THE THREE BROTHERS AUDIOQUEST—THE DRAGONFLY COBALT REVIEW
Wondrously musical, beautifully engaging, and exceptionally cost effective!
This then is the true story of three headphone Amps/preamplifiers/USB DACs—the DragonFly Black, Red, and Cobalt—three Brothers, if you will, their source-powered ease of use, their rising levels of musicality, resolution, engagement, efficiency, and their outstanding value to cost to musical fidelity ratio. It will be told across three distinct reviews.
Each of the three AudioQuest DragonFly headphone Amps/preamplifiers/USB DACs have been lauded by reviewers and critics alike, have made their way onto numerous “Best of the Year” lists, and have won their share of awards and accolades. One has simply but to listen to, well, any one of the Three Brothers to understand the “why” of it all. They are as listed in the subtitle of this review—wondrously musical, beautifully engaging, and exceptionally cost effective! This I’ve come to discover over many months of listening with the DragonFly Cobalt, which I had purchased independently of the review, and subsequently with the DragonFlys Red and Black which were provided to review. Further, they have opened up to the wider world the opportunity to listen to music with exceptional fidelity and at real world costs, as allied to their computers or smart devices, regardless of platform—PC, Mac, iOS, Android.
A Sound History—The DragonFlys (short)
Once upon a time—August 10th, 2012—AudioQuest (Irvine, CA) introduced its first iteration of the DragonFly series—the DragonFly 1.0. Its compact size, efficiency, musical fidelity, and the ‘housing’ of a headphone amplifier, preamplifier, and a USB DAC within its pocket-sized, metal frame, would be of signal importance to the entirety of the audio industry. And the DragonFly 1.0’s debut would spawn a multitude of ‘like’ competitors. AudioQuest would, however, continue its development with the introduction of the DragonFly 1.2 (2014), the DragonFly Red and Black (2016), and the DragonFly Cobalt (2019). For the purposes of this and coming reviews we will evaluate the DragonFly Black, Red, and Cobalt, which are all currently in production.
We begin our third review of the AudioQuest DragonFly line—The Three Brothers—with the DragonFly Cobalt.
Dragonfly Cobalt (Sound)
The DragonFly Cobalt is a revelation, when it is placed between source and one’s headset—IEMs or Headphones. Should the source be smart devices or computer the differences will be stark, measurable, and rather profound. And when substituted for either of its brethren—the DragonFly Red or Black—the differences while not as profound will, nonetheless, be easily discerned (as noted below) by those who love and know music or even those who love the “gear.” (NOTE: before playing music you may wish to reduce volume, as there is an amplifier in the DragonFly).
The DragonFly Cobalt as one’s arbiter of sound will provide an increase in the volumetric growth—height, width, depth—of the musical soundstage over even the DragonFly Red. Additionally, the DragonFly Cobalt will deliver a richness, a natural musicality (hinted at by its brethren), more transparency, and greater image solidity. The phrase that immediately comes to mind with regard to the DragonFly Cobalt is ‘beautifully engaging, wonderfully transparent.’ The sum of the aforementioned parts will not only allow the detail and immediacy of the story behind/within the music to shine through, it will also free the emotion and give added ‘dimension,’ backstory, if you will, to the song being sung.
Bass
I’ve returned to David Holland’s Spheres (Emerald Tears, ECM) for a direct comparison with the DragonFly Red. The DragonFly Cobalt brings a tighter, more nimble, and more transparent bass, which communicates the naturalness of tone more accurately. The DragonFly Cobalt also brings one much closer to the “Holy-Bass-Head-Grail.” This journey with the DragonFly Cobalt will be the most, moving, genuine, and the closest to the “Holy-Bass-Head-Grail,” of its brethren—DragonFly Black or Red.
Midrange
There is even more body and detail across the midrange and a natural musicality that is quite a bit more spacious than the DragonFly Red. It is the marriage of warmth and, yet, even greater detail. Tracey Chapman’s Don’t Dwell (Where You Live, Elektra Records) has greater naturalness and transparency, than the Red, which evokes more detail, micro-dynamics, spaciousness, and thus greater intimacy. As a result the song is more holographic, ethereal, immersive, and moving.
Treble+
The DragonFly Cobalt’s treble is more extended and detailed than the Red and yet it is rich, natural, and, again, wonderfully musical. What it is not is strident, harsh, wincing, or fatiguing, ever. The opening track of Hilary Hahn’s Allegro non troppo (Brahms & Stravinsky: Violin Concertos, Sony Classical) is captivating on a number of levels—Ms. Hahn’s talented and impassioned playing, the sweetness and the extension of the notes, and the pure beauty of the music, as rendered by the DragonFly Cobalt.
Sound Summary
The DragonFly Cobalt is the Alpha and Omega—the Beginning and the End—(to date) of the AudioQuest DragonFly headphone amplifier/preamplier/DAC line. “Unmusicality” will be forever banished from smartphone and computer alike, when the DragonFly Cobalt is allied to one’s system. And there is a richness and naturalness and transparency that only a very few audio components contain and, generally, not at this price point, but it is clearly bred into the DragonFly Cobalt. Budget allowing, the DragonFly Cobalt may well be an endpoint for those who seek to eschew the audiophile merry-go-round and wish simply to enjoy the music. Again, the more apt one’s headphones, the more intact one’s hearing, the more enjoyable, satisfying, and deliciously rich the experience will be. Bravo!
