and I am actually surprised by how well it works and I am not talking about the sound quality. I have a couple of chinese brand DACs and sometimes they do not work when you connect them, sometimes there is weird noise or a buzzing/ringing sound. The dragonfly always works and has never produced an undesired sound. I am glad I got mine and it does sound better than my chifi DACs. I think I am ready for an upgrade. I listen to a variety of genres but what I enjoy more are alway voices, would you say the red or the blue could improve something for me or the difference would be minimal from the black?
I have the black one and I use it on my MacBook Pro + a basic Bose headphone. Except if you're deaf, you ear a real and big difference with and without. Everybody around me was impressed after a blind test. I am willing to believe that the red one is even better, but it's very strange to claim that the Dragonfly black is about transparent... I've just ordered a Focal Stellia. And I'll see if the difference is still as big. However, I'll probably buy a DAC headphone amplifier soon. And as you mentioned, a careful listening is the key. In termes of music, there's no truth, just different tastes.
Straight up, I have a black and I noticed a pretty solid difference. On my computer and phone. Even compared it to the Apple Dongle, which I used for MONTHS before I bought the black and there is a clear difference lol
I would say red is more "musical" and cobalt is more "technical". Yes cobalt has better accuracy / sound stage / depth, at the cost of being a bit more analytical sounding. But red just sounds more immersed and more musical for me. So I end up keeping the red, and it's cheaper too!
Awesome!! I went into a store today to buy the black, but I was so frustrated with always having to hear clipped music that I splurged on the red. I couldn't bring myself to pay the extra $ for the cobalt, and after watching this review, I'm very relieved! The guy in the shop said that a big difference between black and red was in a deeper low-end, which is what you've said too, so I think I'm happy I bought the right one. Thanks!!
Apple users must really love using those clunky dongles all the time. I don't get it, with other phones you can just plug in your USB devices directly.
what if I want to hear what the music really sounds like? Irrespective of genre. A DAC should be transparent. I don'twant to hear the sound of the DAC... I want to hear the sound of the music.... But hey... to each his own... I am an audio engineer, not a hifi enthusiast
If you want to hear what the music actually sounds like without any enhancements whatsoever then you want a pair of flat sounding headphones which is what I use to produce music (in my case the Audio Technica M50x) to make sure there is no bias in the eq range and the eq graph set completely flat. I would also recommend you to stay away from any after market DACs as they each feature their own unique sound signature.
As far as objective measurements are concerned, the Red and Cobalt are virtually identical. It demonstrates that implementation of a DAC chip is as important as the chip inside. So yeah, the Red is the much better value since with the Cobalt, you’re basically paying $100 extra for a different paint job and a marginally smaller form factor. But AQ fanboys are like the Cobalt is revolutionary or something.
I did mostly “real world testing” which means Apple Music and Spotify premium. I did test one wav (lossless) music 24 bit 44.1khz file on my laptop. I noticed big improvements either way.
so I've heard all three back to back simultaneously even and really the choice of witches better is hugely subjective in this case. personally I ended up with a dragonfly black, now of course I could afford any of them so it's not a matter of cost and more has to do with I just liked that the black had more of this sort of natural organic quality to me. whereas the red and cobalt sounded more distinctly high fidelity sounding. and I mean that with a negative connotation then the sense that you didn't really feel the music so much as you heard it, where is with the black you definitely felt the music.
That’s a very interesting point of view and I can respect that even though I was not a fan of the dragonfly black myself, I can appreciate what you said about the sound sounding more “organic”. It shows that it comes down to a matter of taste. My personal preference is a sound that sounds very “full” if you know what I mean with some nice high end so you can clearly hear the crispness of cymbals and high hats without being piercing.
How much powerful would you say this is compared to standard computer motherboard 3.5mm jacks? been looking for something that can power my Bayerdynamics so looks for a good product before i confirm my purchase.
I would say it’s significantly louder than any standard 3.5mm jack whether you are using a desktop or laptop the dragonfly red and cobalt will make a big difference in volume. Not the black however.
I agree. I have both the red and the cobolt. The cobolt has a warmer and more rounded sound. Red is better at EDM. But one thing to get with both is the AUDIOQUEST JITTERBUG FMJ. For me it made a big difference when it comes to the blackness in the background and the overall stereo image is better.
