[Onny Izwan]

Lovely track to hear the fabulous layers of voices with the DragonFly Red

 

[Saaki]

I'm considering getting a dragonfly for mobile use, but don't really understand the difference between the two, or if the extra features in the red would do anything for me.
 
On my desktop setup I have a Fulla 2 which I usually match with my JBL lsr305 powered studio monitors and sometimes with headphones. All my headphones are quite low impedance. I currently have the 1more Triple Drivers (32ohms), V-Moda M80 (28.5ohms) and soon the Final Audio Design Sonorous III (16ohms). I mostly listen to 320kbps MP3's and some 16/44.1 flac non-streaming, however I'm playing with the idea of signing up for Tidal. I'd be matching it with my OnePlus One Android phone or my 2012 MBP while away from home. One of the reasons I want a little DAC/amp also is that with both the 1more and the V-Modas I find I have the volume up at about 80-100%, the other is improved SQ.
 
Would it be worth it for me to pay the extra $100 for the red?
 
Many thanks!

 

[SpiderNhan]

I'm considering getting a dragonfly for mobile use, but don't really understand the difference between the two, or if the extra features in the red would do anything for me.

On my desktop setup I have a Fulla 2 which I usually match with my JBL lsr305 powered studio monitors and sometimes with headphones. All my headphones are quite low impedance. I currently have the 1more Triple Drivers (32ohms), V-Moda M80 ([COLOR=444444]28.5ohms) and soon the Final Audio Design Sonorous III (16ohms). I mostly listen to 320kbps MP3's and some [/COLOR]16/44.1 flac non-streaming, however I'm playing with the idea of signing up for Tidal. I'd be matching it with my OnePlus One Android phone or my 2012 MBP while away from home. One of the reasons I want a little DAC/amp also is that with both the 1more and the V-Modas I find I have the volume up at about 80-100%, the other is improved SQ.

Would it be worth it for me to pay the extra $100 for the red?

Many thanks!

I haven't heard the Black, but most reports say it's darker and bassier than the Red with less treble sparkle and detail.

As a Red user I think the extra clarity will benefit your headphones. I also rock a 1More Triple Driver and V-MODA XS, which both sport a darker signature. This is just speculation but the Black might make your gear sound too dark.

 

[canali]

for those using the df red on a windows computer, playing tidal hifi.
having issues now.
 
getting a banner on Tidal saying:
''Tidal requires you to set you sound system settings in your
control panel to 16 bit, 44100Hz (cd quality)in order to play tracks correctly.''
 
ok easy enough.
long ago i already set up the df red according to audioquest instructions:
(see page 13 onwards for windows users)
http://www.audioquest.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/DragonFly-Red-FlightManual-EN.pdf
 
...but the minimum i can choose is 24/44, ...there is no 16/44 option
 

 

[Decommo]

I haven't heard the Black, but most reports say it's darker and bassier than the Red with less treble sparkle and detail.

As a Red user I think the extra clarity will benefit your headphones. I also rock a 1More Triple Driver and V-MODA XS, which both sport a darker signature. This is just speculation but the Black might make your gear sound too dark.

According to Headfonia, It is a bit opposite.

Red has more bodied and smoother, Black has more neutral less bodied and faster sound signature..

 

[zolom]

From my experience with the DFB (which I own) and the DFR (which I had the opportunity to try several times), along with the S7E and the SE846, The DFR sounds thin, too clear with an emphasis on the highs, while the DFB is warm, even slightly bassy. Of course, one cannot  set aside the severe volume issues experienced with the DFR while connected to an Android (S7E); the volume then has to be set to maximum to listen reasonably, I hope that the coming DF firmware update will resolve that (at least).

 

[Topspin70]

The above seems to be the more common user experience instead of the one reported by Headfonia, which led me to choose the black over the red.

 

[wwyjoe]

Lovely track to hear the fabulous layers of voices with the DragonFly Red

May i know what is this music player app ? Like the clean look!

 

[Onny Izwan]

May i know what is this music player app ? Like the clean look!

Yeah - I like it too - hehe - its just plain ol' Deezer

 

[snip3r77]

From my experience with the DFB (which I own) and the DFR (which I had the opportunity to try several times), along with the S7E and the SE846, The DFR sounds thin, too clear with an emphasis on the highs, while the DFB is warm, even slightly bassy. Of course, one cannot  set aside the severe volume issues experienced with the DFR while connected to an Android (S7E); the volume then has to be set to maximum to listen reasonably, I hope that the coming DF firmware update will resolve that (at least).

Does DFR has perceived lesser bass as compared to DFB due to it being less warm and hence sounding thinner ?

 

[SpiderNhan]

Does DFR has perceived lesser bass as compared to DFB due to it being less warm and hence sounding thinner ?

