AudioQuest DragonFly BLACK, DAC/Headphone Amplifier

DragonFly Black, the most affordable model of the award-winning DragonFly family, has been praised by Darko. Audio is “the quintessential everyman hi-fi product,” while its more sophisticated sibling, DragonFly Red, combines significantly improved performance with still exceptional value. The ESS 9010 DAC chip in Black and the higher-performance 9016 chip in Red employ minimum-phase filtering for naturally detailed sound.

While DragonFly Black uses a high-quality headphone amp and analog volume control, DragonFly Red includes a more advanced ESS headphone amp and a bit-perfect digital volume control that resides on the 9016 DAC chip itself—a sophisticated implementation that gives Red a unique combination of power and grip over the music. DragonFly Black outputs 1.2 volts—enough power to successfully drive all preamplifier input circuits and a wide range of today’s efficient headphones. With its higher 2.1-volt output, DragonFly Red is compatible with a wider range of headphones, including power-hungry, low-efficiency models.

 

Specifications
Output- 1.2 volts
DAC Chip- ESS ES9010 with minimum-phase fast roll-off filter
Volume Control- Analog Volume Control
Desktop Compatibility- Windows 7 and later; Apple 10.6.8 and later; Linux (no tech support provided)
Accessories- 62mm (l) x 19mm (w) x 12mm (h)