Has anyone used the dragonfly red on a desktop Mac or a Mac mini M1? Does it make a difference of quality when you use this DAC on a computer compared to a phone? just wondering. thanks. :)
No it doesn’t because you are essentially overriding the DAC that’s built in the phone or computer. That’s why you buy an aftermarket DAC in the first place. 👍🏻
I would recommend the cobalt in the dragonfly series for classical music but to be honest the THX Onyx is far better than even the cobalt and cheaper too!
I believe they can but the highest I tested was at 38 ohms with my Audio Technical ath-m50x which sound terrific on them! They definitely will suck a lot of juice out of your phone which is why I recommended the lightning to USB adapter with pass-through power.
I wonder how you can test without a decent audio file on a iphone, asume this is only about a poor mp3 audio file. The Dragonfly shoud be tested with wav and fac files.
Thanks so much for this vid, really answered my question, and not made me lose my time. Going for the Red as well since thats the flavor of music I listen to the most
Happy to hear that!
Same, easy choice going for the red after learning it's better for the type of music I listen to. Going to order it now!
You know something? You're bang on regarding the Red vs Cobalt. I've owned both and whilst the Cobalt is brilliant for my regular AOR, Prog and Classical music especially through my Grado PS500s the Red definitely has a bit of extra 'thump' for my occasional dance/trance MNDR, Gilligan Moss, Binary Finary etc. So you've IMHO made an important point and probably one that's missed out by many. Thanks so much, great review and to the point.
cool! Thanks for your input. Wich one would you suggest for blues and rock music? Paired with a REVOX amplifier. The blue or the red one? Greetz
For the Dragonfly black, between the Apple dongle and that. I noticed a difference. Not in warmth or anything like you said, but specifically sound staging/dynamics. I use it with IEM's and my Sony XM4's, and it made both of them sound much better. I found it mainly effects the soundstage and imaging. Though, I also found it has a pretty pleasant effect on vocals and drums
Hi Blake, do you still using black dragon with Xm4 and can recommend it ? I have it ordered and don't know if pick up or go for red ..
@@DamianNocun I am, yes! I can't speak on the Red as I've never heard it, but personally I'm still using the Black and I'm loving it a LOT. Haven't regretted it at all, I use it daily. Absolutely love it man
Great review. I have the black and yes it just seems to amplify the music. I noticed you played “All by myself”. How does the red treat that kind of music?
Genre expose on dacs is hardly ever covered and one of the biggest reasons why so many people complain when they buy a dac and their music sounds weak.
If you have to have audioquest products get the red. The other ones kinda suck. Also actually get a good dac with good measurements from audio science review and good subjective review from TH-cam. These were good when they came out but now many other companies with way better dacs for way less than half the price
Great!
1. totally agree with your complaint about nobody talks about these DACs in terms of the different music genres
2. However, I have to disagree with you on dance music - red / live music - cobalt equation. For me, electronic musics already has enough boost on the lower end, so I'd like to add some other features to the music. When I listened Dua Lipa or other rather powerful pop musics, red was too much for me. Now that I switched to cobalt, wow, I love this little guy.
Disagreement aside, love your pithy yet accurate review.
I appreciate your feedback. Nothing wrong with that, the red and cobalt are both solid DACs in their own way at the end of the day!
Goes to show you have to audition the equipment. I have hated some highly rated audiophile stuff and loved stuff like Bose that audiophiles hate. Reviews can only be a pointer.
very soon there wil be dac for every artist. So if you want ot listen to Artiest A, you need DAC D.
Hello, thank you very much for your contributions to lovers of good sound...! I am from Chile, I am a teacher, thanks to your recommendation I bought the DragonFly Cobalt, the value was about $432, about $350,000 Chilean pesos. I have a good quality BOSE and Sennheiser headphones. What adapter do you recommend for an iPhone cell phone? The color of my Dac does not change despite using Spotify, TIDAl, Qobu or the computer, why is this happening? Please recommend good quality headphones and cables to get the most out of my Dac. Thank you very much in advance and greetings from Santiago de Chile
Hello you can use the Apple lightning to USB adapter which you can find on Amazon or Apple Store and just use your Bose headphones cable jack and you should be ok. You can also buy gold plated male to male aux cables to plug in from your Dragonfly Cobalt to your headphones if your headphone cables are detachable. Not all of them are detachable.
