In case you're thinking about buying a Dragonfly, here are some initial impressions. I just bought a red one. FYI I'm listening on a pair of Monolith 1060 planar headphones without any other hardware in the mix, and I'm streaming Tidal via Audirvana.
The first thing I did was play classical. Impression: negative. Sounded like the DF was emphasizing things in the mids that I just did not want emphasized. The piano sounded harsh.
After about three hours (this was a marathon night session; luckily, I'm off work today), I switched genres. Instead of orchestral, I started playing rock/pop/rap/hip-hop. In other words, I started playing songs, stuff with lead vocals in it. Here things get much better.
Unamped, the M1060 pushes lead vocals back on some recordings. The voice tends to sound recessed, with no spotlight on it, as if it were just another instrument in the group. After adding the DFR, lead vocals have much more presence. So the DFR fixed a specific problem I was having with a specific pair of headphones, and I'm very happy about this.
The DFR does not widen the soundstage on my M1060. But in this case that's a good thing. DFR makes things sound more cohesive and integrated.
I have little doubt right now that adding the DFR offered me a huge improvement in the sonics of a certain type of music compared to just plugging my headphones into my MacBook's headphone jack. But with classical I'd recommend the Meridian Explorer2 for the same price.
I did have a problem with the ME2 in that my MacBook suddenly stopped recognizing it. I returned it. But I intend to buy another for listening to classical. It could be that the Dragonfly needed to break in. I don't know if I believe in break-in, but, just in case, I intend to throw some more classical at it later today. I will post if I notice an improvement.
