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Audio quest Dragon fly colbat
Does anyone have any experience with using one of these with their Android phone?
https://www.audioquest.com/dacs/dragonfly/dragonfly-cobalt
I'm interested to know if the hype is real and there is a massive improvement in audio quality. I have a Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge and would like to know if it would be compatible. I know I would have to get the Micro USB to USB A cable but I'm not sure if the S7 edge can send music files via the charging port.
Thanks.
Comments
I have one. I use a cheap USB C to A adapter. I do have the Dragontail but afaict it's just a way for Dragonfly to make a bit extra. Certainly nothing special. As far as your phone goes, if you can transfer files via usb then you'll be fine.
Sound quality? What do you play your music with now? Lossless or a high quality stream with what kind of 'phones? I would try all 3 Dragonfly USB DACs out if you can, there's a big price difference but not so big an audio one.
If you have a heavy lead on your headphones and you're thinking about walking around with the Dragonfly then be prepared to be constantly losing the audio due to disconnections. Massive pita. Did you hear about the Dragonfly from John Darko by any chance?
I don't have the Cobalt, but I own both the Black and Red, driving a variety of headphones (Sennheiser HD650s and IE8s, Focal Spirit Pros, Beyer DT770 Pros amongst others).
I can't hear any substantive difference between the Dragonfly Black and the Red, even when driving high impedance phones.
Are they better than the Apple DACs built into the phones and iPads, or the Apple headphone adapters? The difference in sound quality is marginal IMO, however the Dragonfly DACs do let you fully control the sample rate and that's worth the price alone.
I'm not sure how good the DACs in Android phones are compared to Apple, so maybe with Android the difference will be more noticeable.
There are cheaper DACs on the marker from Sharkoon or Creative Labs that might be worth a look.
I wish someone would make something like the dragonfly or Sharkoon that and a stereo 1/8" input as well.
Anyone know of any? Super small 2x2 3.5mm?
I won't be streaming music just playing MP3s, audio/x-ms-wma files.
I have watched John Darkos YT videos and found them highly informative.
Will just be listening at home with earbuds/Beyer DT770s.
Thanks for your help.
I'm also using Beyer DT770 pros at home and ear buds on the go but wont be taking the cobalt outside if I do get one.
I mainly listen to 60s,70s, and 80s music so was hoping the cobalt would bring out hidden instruments, vocals etc
few YT vids say there isn't alot of difference between the Red and the cobalt and it also depends on what music you listen to.
Will have a look at the Sharkoon and the CL's DAC's
Thanks for the heads up.
As someone who has been a headphone and hi-fi geek for decades, I would suggest there are much better ways to spend that kind of money.
The differences between components such as amps or DACs are usually very subtle, but differences between different headphones and speakers are not. Transducers make a huge impact on your listening experience, way more than amps and DACs.
For the price of the Cobalt you could buy an excellent pair of headphones such as the Audio Technica ATH-R70x or the Sennheiser HD600s, which have more detail and resolution than the DT770s and a much flatter response (I know this from my own experience). This would make a much greater difference to your listening experience than the Cobalt IMO, even if just paired with a cheap Sharkoon DAC.
I've had the Cobalt as well as the Red Dragonfly DACs. While I enjoyed listening to music on them and the added power they bring, the more I used the Cobalt the more it just seemed to overhype things. I spent a lot of time researching and it turns out the $9 Apple headphone adaptors are MUCH more accurate than the Dragonfly devices.
If you're just listening for fun the Dragonfly DACs can be fun and give you a bit more power for higher impedence headphones. If you need accuracy and are using headphones for writing music, the Apple adaptors are a much better options. Kind of amazing how good the Apple devices are for the price, they compete with DACs more than 30 times their price.
Headfi.org and some of the other headphone testing sites have all the specs if you want to compare.
I have the cobalt. Sound quality is very good in principle but there's a massive but. It works brilliantly on my iPad Mini but on my Galaxy Note 20 there are regular little 'drop-out' clicks, Hard to describe but it makes listening to Spotify on my phone unlistenable so i only use on the iPad. Hoping it will eventually be resolved by a firmware update on the Note 20 but who knows whether that will ever happen. As you have a Samsung device I'd say avoid it like COVID and spend the money on a decent set of Bluetooth headphones instead if it's just for listening to music. Love my Sony wh-1000xm4 in LDAC mode with the Note for example.
Thank you. I appreciate your help.
Just looked up the AT ATH R70x and they get very good reviews and are about the same price as the DF cobalt, funnily enough I have a pair of really old and tatty AT headphones from 2009 and tried those via my laptop and there was a marked difference listening to my mp3's. I also have some old Bose headphones from 2016 which I use and sound pretty good.
Maybe it was wishful thinking getting a DF Colbalt would really bring to live all the old music I love.
Thank you. I think from the advice I am getting I will steer clear of the Dragon fly DAC's and upgrade my Headphones.
Funnily enough I have just ordered some earfun air 4 bluetooth ear buds from amazon as my last pair of bluetooth ear buds died a couple of days ago.
Thank you
Have you tried turning off all notification interactions? There also may be an app that has its own notification settings that overrides the phone's.
I would urge you to audition any piece of kit you get hold of. Amazon is very good at taking stuff back or you can circumvent the whole returns process with a visit to your local emporium.
I have a pair of DT150s that I love. Much more than, say, the Audio Technicas but that's because my ears are different to another person's.
I'm using my Beyer DT770 pros 250 Ohms when mixing on my Ipad but the ear buds will just be for my phone. Have you tried the 770s over the 150s? Is there any difference? They are close in price and both get great reviews.