@@Killyang Thank you!
fucking A dude, I see some moondrop S8's in your future
I have a red Dragonfly and the volume is very low with Android Phone. But after upgrading firmware to 1.07 the volume level now is much better. I also own an ifi XDsd dac amp and the sound quality between the two are pretty much the same. So there's little point in carrying a bulky dac amp around. By the way, this is a very to the point review.
ASR just did a testing on the cobalt, way outperformed by most nowadays $100 DAC dongles, the chip inside is fine but the amp sucks, high distortion and clipping specially in low impedance cans, if you use mid-high impedance cans you may not noticed the shortcomings, but asking $300 when performs around $50, is a shame; audioquest scam as usual.
Yep, but look at the comments here. This whole thing is a search engine/google trending manipulation engine.
@@drumphil00 "I find that the Red offers a more technical listening experience, whereas the Black submerses the listener in warmth..."
Thisshitishilarious
Don’t think so …… the Kobalt makes a great job
Thanks for the review! I just purchased the red and was pretty impressed with the sound difference. I could only assume that the cobalt would do even more for the SQ. I was very tempted to buy the cobalt, but after your review I feel confident I made the right choice! Cheers mate!
you did good mate! it really comes down to the genre of music for which is better
So it’s 2024. I have an iPhone 14 Pro Max. I have just purchased a pair of B&W PX8’s (still boxed) and I will mainly be listening to house/dance music. First album I will be playing will be Renaissance on Apple Music. Should I purchase the red or cobalt given that a few things may have advanced since this video was created? I would really appreciate the advice, thank you!
That’s a tough one. Considering the PX8s have excellent sound and bass reproduction you might be better off with a more rounded roll off sound that the cobalt offers but still you can get the red if you really want that thump in your dance music!
@@Killyang Thank you for the advice
Hi. In case of Metal songs which one would you recommend? Watching your review now I'm more after the red one.. I'm really looking for much energy in music. BTW, I wanna use it with a Yamaha Amplifier and speakers. Would this RED DAC still be a good choice when connecting to not headphones, but amplifier and floorstanding speakers? Cheers! 😊
The red is a great choice either way but for rock and metal I noticed the blue is more cohesive, better overall balance. Red is far better sounding for electronic drums which is why it’s the better choice for dance/house music.
👍👍👍👍👍
erm which should i get if i listen to alot of taylor swift HAHAH
Lol for pop music in general (including Taylor Swift music) either one will do but you’ll like the blue one a bit better if you can afford the extra $$.
So cobalt for me since I HATE dance EDM electronic
That’s right 😆👌🏻
Hi .... stupid question is there on dragon fly dac to use with wireless earbuds ? thanks
No that doesn't exist. Also a wireless DAC would defeat the purpose of being able to obtain high fidelity audio as wireless lossless audio does not exist... yet.
Thanks merci
Great video, short and excellent review. Going Red too. Thank you so much 🙏🏻
Totally agree with the musical genre thing. I got a LG G6 phone with quad dac, which some audio reviewers say is equivalent to the dragonfly black. There is a slight difference with loud music like pop, Taylor Swift recordings for instance. The sound is a bit fuller but I would take it or leave it. It isn’t a dramatic difference. But switch to jazz where the music has a lot of subtle effects, like little piano runs and wire brush scraping of hi hats and the difference is much more pronounced, like jumping up a bitrate level, eg 128kbps to 160kbps. Did you try the dragonfly black with something like a live recording of Stella by Starlight by Miles Davies? You’ll probably start noticing detail that is absent without a premium DAC. One of the DAC’s jobs is to lower the noise floor, so quiet subtle stuff like audience shuffling becomes a lot more apparent.
i just heard that LG dac/ phone is a bit below to red and quite above to black. I have all three but I cannot feel the difference. haha
I agree on your comments about the sound quality of the Dragonfly Red vs the Cobalt. The Cobalt and the Red have similar sonic qualities, but the Red has a more punchy, upfront sound while the Cobalt has a smoother sound. For mobile usage, my thoughts was that the more forward sound of the Red would be better. Also, one way to make the sound of the Dragonfly Red smoother would be to add a Jitterbug noise filter.
Lost me when he said M50’s are accurate.
