AudioQuest DragonFly Cobalt Evaluation – CNET Leave a comment

A transportable headphone amp might sound anachronistic on this age of Bluetooth headphones. Why be tethered to wires when wi-fi is the long run? Whereas many BT headphones supply spectacular sound high quality, they’re inherently restricted of their design. Constructed-in batteries and electronics take up area and add to the general value. Many producers of wired headphones and earbuds supply fashions that, in principle, supply comparable costs as BT fashions however with higher or extra drivers. Others have fashions which have drivers which might be too power-hungry to be pushed properly by built-in batteries.

You can energy these wired headphones from any headphone jack, however built-in ports like that not often have a lot energy. As an alternative, a conveyable headphone amp may give audiophile headphones the juice they want with out tying you to a chair or desk. 

Which brings us to the DragonFly Cobalt from AudioQuest. It has been out for a number of years, however is now 30% cheaper and going ahead would be the solely mannequin within the DragonFly line. Roughly the scale of a small thumb, it connects to any telephone or laptop by way of USB. Inside is an amp and a DAC, or digital-to-analog converter, that declare to raise the listening expertise. We will see. Or hear. We will hear. 

Specs and such

• DAC Chip: ESS ES9038Q2M
• Max sampling price/frequency: 24-bit/96kHz
• Amp chip: ESS Sabre 9601
• Energy: “2.1 volts”

The Cobalt appears to be like like a USB thumb drive, if anybody remembers these. Included is a brief dongle that converts the USB-A on the Cobalt to USB-C to be used with telephones and plenty of laptops. To hook up with Apple merchandise you unsurprisingly want a particular adapter, which is obtainable individually. You additionally get a small pleather case, which is a pleasant contact although I do not think about it can get a lot use.

Contained in the Cobalt is a ESS Sabre 9601 headphone amp and a ESS ES9038Q2M DAC. The Cobalt maxes out at 24-bit/96kHz, which is lower than some USB DACs. There is not a ton of music obtainable at greater charges, however there may be some. Personally I feel there may be worth in higher-than-CD sampling charges (16/44.1) however I am skeptical of anybody who says they’ll hear a distinction between 96 and 192kHz.

The claimed energy ranking of “2.1 volts” is unclear and virtually deceptive. Almost all amplifiers are rated in watts and it is simply probably the most recognizable audio spec. Watts is volts instances amps, and no system like that is placing out something near 1 amp. So little doubt “2.1” is way extra spectacular a quantity than no matter milliwatts this (or any, to be sincere) headphone amp gives. For comparability, the older and cheaper DragonFly Black had a claimed 1.2 volts whereas the same iFi Go Hyperlink (overview coming quickly), claims 70mW into 32 ohms and and a pair of.05V into 600 ohms (which converts to 7mW). 

The dragonfly on the DragonFly lights up completely different colours with completely different sampling charges: Pink for Standby, inexperienced for 44.1kHz, blue for 48kHz, yellow for 88.2kHz, mild blue for 96kHz, and purple for MQA. No less than, that is the speculation. Not often did this match up with the claimed sampling charges on content material I examined with my Pixel 7. It matched higher, or at the least sooner, with my Sony NW-A306 moveable media participant.

Sound

I examined the Cobalt utilizing some high-end headphones, two of that are borderline what may very well be thought of “moveable.” No less than within the sense that I do not assume most individuals would stroll round with them. These could be the Audeze LCD-3 ($1,945) and the Sendy Audio Apollo ($500). These are headphones made for sitting in a single place and having fun with. I additionally used the Meze Audio Rai Penta in-ear displays ($1,100) which are not significantly tough to drive, however have wonderful readability. Why use ultra-expensive, and in two instances big, headphones to check a $200 amp? Effectively, if it might probably energy these it might probably energy absolutely anything. I used a combination of CD-quality and high-resolution FLAC from Qobuz.

Not eager to pay attention in a vacuum, so to talk, I in contrast the Cobalt to a number of different amp/DACs, beginning with the headphone jack on my laptop after which the analog output of my Pixel 7 by way of a USB-C-to-1/eighth analog dongle. I additionally in contrast the Cobalt to the iFi Audio hip-dac2. That is additionally technically a conveyable headphone amp, and priced equally to the Cobalt. Nonetheless, it is a lot, a lot bigger, and has a quite cumbersome connection course of that is not one thing I might anticipate most individuals to make use of strolling round. 