Functionality
The DragonFly Cobalt, like its sibling, represents true plug-and-play functionality and as mentioned earlier, it plays well and easily with iOS, Android, Mac, and PC. However, for USB-C terminals it will need the proper connector—USB-A (female) to USB-C (male) bridge (Dragon Tail, Apple Camera, etc.). The DragonFly Cobalt is a source-charged (no need to pre-charge it), plug-and-play solution, that will play anything Tidal (including MQA) Spotify, and Qobuz (though its few albums above 24bit/96kHz will be made to conform to the DragonFly Cobalt’s limit—24bit/96kHz) have to offer and beautifully so.
For the young using this DragonFly headphone amp/DAC will be second nature and for the balance of us, it may well be incredibly intuitive. Its diminutive size means that it can travel by pocket anywhere.
The Wrappings and Accessories—DragonFlys
The packaging for the various DragonFlys is Utilitarian-Big-Box (as in mass-market electronics store). Not particularly exciting, nor is it the embodiment of high aesthetic design. That said, it is designed to price point and not to the musical bonafides of the enclosed DragonFlys, as that would require an immediate aesthetic design upgrade. But then, who buys a DAC for its packaging?
In terms of accessories you will get a decently executed, synthetic (read plastic-like, possibly rubber) pouch for protecting/containing the DragonFly DAC. Though with the DragonFly Cobalt, one will also receive a Dragon Tail—a USB-A to USB-C connector of high quality. That’s it folks, utilitarian efficiency.
The Specifications
DragonFly Cobalt - Status/Sample rates supported (LED indicator color code):
Standby (Red),
44.1kHz (Green),
48kHz (Blue),
88.2kHz (Yellow),
96kHz (Light Blue),
MQA (Purple)
Volume Control: 64-position, 64-bit, bit-perfect
Output voltage: 2.1
Headphone Amp: ESS Sabre 9601
DAC Chip: ESS ES9038Q2M with minimum-phase slow roll-off filter for more natural sound
Microcontroller: Microchip PIC32MX274 reduces current draw and increases processing speed by 33% over DragonFlys Black and Red
Dimensions: 12mm H x 19mm W by 57mm L
DragonFly Cobalt—Look and Feel
The DragonFly Cobalt is all that its siblings are—solid, of metal and thus weighty (relative to size), beautifully made, fit-in-the-palm-of-you-hand sized—and yet even a wee bit more diminutive and decidedly more elegant, as it carries the lines of a scaled-down, Italian racing machine.
Conclusion
The DragonFly Cobalt represents a beautiful solution for those wishing to rescue their computers and ‘smart devices’ from the purgatory of ‘unmusicality’ to the ‘garden,’ if you will, of “quite glorious musicality,” plain and simple. And STILL at a pittance of the price we two-channel folks not that long ago, paid to get similar sound.
Perhaps we have all come to take for granted the immensity of the musical libraries via the various online compendiums—Tidal, Qobuz, Spotify, etc—currently at our disposal. And with the progression of technology and innovation, which now allows a headphone Amp/preamplifier/DAC, the size of a thumb drive, to unlock the full musical potential of these vast compendiums (far above what the first CD players were able to do), we are uniquely privileged. Music via the DragonFly Cobalt will very much engage heart and mind and soul, above that of both its brethren, with a rich, natural, and transparent musicality that is highly addictive. Further, it will allow the music across various genres to tell their respective stories, beautifully and engagingly! Very highly recommended!
Music—Qobuz exclusively
Alexander Tharaud—Tharaud Plays Rachmaninoff
Omar Sosa—Ballads, Calma
Patricia Barber—Verse
Rickie Lee Jones—Pop Pop
Sade—Lovers Live
Sheku Kannah Mason—Inspiration
Tracey Chapman—Where You Live
Olafur Arnalds—Island Songs
Olafur Arnalds—The Chopin Project
Hilary Hahn—Tchaikovsky
Mechell Ndegeocello—Bitter
Maxwell—Maxwell’s Urban Hang Suite
Sarah Jarosh—Undercurrent
Annie-Sophie Mutter—Tchaikovsky/Korngold: Violin Concertos
London Grammar—If You Wait
Stevie Wonder—Innervisions
Alexandre Tharaud—Tharaud plays Rachmaninov
Gidon Kremer—"Preghiera" (Rachmaninov : Piano Trios)
Marvin Gaye—What’s Going On
Miles Davis—Kind of Blue
Jóhann Jóhannsson—Orphée
Ancillary Equipment
iFi xDSD
Samsung S10
iPhone X
MacBook Pro
Meze Rai Penta
Meze Empyrean
AudioQuest
2621 White Road
Irvine, CA 92614
(949) 790-6000
info@audioquest.com
www.audioquest.com
PHOTOGRAPHY—CHRISTOPHER MARKQUART