[HerrWallen]

Hello, I'm about to pull the trigger on one of these two devices with the primary use being a laptop DAC connected to my Ifi Ican micro se.
Since allot of of you posting in here seems to be using it as much (or more) as an amp does anyone have a solid experience of using either as pure DAC?

I'm leaning towards the red even though I prefer a more warm presentation, the Reds apparent favouring of detail and soundstage being my reasoning here..

Thanks in advance

 

[leaky74]

Hello, I'm about to pull the trigger on one of these two devices with the primary use being a laptop DAC connected to my Ifi Ican micro se.
Since allot of of you posting in here seems to be using it as much (or more) as an amp does anyone have a solid experience of using either as pure DAC?

I'm leaning towards the red even though I prefer a more warm presentation, the Reds apparent favouring of detail and soundstage being my reasoning here..

Thanks in advance

As per my earlier post I'm using the red primarily as a dac; I prefer it to the mojo for my setup.

 

[CFGamescape]

Just ordered a black. Was very tempted to get the red, but I couldn't justify paying double the price for a specific use (portable). I have adequate setups at my desk (home and office), so this should be a great solution when I'm on the go using IEMs.

 

[anm]

As per my earlier post I'm using the red primarily as a dac; I prefer it to the mojo for my setup.

Interesting that you prefer dragon fly over mojo! A little detailed comparison will help. 
@Torq  - can you please share your experience to compare between the two?

 

[0rangutan]

Hello, I'm about to pull the trigger on one of these two devices with the primary use being a laptop DAC connected to my Ifi Ican micro se.
Since allot of of you posting in here seems to be using it as much (or more) as an amp does anyone have a solid experience of using either as pure DAC?

I'm leaning towards the red even though I prefer a more warm presentation, the Reds apparent favouring of detail and soundstage being my reasoning here..

Thanks in advance

I haven't used it as a pure DAC but I will say that the amp is very good, despite its tiny size.  You may well find that it performs equally as well as your iFi iCan and that you no longer need the dedicated amp, simplifying your setup.

 

[HerrWallen]

As per my earlier post I'm using the red primarily as a dac; I prefer it to the mojo for my setup.

Oh, I'm sorry there leaky74, I totally mis-read your post.
 
The (slight) fatigue (due to brightness) you mention, would you say that comes from the general difference between the to (smooth vs bright) or any specific sonic character of the Red (edgyness/grain/aggresiveness in the treble octaves)?

 

[Deni5]

 
Interesting that you prefer dragon fly over mojo! A little detailed comparison will help. 
@Torq  - can you please share your experience to compare between the two?

 
There is nothing strange about someone prefering Dragonfly over Mojo. There is no magical device that will make everything sound perfect. Have in mind that there is always Dac/Amp <> Headphone synergy. Some combinations will sound special, some 'meh'. And furthermore everyone has there opinion of what sounds 'right' for them. Some even like a little distortion heh
 
From a technical standpoint Mojo trumps many DACs below 1000 USD - many have said this - even those making a living on reviewing DACs. Still, personally, I don't use mine that much. Even my old trustworthy ODAC gets a lot more use (but that doesn't make it better).

 

[HerrWallen]

 
I haven't used it as a pure DAC but I will say that the amp is very good, despite its tiny size.  You may well find that it performs equally as well as your iFi iCan and that you no longer need the dedicated amp, simplifying your setup.

For most parts, yes, that is what I'm hoping as well but then there is my ortho-transplants (Yamaha HP-1) that require a small powerplant to truly sing so I wont be loosing the Ifi any time soon

 

[Torq]

 
Interesting that you prefer dragon fly over mojo! A little detailed comparison will help. 
@Torq  - can you please share your experience to compare between the two?

From a raw sound quality perspective, and in terms of overall capability/flexibility I prefer the Mojo.  Which means nothing, really, as individual tastes differ significantly.
 
The Dragonfly Red sounds extremely good - certainly way better than I expected.  I was really caught off guard with the bass present with my SE846 (using the balanced filter), and in general the detail, headstage, dynamics and tone are very good indeed.  It's VERY close to the SE output on the DP-X1 and the DFR beats the AK120 in my opinion as well.
 