Bright as hell for music but for movies and games they work just fine
Zeos is coming 😨
thanks! I was thinking about "upgrading" to a blue - but now I'm thinking maybe I should just try a Blue out to see if I like it better for the music I listen to. Probably won't make enough of a difference that I'd notice as I'm usually in Active Noise Cancellation mode on an airplane or similar white noise areas. Thanks for this honest review!
It almost sounds like you could buy a $15 ebay headphone amplifier and get better results.
just got the Cobalt and apart from making the volume 20-25% louder, absolutely no improvement in sound quality. Used it with my brand new Audio Technica and also Bose noise canceling….with laptop and also iPhone (with the more expensive iPhone camera adapter as suggested on AudioQuest website)….Seriously no quality improvement…..
It’s interesting. Some people here in the comments swear by the cobalt claiming it’s far superior. Give the red a try! The sound comes out thicker and warmer. Volume amplification output is the same on red and cobalt.
@@Killyang Maybe i just don’t have Audiophile hearing anymore lol 😂 It’s a little better on the laptop with the CD’s I transferred to my iTunes years ago, does nothing for Spotify on iPad or iPhone (except make it louder)
@@Killyang would be interested in your thoughts of this testing review on the cobalt th-cam.com/video/ldaJa6HC1vg/w-d-xo.html
@@robhaddick1717 very interesting. Thanks for bringing this to light. I personally would not pay for the cobalt at 300 but I did not mention that in my review video. Maybe I should have. If you want a really good DAC and you don’t mind spending the money get the Chord Mojo!
Excellent review, thank you so much!
They are both bad. Very high distortion.
You are absolutely right. The Cobalt drops a lot of the punch from any music that has any kind of somewhat explosive punch. I mean literally anything, even symphonic depending on the piece. Industrial, Crystal Method, or even late Sade and Duran Duran, you will notice it doesn't sound like you're used to.
After this guy said dragonfly black no difference between apple adaptor I assume that this video not worth watching, it's just waist of time😀
sorry but the dragon fly black pisses on the 10 pound apple dac. watch terminator 2 movie using both then you will see hell of alot of difference. there is a better bite to the sound with the dragon fly. Is it slightly over priced i would say yes but not by much. Test it with flac or full hd movies the diffence is obvious. if testing using mp3 quality the difference is smaller.
Thank you for this review, I am not really into high end audio but I listen to hours of audio both for work and play. I required a sound card at some point so I tried a couple of generic ones and was not impressed at all. I finally got a good deal on the Dragonfly black and, thinking I had nothing to loose, tried it. Audio is very clean and it provides enough power for all my headphones, some of which my laptop and other sound cards barely could habdle. I am satisfied and interested in the red version. While the black may not be the greatest bang for your money I really have no complaints. Perhaps it could be differentiated if they made it smaller and more portable.
I bought both cobalt and red, cause I was gonna send one of them back anyway. I’m keeping the cobalt, I don’t hear any noticeable difference between the two, but I’m keeping the more expensive one because it’s smaller and it fits better in the iPhone camera dongle (the red one sticks out slightly). If you are trying to choose between the two, I recommend the red one if you want to save some money. if you’re a snob, buy the cobalt one ;)
I use the DF COBALT as a preamp into the STAX SRM-353X CLASS A earspeaker driver with STAX SR-L700MK2 electrostatic earspeakers. The COBALT had the best sound no matter what music in my collection I listened to.
It's so good to see a reviewer that actually puts the consumer first! Direct to the point and no mercy for what's not worthy of our money.
Thank you!
I have the DFR and it’s amazing. It generates very high quality sound, when I use it with my Toyota Camry sound system. Dynamics, transparency, and detail are all excellent, and it never sounds harsh.
That’s great to hear! Best bang for buck baby!
How do you use or hookup a Camry sound system using the DFR?
@@originalmachine85 I just connect the 3.5mm jack of the DFR to the aux input on the Camry, using a 3.5mm cable. Select the aux input on the radio and you’re good to go. Plug n’ Play.
The points made in this vid do not apply if your goal is high fidelity and your hearing is good enough.
could the dragonfly red destroy a $ 200 audio interface, such as audient id4? in headphone sound quality.
This review is only to compare the dragonfly series with each other. There are certainly better and worse DACs out there for the same price! I haven’t tried the audient id4 to be able to speak on it.
Does anyone know if his review is true in today's version?
Get a Toppping D10s. Save money and get better sound.
