Product Comparison: iFi xDSD vs AudioQuest DragonFly Cobalt

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Best Pick

iFi xDSD Portable Bluetooth DAC and Headphone Amplifier

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AudioQuest DragonFly Cobalt USB DAC/Headphone

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General Specifications

Brand

iFi

AudioQuest

Model

xDSD

DragonFly Cobalt

Origin

China

USA

About the Product

The xDSD is a top rated, award winning, ultra portable, lightweight Digital to Analogue Converter (DAC) and amplifier. It is designed to be used with headphones and mobile digital sources such as smartphones, Digital Audio Players, as well as stationary devices or audio systems like computers, TVs, and game consoles.

DragonFly Cobalt, the latest and most sophisticated member of the award-winning DragonFly franchise, is a USB DAC (digital-to-analog converter), preamplifier, and headphone amplifier.

Key Specs

Built-in DAC

Burr Brown DSD1793

ESS ES9038Q2M

Type

Portable

Sample Resolution/Rate

24-bit / 192kHz

24-bit / 96kHz

Signal/Noise Ratio

107.2 dB

110 dB

iFi xDSD

AudioQuest DragonFly Cobalt

What customers say about "Key Specs"

iFi xDSD Portable Bluetooth DAC and Headphone Amplifier

Purchased the xDSD recently and I really like the sound. Surely recommend!
I must tell you that I am addicted to the sound of this unit. It produces ear candy. The clarity, smoothness, and detail of sound coming through the xDSD is really something to behold.
Wonderful sound, great design, superb technology. At the price, this is an amazing value.
Superb sound on wired and wireless. Sounds better than the ifi nano idsd black by having more micro and macro details.
As a portable sound-boosting solution, the iFi xDSD makes a lot of sense.

AudioQuest DragonFly Cobalt USB DAC/Headphone

Best value for money in portable Stereo. Highly recommended!
I primarily used it for gym use and at the time this seemed to be the best portable DAC.
Sound is better than I've ever heard them. Amazing portable DAC.
This is easily the best portable DAC on the Market today! Highly recommend to new audiophiles.
Lacked dynamics and most obviously high frequency resolution like high hats and such.

Size & Weight

Color

Silver

Blue

Height

0.75 in.

0.47 in.

Width

3.74 in.

2.24 in.

Depth

2.61 in.

0.75 in.

Weight

4.48 oz.

4.2 oz.

iFi xDSD

AudioQuest DragonFly Cobalt

iFi xDSD

AudioQuest DragonFly Cobalt

iFi xDSD

AudioQuest DragonFly Cobalt

iFi xDSD

AudioQuest DragonFly Cobalt

What customers say about "Size & Weight"

iFi xDSD Portable Bluetooth DAC and Headphone Amplifier

Superb mobile DAC with MQA support. Device is very light and tiny.
With this little machine, the track quality differences become very clear, and just like in any good system.
For size and weight considerations the xDSD is the best choice.
Subjectively, the xDSD appears about half the size and a third the weight of the Micro BL with similar options.
The xDSD is about the size and weight of a deck of 52 playing cards. Nice design. Overall, highly recommend!

AudioQuest DragonFly Cobalt USB DAC/Headphone

The Dragonfly is the perfect portable DAC. It's small and plays from your back-pocket hooked into your phone.
It's the size of a flash drive and is not clunky at all, extremely portable.
The device is perfectly fitting in my headphones case.
I love the portability of it. Close to the power of a full size DAC in the size of thumb stick.
Small size and pleasant, dynamic sound quality. Amazing purchase.

Features

Enclosure Material

Aluminium

Plastic

Max. Frequency Response

20 kHz

Min. Frequency Response

20 Hz

Controls

Volume Control, Mode Selection, Settings, Digital Filter

OS Compatibility

Apple OS, Microsoft Windows, Apple iOS, Linux, Android

Apple OS, Microsoft Windows, Linux, Apple iOS, Android

Wireless Connection

Bluetooth

Interfaces

Coaxial / Optical, USB

Phones

Extras

LED Indicators, Hi-Res True Native playback, Master Quality Authenticated audio, S-Balanced technology, Cyberdrive, aptX, Advanced Audio Coding, Battery life is up to 10 hours

LED Indicators, 2.1 voltage output, Digital Volume Control

Min. Frequency Response
Max. Frequency Response

iFi xDSD

AudioQuest DragonFly Cobalt

iFi xDSD

AudioQuest DragonFly Cobalt

What customers say about "Features"

iFi xDSD Portable Bluetooth DAC and Headphone Amplifier

The xDSD can play via USB or Bluetooth. The great news: the Bluetooth sounds fantastic.
Charging and powering requires a mini USB cable which I can find in my wire collection. Plug and play heaven. Really Sweet!
Best of all is the MQA support, which provides the best reproduced sound I’ve ever heard.
Apple users beware, bluetooth connection does not work so well with certain Apple devices.
The USB input jack is a male! As in, the plug, not the socket. That is the weirdest choice I’ve ever seen in an external DAC.

AudioQuest DragonFly Cobalt USB DAC/Headphone

One of my favorite things is that the volume adjustment is analog, not digital, which greatly improves punch and resolution.
Love the way the dragonfly indicates what resolution you're listening to with different colors.
So other nice pros the super cool LED, you really don’t know it’s there.
The dragonfly design on the front changes colors to tell you what sampling rate (bit) and frequency it is processing. That's a very nice feature!
On Macs, it doesn't activate right away, have to change the output on settings.

Warranty / Certifications

Manufacturer Warranty

1 year(s)

Certifications