Product Comparison: AudioQuest DragonFly Black vs AudioQuest DragonFly Red
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General Specifications
Brand
AudioQuest
AudioQuest
Model
DragonFly Black
DragonFly Red
Origin
USA
USA
About the Product
DragonFly Black, the most affordable model of the award-winning DragonFly family, has been praised by Darko.Audio as “the quintessential everyman hi-fi product,” while its more sophisticated sibling, DragonFly Red, combines significantly improved performance with still exceptional value.
DragonFly Red is a USB digital-to-analog converter (DAC) designed to deliver cleaner, clearer, more naturally beautiful sound from any computer, smartphone, or tablet. DragonFly Red’s unique design allows for playback of any file type regardless of resolution. Natively, DragonFly Red is capable of decoding 24-bit/96kHz data.
Key Specs
Built-in DAC
ESS 9010
ESS 9016
Type
Portable
Portable
Sample Resolution/Rate
24-bit / 96kHz
24-bit / 96kHz
Signal/Noise Ratio
110 dB
110 dB
AudioQuest DragonFly Black
AudioQuest DragonFly Red
What customers say about "Key Specs"
AudioQuest DragonFly Black v1.5 Plug-in USB DAC
- Can't be the price to performance ratio here. Unit works great and takes the digital grit out of any IPhone-IPad.
- I have continued to return to AQ for a wide range of audio/video products due to their superior quality to cost ratio.
- With higher resolution files, 24 bit 96kHz files for instance, it is a wonder.
- I do not need it, but I want it because it sounds so good, even with low resolution files.
- Lacked dynamics and most obviously high frequency resolution (high hats and such.)
AudioQuest DragonFly Red USB DAC/Headphone Amplifier
- The Dragonfly is the perfect portable DAC. It's small and plays from your back-pocket hooked into your phone.
- Does not require extra batteries - does not drain your phone battery and tips the sound quality of your portable system over to the audiophile side.
- It is the benchmark of portable headphone DACs, you won't miss the $50, and you will not have an upgrade itch because you bought the best.
- I primarily used it for gym use and at the time this seemed to be the best portable option.
- Can't be the price to performance ratio here. Unit dont works great and makes the digital grit.
Size & Weight
Color
Black
Red
Height
0.47 in.
0.47 in.
Width
2.44 in.
2.44 in.
Depth
0.74 in.
0.74 in.
Weight
3.52 oz.
3.52 oz.
AudioQuest DragonFly Black
AudioQuest DragonFly Red
AudioQuest DragonFly Black
AudioQuest DragonFly Red
AudioQuest DragonFly Black
AudioQuest DragonFly Red
AudioQuest DragonFly Black
AudioQuest DragonFly Red
What customers say about "Size & Weight"
AudioQuest DragonFly Black v1.5 Plug-in USB DAC
- You can not find a potable DAC and amplifier this size with this sound.
- Excellent travel sized DAC that I can use with my iphone 6 Plus or desktop with a macbook pro.
- I’ve been thrilled by how well it performs, especially given its size and cost!
- I just say that a device this size and this price, will give you hours of happy listening to your favorite music.
- The size, and the "plug and play" design, and the many favorable reviews, made this product a slam-dunk for me. Did not work.
AudioQuest DragonFly Red USB DAC/Headphone Amplifier
- It's the size of a flash drive and is not clunky at all, extremely portable.
- For the price and what you get from sound quality as well as size for a portable dac/amp the Dragonfly Red is a 10/10 product.
- A few millimeters made the difference between fitting it nicely in my headphones case, and not.
- Portability. Close to the power of a full size DAC in the size of thumb stick.
- The colored status LED’s on the dragonfly logo are a cool feature but the size of the product is not ideal.
Features
Enclosure Material
Plastic
Plastic
Max. Frequency Response
20 kHz
20 kHz
Min. Frequency Response
20 Hz
20 Hz
OS Compatibility
Apple OS, Microsoft Windows, Linux, Apple iOS, Android
Apple OS, Microsoft Windows, Linux, Apple iOS, Android
Wireless Connection
No
No
Interfaces
Phones
Phones
Extras
Analog Volume Control, LED Indicators, 1.2 voltage output
2.1 voltage output, LED Indicators, Digital Volume Control
AudioQuest DragonFly Black
AudioQuest DragonFly Red
AudioQuest DragonFly Black
AudioQuest DragonFly Red
What customers say about "Features"
AudioQuest DragonFly Black v1.5 Plug-in USB DAC
- Make sure you follow the step by step included instructions for your OS whether MAC or Windows and you will be experiencing your music.
- I took a bit of a gamble with this purchase because nowhere on the Audioquest website does it even mention Chrome OS. Happy customer here.
- The bottom line is good source material trumps great equipment.
- You will discover an icon that says Dragonfly and Vista, and then you will discover that it won't work on that OS.
- Works flawless with Windows and OS X but with Android the compatibility is poor yet.
AudioQuest DragonFly Red USB DAC/Headphone Amplifier
- It does sound incredible, but the android OS screws with the DAC filters causing a lot of noticeable interference.
- This DAC sounded good connected to my Samsung Note 4 running latest Android Lollipop OS.
- Works fine on XP and Win7, but a lot of people still run Vista, and no, the service packs will not matter for this issue.
- Tried the same DAC on my Windows 8.1 laptop and sound was perfect.
- Plus I have some headphones that my Chromebook was barely able to power; the volume was extremely low.
Warranty / Certifications
Manufacturer Warranty
1 year(s)
1 year(s)
Certifications
CE
CE
AudioQuest DragonFly Black
AudioQuest DragonFly Red
Other Information
Price History
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