While personally I think the Mojo is significantly better, pretty much all around (I can't think of anything the Dragonfly does better, sonically), the Dragonfly is a lot more convenient, is powerful enough to drive many full-size headphones (faired quite well with my LCD-2.2c and HD800S) and doesn't need charging.  The Mojo seems to have a good bit more power and headroom which is very useful with the more demanding cans.
 
Which I use depends on what I'm doing.  If I'm traveling alone then I take the AK120, Mojo and SE846 - since I'll have enough "alone time" to do some serious listening.  If I'm traveling with company then it's really nice to be able to ditch the need for a battery pack and multiple cables and just take a tiny USB dongle, and my noise cancelling headphones which, combined, take up less space than the Mojo on it's own.

 

[Torq]

   
There is nothing strange about someone prefering Dragonfly over Mojo. There is no magical device that will make everything sound perfect. Have in mind that there is always Dac/Amp <> Headphone synergy. Some combinations will sound special, some 'meh'. And furthermore everyone has there opinion of what sounds 'right' for them. Some even like a little distortion heh
 
From a technical standpoint Mojo trumps many DACs below 1000 USD - many have said this - even those making a living on reviewing DACs. Still, personally, I don't use mine that much. Even my old trustworthy ODAC gets a lot more use (but that doesn't make it better).

Mojo trumps a good few DACs over $1000 as well!  In fact during my current round of DAC auditioning I found it clobbered a fairly well known $4000 DAC/amp.

 

[anm]

   
There is nothing strange about someone prefering Dragonfly over Mojo. There is no magical device that will make everything sound perfect. Have in mind that there is always Dac/Amp <> Headphone synergy. Some combinations will sound special, some 'meh'. And furthermore everyone has there opinion of what sounds 'right' for them. Some even like a little distortion heh
 
From a technical standpoint Mojo trumps many DACs below 1000 USD - many have said this - even those making a living on reviewing DACs. Still, personally, I don't use mine that much. Even my old trustworthy ODAC gets a lot more use (but that doesn't make it better).

No, I don't find it strange, but interesting. With all the hype around chord mojo, the dragon fly being compared to it is interesting. More interesting because I am myself making up my mind for Mojo, and here comes a new product which is cheaper, easier to carry around, and possibly better too. That's what is interesting. 

 

[stuck limo]

I was going to pick up a Red this weekend to pair with my S7 but it looks like my plans have changed for now. One of the selling points of the new Black & Red is that the firmware is upgradeable so hopefully AQ will be able to do something to improve general Android audio compatibility. There are plenty of DACs that do work properly with all audio on Android so we know it's possible; let's just hope it can be done with the hardware in the Black/Red through an update.

Where exactly does one pick up a Red or black over the weekend? Which retail stores have them?

 

[defbear]

I have both Dragonfly Red and Mojo. The Mojo is better, but not 3 times better. I do not think the Mojo is worth all the hype I've read.  I need to live with the Mojo more but I prefer my ifi idsd micro.

 

[brent75]

  I have both Dragonfly Red and Mojo. The Mojo is better, but not 3 times better. I do not think the Mojo is worth all the hype I've read.  I need to live with the Mojo more but I prefer my ifi idsd micro.

I've never heard Mojo, and would love nothing more than the chance to do so. I'm sure it's amazing.
 
But like you said, I have a hard time believing it sounds 3 times better than Red or 5 times better than Black. And that's before you factor in all the convenience hassles. And now, on top of that, Chord is finally releasing a case for Mojo. But the cost? $99 -- same as a brand new Black.

 

[defbear]

I've never heard Mojo, and would love nothing more than the chance to do so. I'm sure it's amazing.

But like you said, I have a hard time believing it sounds 3 times better than Red or 5 times better than Black. And that's before you factor in all the convenience hassles. And now, on top of that, Chord is finally releasing a case for Mojo. But the cost? $99 -- same as a brand new Black.

I think if you have an Apple product or an Android device and do not mind running UAPP(cause it works) A person should at least have an DF Black in their kit. I think of the Mojo as a practical bit of Luxury Goods. Besides being a splendid piece of working hardware it has been 'Designed' beyond the sound. The three glass ball are amazing. I set the volume to Color! The three color changing balls have.....oops OT. The Mojo sounds smooth. The DFB sounds smooth. Sigh, both Dragonflys sound even better with a Jitterbug.