Thank you so much! This review was like a fresh wind, I appreciate you being honest and sharing your personal thoughts.
I listen to a lot of fromsoftware games soundtrack ( demon souls/ dark souls/bloodborn,...)
Was looking at the red but for slightly lesser, I got the iFi Zen DAC amp V2 instead. It’s not portable though can be move around as long there is a USB connection. Less portable and bigger in size but it's a MQA decoder, can play 32bits 384khz, DSD256, DXD384, Pentaconn 4.4mm balanced, 6.35mm and a 16 Core chip.
so you bought the DAC + the amp? or just the dac? isnt that like $200 each? how is that less than the dragonfly?
@@themaskedgenius the iFi Zen DAC V2 is a DAC and an amp, I got it for SGD205.
I've been using the RED, which my father in law lent me, for a couple weeks. I've been extremely impressed. So I just found the COBALT brand new at 199€ (Red price) at german etailer Auditorium, and pulled the trigger. What a deal!
Edit: Most of what I listen to is fusion/jazz/rock, stuff with instruments, a lot more than electronic. So your review helped me decide on the Cobalt!
Which one is the best for AirPod max?
I would say team cobalt
Thank you so much Sir!!!!
I literally use the black dac with my airpods max but today I bought the cobalt so it will be even better🙏
Dammit! Easily one of the most under rated channels. You deserve more subs
I tested both Red vs Cobalt. I picked the red for the punch & attack 😉
Excellent choice my friend! :D
And how much difference is between black and red?
Thanks in advance.
@@ankit55ahlawat $100 vs $200
@@thedude7315 for rock I would go with cobalt!
@@thedude7315 absolutely. The red and cobalt both do! The black only makes a tiny difference.
Awesome observation…. I’m a Jazz aficionado (swing, cool, bop…) so, given your review “cobalt” would be for me.
Loved the advice on the black…plain and simply.
Happy to hear that! Hope it works out for you! :)
Cobalt is for me as I listen to mostly jazz, vocal, and live recordings. Thanks for the review.
Wow. So much bullshit about a deficient device in terms of audio fidelity. Dave G made the only sensible comment so far. "They are both very bad. High distortion."
Go look up some of the measurements from the Audio Science Review test.
I have a DragonFly RED and LOVE IT!!!!
Nice!!
But to use the Cobalt DAC with headphones on a MacBook Air M2 that has USB-C ports, we won't need to buy this $35 adapter of Apple, right ?
No
hi i was wondering if a portable DAC would improve the audio quality if im using a Audio 64 U6t IEM (around $1.2k USD) but currently only streaming on spotify (bitrate sucks) or shld i be focusing on downloading quality files instead? (using an iphone btw) or shld i get a DAP?
You don’t need a DAP. It’s basically a watered down smartphone. My personal opinion is that it’s all about the source file. The better the source quality the better it is for the overall listening system. I noticed that even an average sound system streaming a full wav master on Tidal sounded better than a high end system streaming compressed audio like mp3. Think of it this way… would you rather have a high quality representation of a shitty sound or would you rather have a medium quality representation of a high definition sound?
whats the best for gaming would you say
why do you want to kill Yang?! what did Yang do to you?!
I tested the black and red before deciding which to buy and I found the black to be no real improvement over the Apple lightning to 3.5 mm adapter and the analog output of my iMac. It did sound a lot better than the output on a $500 PC. The Red did however provide a clear difference over the black so I went with it and have been very happy with my decision.
After reading the cobalt reviews I came to the same conclusion that it isn't necessarily better than the Red, just different. I could see myself having both and chosing based on the type of music if I had the money collecting dust, but I'm very happy with the Red so far.
You hit the nail on the head. 👌🏻
yes this revie is excelent. Like as you said, no one said about music what you listening.. Ok my question is... I listening rock, some metal band and i love Drum & Bass music. Which one is better red or cobalt? xD best regards :)
Thank you! For your style of music definitely the cobalt!
Thank you for doing this video. I have read in one other review the dragonfly red has more of a punch in sound and could be a better choice but you have convinced me.
I do have the dragonfly black and, while I would not say it is worthless, it is certainly overpriced. I got mine second hand for a good price and I am actually surprised by how well it works and I am not talking about the sound quality. I have a couple of chinese brand DACs and sometimes they do not work when you connect them, sometimes there is weird noise or a buzzing/ringing sound. The dragonfly always works and has never produced an undesired sound. I am glad I got mine and it does sound better than my chifi DACs.
