New Audioquest Dragonfly's

EndersShadow

Looks like they figured out the iPhone and Android folks want in too..



Kicking off CES early, AudioQuest held a press conference Wednesday morning to present their three new portable DAC/Headphone amps to the public for the first time. Designer Gordon Rankin and AudioQuest's Steve Silberman were on hand to explain the new products and run a brief demo.

First up is the Dragonfly Black at $99, which is the new updated version of the Dragonfly. The big change is that in addition to a lower price, instead of just working with high-powered computer USB connections, the Dragonfly can now work with phones and tablets. Both iOS and Android are supported. One of the ways they made this happen was with more efficient chips inside and lowering the output voltage a tad to 1.2 volts.

Next comes the new Dragonfly Red at $199, described as a hot-rodded Dragonfly. It has a higher output voltage and has been better optimized for driving headphones.

Finally, a completely new product will be released called the Beetle, also at $199. In addition to the USB input, the Beetle will sport an optical input as well as Bluetooth. Different Beetles can have unique names on your Bluetooth network, so multiple devices can be driven in a single location such as "bedroom beetle", "kitchen beetle" etc.

Though the Beetle does not include the popular aptX codec that many audio Bluetooth devices use, a quick demo on Wilson Audio speakers proved that the sound quality was impressive for such a device.

Common to all three products is up to 24/96 PCM support and also a new desktop app that will allow users to update their bugs as new firmware becomes available, hopefully extending the usable life of these products. Availability is slated for the early second quarter this year.

Read more at http://www.stereophile.com/content/audioquest-bugs-out-new-dragonfly-black-dragonfly-red-and-beetle-dacs#2UFUWmLdJQyQWw4x.99

(link)

rooftop59

100 bones and can use with a smart phone, that's what I'm talking about! I will almost certainly give that a test run when it's available...

EndersShadow

rooftop59 wrote: »

100 bones and can use with a smart phone, that's what I'm talking about! I will almost certainly give that a test run when it's available...

Yup...... I can use it with my tablet, and phone...

Meaning I can have a work rig with my tablet to it, and then maybe to a tube amp like the Mini Dot, and then take it home and use it in my main rig as a DAC... or have two of them *eek*

EndersShadow

Anyone get in on the pre-orders for these? The Red looks to be 200 and the Black looks to be 100.

Part of me wants the Black so I can drive any headphone to the moon, but I think my budget may stick with the Red.

I also may try to pair it with a headphone amp on my desk when there like the Mini Dot (mainly so I can have a tube headphone amp lol), and by itself on the fly, but I dont know at this point.

I will say the webpage for these is FULL of information about iOS and Android capability and links to verify it will work with your devices.

I hate you need either a Apple Camera connection (another 40 bucks) or a OTG cable for Android, but understand the reason. The Android connection is much cheaper so its not as big a deal.

Some more details taken from the site (here) are below:


What headphones can I use with the DragonFly?

DragonFly is versatile enough to drive virtually any headphone on the market today, from impedances of 10ohm and higher.

While all DragonFly models offer enough output to drive most headphones, DragonFly Black (1.2-volt output) comfortably drives most medium- to moderate-efficiency models and DragonFly Red (2.1-volt output) easily drives even the lowest-efficiency models.

Can I use DragonFly with Apple iOS devices?

Yes. DragonFly Black and Red can be used with Apple iOS devices.

To connect DragonFly Black or Red to an iOS device, the Apple Camera Connection Kit must be used. For 30-pin iOS devices, click here. For Lightning devices, click here.

Can I use DragonFly with Android devices?

Yes. DragonFly Black and Red will work with most Android devices running on Lollipop OS (and some Android devices running on KitKat), provided that the device manufacturer has adhered to the USB specification and implementation, and supports audio over USB.

To verify that your Android device complies with isochronous USB audio, download and run USB Host Check.

In our early pre-production testing, we found that some Android devices (4.1 OS and newer) do not provide native support for audio over USB. If you find that your Android device (4.1 or newer) does not support audio over USB, we ask that you please contact the manufacturer of your device. To determine whether your device supports audio over USB, consult the user manual or visit the manufacturer’s website.

For a reliable media player that has its own built-in USB device driver, ensuring reliable connectivity to all USB DACs, we suggest the ExtreamSD USB Audio driver application. This application is compatible with various audio formats and will manage music on both the Android’s internal memory and inserted SD cards.


What music player applications does AudioQuest recommend?

Simply put, we recommend using the music player application that you most enjoy.

While this is a question of personal taste, we present a few options here. Let your ears and proclivity for the interface be your guide.

iTunes®: Simply the most successful media player to date, iTunes currently has over 800 million active users across the globe. For many, iTunes has become a standard.

A cottage industry of higher-performance, add-on applications have sprouted up. These applications address OS X only. All of these applications work in conjunction with iTunes’ graphic user interface (GUI).

-Amarra (from $34.99): Amarra works with your local music collection, streaming services, and has an optional room equalization suite.

-Audirvana Plus 2.0 ($74): Audirvana offers two interface options: with iTunes or with its own GUI.

-Bit Perfect (from $9.99): ,Bit Perfect works with your local music collection.

-Pure Music ($129): Pure Music works with your local music collection; a throughput for streaming services can also be activated.

Stand-alone media players (for Apple and Windows)

-JRiver (Retail $69.98): JRiver is a complete audio and video media player, offering both USB and Network (airplay and DLNA) connectivity.
-Roon ($199/year; $499 lifetime): Roon works seamlessly with a local media collection and Tidal Streaming services. Additionally, Roon enables streaming to multiple locations, and a complementary iPad application enables an external interface.
-Tidal ($20/month): Tidal is a subscription-based, CD-quality (1411kbps) streaming service. It offers both music and high-definition video content, including full-length concerts.

For any technical support or questions regarding the functionality or use of these recommended playback applications, please contact the manufacturer. AudioQuest cannot provide technical support for any of these recommended playback applications.

pretzelfisch

where do we pre-order?

EndersShadow

Looks like AudioAdvisor has both in stock right now...

Black

Red

Same w Music Direct:

Dragonfly Red or Black

techbug

Pros: Compactness, sound quality, no need to charge
Cons: Could not found any
This is really a must buy for an iPhone owner who likes to listen high quality music on iPhone. I am using it with my iPhone 7 Plus and the sound quality it improves will surely blow your mind. I know it is not that good like Chord Mojo and I am also owner of Mojo too but on the go it is very hard to manage it when DF Black will give you full flexibility because of it's compactness and it is really very pocket friendly in terms of pricing. Go for it.

I also uploaded a small unboxing video on youtube. You can watch it here:

https://youtu.be/jLGpTH6vkdM

Thanks...