With AQ/Oppo, the Ramones, even in low-bit-rate MP3, were “smooth, balanced, like vinyl”-a miracle. AudioQuest suggests maxing the volume control of your music player software and adjusting the OS volume control to taste for headphone gain.ĭragonFly scored high with the mellow Oppo and neutral-ish Sennheiser cans and a conditional passing grade with the merciless Sony. As with some similar products, DragonFly isn’t compatible with Windows Vista and has had issues with Win 8.0 you’ll need the free update to Win 8.1.Īlthough DragonFly has no volume knob per se, it does have an internal analog volume control that piggybacks onto the volume sliders in your computer operating system. With native resolution limited to 96/24, computer driver installation is not required. Rates of 176.4 and 192 kHz are supported for playback but are halved to bring them within the DragonFly’s capabilties. The sole indicator (and most endearing trait) is a dragonfly-shaped LED that glows in a different color for each sampling rate: green for 44.1, blue for 48, amber for 88.2, and magenta for 96. It has a headphone jack at one end and a USB A plug at the other, and it’s powered by the computer’s USB jack. The new one sells for $149.ĭragonFly’s enclosure is black matte plastic and flyweight in a shirt pocket. The original sold for $249 and is now marked down to $99-an incredible bargain.

AudioQuest recommends 24 hours of break-in for best performance. AudioQuest says they are audible as smoother and more open sound with greater dynamic contrast. Improvements include a more direct analog signal path and a fortified power supply. The AudioQuest DragonFly v1.2 is a second-generation revision of the original DragonFly, which made a big splash with a DAC design by the distinguished Gordon Rankin of Wavelength Audio.

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