I think I am ready for an upgrade. I listen to a variety of genres but what I enjoy more are alway voices, would you say the red or the blue could improve something for me or the difference would be minimal from the black?
I think for you the cobalt would be best! 👍🏻
dragonfly I thought about what i got for my money ? and bought a sony walkman A105 instead
I have the black one and I use it on my MacBook Pro + a basic Bose headphone. Except if you're deaf, you ear a real and big difference with and without. Everybody around me was impressed after a blind test. I am willing to believe that the red one is even better, but it's very strange to claim that the Dragonfly black is about transparent... I've just ordered a Focal Stellia. And I'll see if the difference is still as big. However, I'll probably buy a DAC headphone amplifier soon. And as you mentioned, a careful listening is the key. In termes of music, there's no truth, just different tastes.
Straight up, I have a black and I noticed a pretty solid difference. On my computer and phone. Even compared it to the Apple Dongle, which I used for MONTHS before I bought the black and there is a clear difference lol
Would it work with a mometum 4
Get tye tempotec sonata hd pro for 40 dollars. Dragonfly products are overpricedvand nothing special
Have both the black and the red. Red doesn't work with Android (very faint volume)
sorry to hear that
Can compare a Cobalt with the qudelix 5k? :)
I would say red is more "musical" and cobalt is more "technical". Yes cobalt has better accuracy / sound stage / depth, at the cost of being a bit more analytical sounding. But red just sounds more immersed and more musical for me. So I end up keeping the red, and it's cheaper too!
Awesome!! I went into a store today to buy the black, but I was so frustrated with always having to hear clipped music that I splurged on the red. I couldn't bring myself to pay the extra $ for the cobalt, and after watching this review, I'm very relieved! The guy in the shop said that a big difference between black and red was in a deeper low-end, which is what you've said too, so I think I'm happy I bought the right one. Thanks!!
what type of music do u listen to. Bruh I listen to house, dubstep, kpop, hiphop, metalcore, lofi, r&b..... god help me
Mainly house, progressive house, edm big room, future bass.
Apple users must really love using those clunky dongles all the time. I don't get it, with other phones you can just plug in your USB devices directly.
🤣
Watch video below. take the red pill
what if I want to hear what the music really sounds like? Irrespective of genre. A DAC should be transparent. I don'twant to hear the sound of the DAC... I want to hear the sound of the music.... But hey... to each his own... I am an audio engineer, not a hifi enthusiast
If you want to hear what the music actually sounds like without any enhancements whatsoever then you want a pair of flat sounding headphones which is what I use to produce music (in my case the Audio Technica M50x) to make sure there is no bias in the eq range and the eq graph set completely flat. I would also recommend you to stay away from any after market DACs as they each feature their own unique sound signature.
As far as objective measurements are concerned, the Red and Cobalt are virtually identical. It demonstrates that implementation of a DAC chip is as important as the chip inside. So yeah, the Red is the much better value since with the Cobalt, you’re basically paying $100 extra for a different paint job and a marginally smaller form factor. But AQ fanboys are like the Cobalt is revolutionary or something.
I own the dragonfly black and I disagree, I think it’s great.
Then you will really like the red or blue that much more! Feel free to give them your own comparison test : D
Is the dragonfly red powerful enough to run the hd6xx?
Yes
Interesting….but I couldn’t stop staring at those lovely Dynaudio speakers! 😃
haha yes I love these Dynaudios!
Thanks for your plain english speaking review that a novice like me can understand. Now I know what to buy based on your reviews!
What kind of files were you running through them you never mentioned that ...
I did mostly “real world testing” which means Apple Music and Spotify premium. I did test one wav (lossless) music 24 bit 44.1khz file on my laptop. I noticed big improvements either way.
All of these are awful. Look at audiosciencereview of these dacs . Then buy a E1DA 9038D
Elaborate please
On what . 😂
so I've heard all three back to back simultaneously even and really the choice of witches better is hugely subjective in this case. personally I ended up with a dragonfly black, now of course I could afford any of them so it's not a matter of cost and more has to do with I just liked that the black had more of this sort of natural organic quality to me. whereas the red and cobalt sounded more distinctly high fidelity sounding. and I mean that with a negative connotation then the sense that you didn't really feel the music so much as you heard it, where is with the black you definitely felt the music.