On my Galaxy S6 Active, without USB Audio Player Pro, the Red sounds different. UAPP has no volume issues with the Red and is capable of bit-perfect playback. The Red when paired with Android's default USB audio function is still being messed with by Android, hence the volume issues. Basically, through Android's built-in USB audio routing you still hear your device's DAC as interpreted by your external DAC. I guess this is the DAC equivalent of double amping.

If you're using any DAC with an Android device and not using UAPP you have not heard what you DAC sounds like, period. I had my first epiphany years ago with the Galaxy S3 and a V-MODA Vamp Verza. I had been using them for the better part of a year before eventually installing Cyanogenmod, which nerfed the USB audio function. Researching online eventually led me to UAPP and I'll never forget the moment that my Verza first spoke to me in her true voice. I know it's overused, but night and day is the best way to described it.

 

[west0ne]

On my Galaxy S6 Active, without USB Audio Player Pro, the Red sounds different. UAPP has no volume issues with the Red and is capable of bit-perfect playback. The Red when paired with Android's default USB audio function is still being messed with by Android, hence the volume issues. Basically, through Android's built-in USB audio routing you still hear your device's DAC as interpreted by your external DAC. I guess this is the DAC equivalent of double amping.

If you're using any DAC with an Android device and not using UAPP you have not heard what you DAC sounds like, period. I had my first epiphany years ago with the Galaxy S3 and a V-MODA Vamp Verza. I had been using them for the better part of a year before eventually installing Cyanogenmod, which nerfed the USB audio function. Researching online eventually led me to UAPP and I'll never forget the moment that my Verza first spoke to me in her true voice. I know it's overused, but night and day is the best way to described it.

The DFR & DFB sound different even when both are being used with UAPP in bitperfect mode and the observations being made about the differences are relevant regardless of the transport.
 
It's true that when using any USB DAC with Android there will be a  difference to when using the DAC with UAPP. When not using UAPP the device's internal DAC isn't being used so no 'double DACing', rather the Android software is processing and re-sampling the audio before sending out to the external DAC. This is where the volume issue comes in as the volume controls in Android operate within software rather than directly controlling the hardware.
 
Even if AQ release a firmware update all it is likely to do is set the hardware up in such a way that the default hardware volume is set at 100%, Android would still be controlling the volume in software but you would now have the full range rather than the maximum output being set somewhere below maximum. It is unlikely to give full hardware control and is unlikely to deal with the issues of Android re-sampling and processing the audio before it gets sent to the DAC so we won't be ditching UAPP anytime soon.
 
As I understand it Nougat introduces new Audio Policies which in theory may allow direct pass-through of audio from an App to the DAC. I've seen an example for HDMI multi-channel audio so the same could apply to USB Audio but I'm not sure if this is something that Android device manufacturers would have to implement or whether it can be done at App level.

 

[Saaki]

Does DFR has perceived lesser bass as compared to DFB due to it being less warm and hence sounding thinner ?

On my Galaxy S6 Active, without USB Audio Player Pro, the Red sounds different. UAPP has no volume issues with the Red and is capable of bit-perfect playback. The Red when paired with Android's default USB audio function is still being messed with by Android, hence the volume issues. Basically, through Android's built-in USB audio routing you still hear your device's DAC as interpreted by your external DAC. I guess this is the DAC equivalent of double amping.

If you're using any DAC with an Android device and not using UAPP you have not heard what you DAC sounds like, period. I had my first epiphany years ago with the Galaxy S3 and a V-MODA Vamp Verza. I had been using them for the better part of a year before eventually installing Cyanogenmod, which nerfed the USB audio function. Researching online eventually led me to UAPP and I'll never forget the moment that my Verza first spoke to me in her true voice. I know it's overused, but night and day is the best way to described it.

So I'll have to use UAPP to not have any issues if I'm using it with my Android phone? Is there any way to listen to streaming music with the DR on Android? How does the red pair with the 1more triple drivers volume wise? Right now I pretty much have them between 80-100% volume depending on the track I'm listening to.

 

[SpiderNhan]

So I'll have to use UAPP to not have any issues if I'm using it with my Android phone? Is there any way to listen to streaming music with the DR on Android? How does the red pair with the 1more triple drivers? Right now I pretty much have them between 80-100% volume depending on the track I'm listening to.

You can stream through UAPP using Tidal or BubbleUPnP, which will give you access to Play Music, Google Drive, Qobuz and a couple others. I think the Red and 1More Triple Driver is a sublime pairing. I listen at around 45% using bit-perfect and hardware volume on UAPP. 

 

[Saaki]

That's great news! I'm almost sold on the Red. Does it come with any sort of cables like the Fiio DACs?