AudioQuest DragonFly DAC USB Digital Audio Converter - Cobalt

I’m a satisfied owner of the dragonfly red and was a bit hesitant to buy the cobalt and not without a reason. Opinions online seem to be mixed. Some say that they can’t hear any difference. Some have done extensive technical analyses and trust their graphs more than their ears. Some prefer the red and insist that the cobalt brings a different flavour to music but isn’t necessarily an upgrade. Some disregard it without having heard it first simply due to the fact that it’s made by Audioquest – a company that sells cables for exorbitant prices, as well as other products of a questionable value, which may seem characteristic of a company that sells snake oil products. But I wanted to hear it for myself. If the sceptics were right, my plan was to return it. No loss. I kept it.On to the sound. Wow and meh. Okay, it absolutely sounds better and more fleshed-out than the red. They sound nothing alike. It certainly is tuned to sound differently. Whether you will appreciate the change, in my opinion, will not only depend on whether your headphones are resolving enough to reproduce the extra clarity and separation but also on how you listen to music. When listening to music while I’m answering e-mails or reading an online article, my ears don’t pick up much difference because my brain has to process so many other inputs. The story changes when I lay in my bed and enjoy music with my eyes closed. It’s then when this little thing takes me to another world. I pair the cobalt with Sennheiser HD650 and Beyerdynamic DT150. Both require quite a bit of juice to sound their best and the cobalt drives them sufficiently well, with a lot of headroom to spare. I rarely set the volume above 20 out of 100 for critical listening and usually it’s set on 8-12 on the windows volume slider for background listening.The first difference I noticed is the rolled-off treble and more impactful bass on the cobalt. It employs a minimum phase slow roll off digital filter that promises better impulse response and less artefacts that can muddy up the signal but the price to pay for this is a slight slope downwards in the upper treble region of the frequency response. For a casual listener, the red appears to be having more detail and sparkle in the treble region but the treble is a bit grainy upon more critical observation. The cobalt renders it fluidly and naturally. This quality will tame overly bright headphones and I noticed that the sibilance I experienced with the DT150 on some songs is no longer present. The cobalt goes louder without giving listening fatigue.The bass is another major improvement over the red. It is fuller and richer while being very tight (defined). Instruments and percussion instruments in particular carry more body and realism while on the red they were present and detailed but perhaps their identity was a bit lost in a mix. A drum hit now feels more authoritative. Lower registers of instruments can now be felt and feel less like a mere reproduction.The midrange is excellent on both but the cobalt enhances it by having better detail and separation of various elements in a mix. The red sounds a bit fuzzy in comparison as if the sound has been smeared a bit. Now, the difference isn’t big but it sort of puts you in the territory where artists come alive and stop sounding like a reproduction.One thing that stood out is the superior separation and imaging. Each instrument has a pin-sharp location on the soundstage. It was actually a jarring experience to listen to electronic music or tracks that contain many sound effects and elements that were baked in in audio software. Each element popped out vividly and some heavily edited tracks sounded fragmented. On multiple occasions my brain was imagining a cursor that was moving across the little squares that are placed on the timeline in audio software.Build quality. My unit seems to be rock solid and so far I haven’t experienced the issue of the board inside coming loose. I use my cobalt with the dragontail cable that was provided to minimise wear and tear on the USB plug and, by extension, on the board, as by doing so you don’t subject the board to forces when frequently plugging in and unplugging.I love it!

Build quality is ok. It didn't fall apart after 3 years of active use on the go, but it did start to rattle inside its case relatively early. It has great sound quality but should cost below £90 in 2025. There are plenty of options available that sound as good and are either under 90 or have way more functionality.

I purchased from Amazon prime but from Peter Tyson (who I recommend for good customer service, they replaced a mojo that became faulty for me with no hassle), the cobalt blue. It is fairly powerful and will power 300 ohm and vintage headphones like my Sennheiser HD 540 & 580 quite well, also AKG 240 professional (version 1) very cheap headphones but can be hard to power. Will not power the AKD 240 vintage df 600 ohms headphones though. It seems to use very little battery on the phone (iphone with camera connection adapter). I am over 50 so my ears I guess are not the greatest, but means I can use most of my vintage headphones via my phone without having to worry about keeping something else charged (I also still have the ifi idsd micro battery powered amp/dac but it is not small despite the micro in the name but will power the AKD 240 df 600 ohm) and it increases the soundstage and instrument separation really nicely, I am a bit of a headphone out of the head person (do not like the sound to close) and this does it nicely. I have had the dragonfly red, mojo and still also have the idsd and a geek out, and this and the idsd I find the best, would place the idsd maybe higher but only for the extra power it has.Audioquest do sell some crazy stuff (expensive as in very cables), but this especially if you have hard to drive headphones does provide a better listening experience via the phone.... but have to say I think it is overpriced, not sure if it will be reduced in price later (I doubt by much), fairer price would be 75 for black, 125 for red (the red is just as powerful, but slightly larger, and not as smooth sounding to me and less soundstage, from recent memory I no longer have the red) and 175 for the blue (cobalt).Oh one thing that seems to be common (see thread on head-fi) is that the usb seems loose and wiggles, mine does this but apparently is by design? it does not affect the working of mine (no cutting out etc.) so maybe that is true.I believe it was designed by Gordon Rankin like the black and red, but obviously a new updated design, with the latest mobile ess sabre dac. One way I justified the high price is that it saved me buying easier to drive headphones for using with my phone like the new Sennheiser HD660S, but not sure it (the price) is really justified, but I am kind of hooked on mobile audio (I have also tried the much cheaper usb dac sticks by smsl, sabaj, fiio but none of these are as powerful, smooth sounding or large soundstage, but they are a lot cheaper). Sorry turned into a bit of a ramble, but someone may find it slightly useful.

I actually had the Dragonfly Black that ceased working properly (sound from only one side and I know the speakers were both working). I read all the reviews for the Cobalt - most of which were glowing. It was going to be used on an iMac (2020) and connected to Harmon Kardon Soundsticks. It was a lot more money than I wanted to pay - but, stone me, it did the trick and my music (all through iTune or Apple Music) sounded *better* than it did before ! I like it !!!