With the Cobalt vs the (admittedly anemic) desktop PC’s headphone jack utilizing the LCD-3s, the sound by way of the Cobalt sounded fuller on the similar quantity stage. Percussion had a tighter, extra rapid assault. Most notably, I used to be in a position to get a a lot greater quantity with higher bass by way of the Cobalt. With the PC’s quantity management all the best way up, I might get a sound that was slightly greater than typical listening quantity. With the Cobalt, that very same approximate quantity was achieved with a setting round 60, with 75 being loads loud and 100 being past comfy. Not unhealthy for a thumb drive-sized system and large planar magnetic headphones. Admittedly, the sound at most wasn’t as clear because it was at decrease volumes.  

With the Sendy Apollos there was higher readability with the Cobalt in comparison with the pc’s built-in headphone jack. Switching to my telephone’s output by way of the dongle, the Apollos had fuller bass when performed by means of the Cobalt, and sounded extra open. As soon as once more, quantity was the largest distinction. With the quantity management all the best way up on my telephone, the Apollos had been simply above what I might name a traditional listening quantity. By the Cobalt, nevertheless, most quantity was louder than I might hearken to for any size of time. 

With the Rai Pentas, there was much less of a noticeable distinction. Regardless of their value and 5-driver design, they don’t seem to be significantly tough to drive. So even the Pixel 7’s dongle might drive them with sufficient quantity. Was there slightly extra realism to the overtones and excessive frequencies with high-resolution tracks? Presumably. As an example, the glockenspiel firstly of “Sloop John B” from the 24-bit, 192 kHz model of Pet Sounds had a richer, extra real looking timbre, regardless of the Cobalt’s downconversion to 96 kHz. It might even have simply been a slight change within the tonal stability, for the reason that Rai Pentas have a extra mellow sound with lesser amplifiers. I am unsure I might wager my home on a blind A-B check both method. The reality is, there may be far much less distinction between fashionable DACs than the whole lot else within the audio chain.

Lastly, I donned the LCD-3s once more to check the Cobalt to the iFi Audio hip-dac2. For those who’re on the lookout for one thing that provides you higher audio on the go, the hip-dac2 might be too giant. It is a bit smaller than a flask. That further area consists of beefier electronics, although, so when you often pay attention at your desk or seated, it is a potential different. Due to that, the hip-dac2 simply has extra energy. Not solely can it drive the LCD-3’s louder, it sounds cleaner doing it. The hip-dac2 sounds much less compressed at greater volumes. The distinction is not big, however is noticeable again to again. 

Go-balt?

There are two questions that come up from a product and overview like this. First, does it enhance the sound over an inexpensive baseline? Sure, with any hard-to-drive headphone the Cobalt will completely sound higher than a headphone jack and low cost dongle. Even many easier-to-drive headphones will seemingly sound at the least slightly higher (or on the very least, louder). 

Second, does it carry out properly sufficient to justify its value? That is a bit tougher to say. Do you might have headphones that both want an amp or will sound higher with one? Do your normal sources restrict the efficiency of your headphones? Since most computer systems and telephones (dongle required or not) have horrible headphone amplifiers, the reply to that latter query is usually sure. To the query of value, the DragonFly appears slightly costly. There are a greater diversity of amp/DAC dongles just like the Cobalt in the marketplace now in comparison with when the DragonFlys first took flight (pun supposed), and plenty of are loads much less cash. We’ll be checking some out quickly.

Lastly, if you do not have headphones that may justify the value of a $200 accent, this should not be your first buy. It isn’t going to make $50 headphones sound like $500 headphones. For those who’re solely ever listening to amp-deserving headphones whereas seated in a single place, the hip-dac2 has slightly higher sound at the price of portability and total comfort (the newer hip-dac 3 has a extra user-friendly twin USB-C connection).

That each one mentioned, when you do match within the above-outlined area of interest, I’ll say the Cobalt impressed me greater than I anticipated for its dimension. For one thing smaller than a thumb it undoubtedly improved the sound of some great-sounding headphones in a method that was exceptionally moveable.

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In addition to masking audio and show tech, Geoff does photograph excursions of cool museums and areas around the globe, together with nuclear submarines, huge plane carriers, medieval castles, epic 10,000-mile street journeys, and extra.

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