That’s a very interesting point of view and I can respect that even though I was not a fan of the dragonfly black myself, I can appreciate what you said about the sound sounding more “organic”. It shows that it comes down to a matter of taste. My personal preference is a sound that sounds very “full” if you know what I mean with some nice high end so you can clearly hear the crispness of cymbals and high hats without being piercing.
How much powerful would you say this is compared to standard computer motherboard 3.5mm jacks?
been looking for something that can power my Bayerdynamics so looks for a good product before i confirm my purchase.
I would say it’s significantly louder than any standard 3.5mm jack whether you are using a desktop or laptop the dragonfly red and cobalt will make a big difference in volume. Not the black however.
I agree. I have both the red and the cobolt. The cobolt has a warmer and more rounded sound. Red is better at EDM. But one thing to get with both is the AUDIOQUEST
JITTERBUG FMJ. For me it made a big difference when it comes to the blackness in the background and the overall stereo image is better.
Cool thanks for the tip!
can you update us on the sound quality now that apple added the ability to use hi-res lossless to apple music (the change is done in the settings)
Your hair is a lie.
Interesting point of view. So any of the Red/Cobalt is a good pairing with the SE846 then? I'm not a EDM guy, btw. Thanks.
Definitely an excellent pairing regardless of what genre you listen to 👌🏻
When I paired the 846s with the red, the music was too loud or too quiet. I couldn't tune it just right.
I bought the black one for MQA, just for that!
Mqa is just a scam though.
MQA is very questionable according to this review: th-cam.com/video/pRjsu9-Vznc/w-d-xo.html
How the black? Really bad?
Please do more related video!
Wish I had watched this video before ordering the Cobalt. But, maybe I'll get the red too now, thanks brother! 😊
With the new firmware on the cobalt, the lows sound just as good (if not better) than the red now 😊
@@mikeaudio thanks, didn't know that!
I saw that in Amazon thx u 4 sharing this to me
Red on Amazon looks like Matte finish now ..have they changed it ?
Excellent review!
Thank you! :D
Thank you for the review, but if I Like Rock, Alternative Indie Music which is the best one ?? red or blue team ?
You want team blue for indie music but you won’t be disappointed either way!
Has anyone used the dragonfly red on a desktop Mac or a Mac mini M1? Does it make a difference of quality when you use this DAC on a computer compared to a phone? just wondering. thanks. :)
No it doesn’t because you are essentially overriding the DAC that’s built in the phone or computer. That’s why you buy an aftermarket DAC in the first place. 👍🏻
@@Killyang thanks! ✨
How do I know if the dragon fly cobalt I buy is original or counterfeit?
Buy directly from their amazon store from the audioquest website.
hello, is there any sound delay when watching youtube with it?
No sound delay you’re good 👍🏻
Thanks for sharing Killyang! Looking forward to hooking up my dragonfly to my iphone 🙌👌😊
That’s great to hear. Glad my review helped 😁
The cobalt is a waste of money. I had both and the difference between the red and cobalt is minimal
@@TiagrajI agreed!
Excellent review. Clear for a novice like me! Which DAC would you recommend for classical music on Sony mh4 headphones ?
I would recommend the cobalt in the dragonfly series for classical music but to be honest the THX Onyx is far better than even the cobalt and cheaper too!
Solid review. Thank you!
Can these things feed high impedance drivers? Is there even enough space in those, they have no batteries right? Maybe they run of plutonium? 😂
I believe they can but the highest I tested was at 38 ohms with my Audio Technical ath-m50x which sound terrific on them! They definitely will suck a lot of juice out of your phone which is why I recommended the lightning to USB adapter with pass-through power.
I love trance! I am going red! Shame I will have to spend extra money on the usb-a to usb-c adapter to use it with my Android.
Hell yea!
Does the red works with the Airpods Max? I’ve been trying to get this info in several videos but it’s super unclear when it comes to the max
Yes it does you can buy a lightning to headphone jack adapter for your AirPods max and use that to plug into the dragonfly or whatever dac you like.
@@Killyang amazing buddy, thanks a million for your reply :)
I wonder how you can test without a decent audio file on a iphone, asume this is only about a poor mp3 audio file. The Dragonfly shoud be tested with wav and fac files.