One more thing about the Cobalt, it seems to default to 96kHz when you first connect it to a device. You might want to try changing the sample rate to 48 or 44.1kHz to see if that helps the drop out issue.
When you connect the colbalt to your laptop etc, is there a menu where you can change settings on the device?
I haven't but the drop-outs are happening once a second or similar. Far more frequent than I receive notifications. Will give it a go just in case though. Thanks for the idea!
Yes it’s Audio MIDI Settings on MacOS, not sure about Windows.
Hmm haven't tried connecting to a PC either. Will give that a go too. Thanks!
Thanks
Well, you've got a fantastic pair of headphones with the 770s so I guess it's up to you whether you're happy with them or not. I prefer the 150s as they seem to colour the sound a little less.
The DT770s have a pretty U-shaped frequency response curve (hyped bass and treble, recessed mids), which can sometimes mess with the timbre of instruments IMO. They're fun to listen to, but I wouldn't call them neutral. That's partly why I recommended the HD600 or the AT ATH R70x, these are flatter and more accurate headphones that will more faithfully represent the music you are listening to (with some caveats obviously, no headphone is perfect).
If it's the most detailed presentation you are looking for then a pair of open headphones like the ones I mention above are great options, otherwise you might also want to consider IEMs which can also be very detailed and will have more sub-bass than open headphones (open-backed headphones can't really do justice to sub 100hz frequencies, although they do excel in every other area).
Ok thanks
The other thing that I have just realised is maybe my age is a contributing factor. I'm 52 and, as you may know, human hearing gets worse with age. I have always thought my hearing was fantastic but after a few tests I can only hear up to 16khz which is way below the 20khz that humans can hear.
I did look at the AT ATH R70s but they are out of my price range. Do you think they are better than the 770s considering they are over double the price?
Cheers
Another vote for IEMs here, I prefer them over larger or open back cans myself. The sub bass in my SE846s is deeper and flatter than any other headphones I’ve heard so far.
What is it about the 770s that have you looking at other cans? Let's try to zero in on exactly what you want.
Have you listened to modded 770s with the improved mids? I think the mod actually improves the bass response which, in turn, enhances the mids.
If you can still hear as high as 16khz at 52 you're doing pretty well, I'm 51 and my hearing cuts out at around 14khz.
I wouldn't worry too much about your natural loss of high-frequency hearing, there's not much musical information above 10khz anyway and there are plenty of mixing and mastering engineers who are perfectly capable of doing their jobs well into their 50s and 60s and beyond.
The only reason I was suggesting looking at different headphones is simply because IMO that would be a much better investment than getting a Dragonfly Cobalt (in terms of the impact on quality). But you don't need to spend any money at all to improve your listening experience - you could for example simply EQ your DT770s to have a more accurate response.
These days audio components are cheap to make and generally good quality across the board, which is why Apple can sell a very good DAC adapter for $9. Spending hundreds of pounds/dollars on a DAC is really entering into the land of diminishing returns (and I say this as someone who owns several expensive DACs).
Since electronic components are generally of such a high standard now, your average mobile phone is perfectly capable of acting as a high-quality source. Which is why it makes more sense to spend money where it matters: the transducer - headphones or speakers.
You don't need to spend a lot of money to get great sound. Your DT770s are already pretty good, and certainly very enjoyable to listen to. They're just not quite what I would call neutral, because they have pretty harsh highs and slightly bloated bass. They do however extend very deep, and that is actually one of their strengths IMO.
There are relatively cheap headphones that offer more neutral sound IMO, and I'll list a few suggestions. It's definitely a good idea to try and audition anything before buying if possible, or at least be sure to buy from somewhere with a decent return policy in case you're disappointed. The good news is that in the last few years reliable frequency response measurements have become much more widespread so it's much easier to make an informed choice than it used to be. Harman Kardon have also funded research (going back decades) which has helped to bring more objectivity to the field of sound reproduction and hi-fi.
There are 3 main types of headphones you can buy, each with different pros and cons. These are: open, closed, or IEMs.
Open headphones usually have very good midrange and the best soundstage, but lack sub-bass below 100hz (this is a physical limitation of not having an enclosed driver, even very expensive open-backed headphones suffer from this issue). Sub-bass aside, open headphones are generally among the most accurate on the market.
Closed headphones will have a narrower soundstage but greater bass extension. Resonances can often colour the bass though, due to the closed design.
IEMs have the poorest soundstage but the best bass extension and accuracy. IEMs can in fact be the most accurate and neutral solution as long as you can get a good fit. Their main drawback is comfort and fit.
So with that said these are some low-cost headphones that have a relatively neutral sound:
Open-backed:
Sennheiser HD560s,
AKG K612 Pro
Closed:
Shure SRH440
Audio Technica ATH-M40x
AKG K371
IEMS:
Etymotic ER2XR
No I haven't heard any modded versions. Back in the day there was a mod called the Darth Beyer (it might still be around, I'm not sure, this was about 15 years ago) that was supposed to improve them but I never heard it.
I've had the stock 80 ohm version since 2004. I know it's sound pretty well having listened to them a lot over the years. They're fun to listen to, and sometimes useful for checking sub-bass in a mix, but ultimately there are other headphones I prefer to listen to for a more balanced presentation.
Coincidentally, this thread appeared just as I am considering getting the 770 pro 80ohms. I need closed back for wife compatibility.
Just wanted to ask your opinion about two things, the bass and the fun factor of these headphones.
I bought some Focal Listen Pros earlier in the year to improve my mixes because my old Sennheiser Urbanite XLs were impossible to distinguish what was going on, in the low mids especially, the Urbanites are really bass heavy with a slightly muted mid range.
I’m still quite inexperienced but the focals were a revelation, I can hear so many of things in my mix that are impossible to judge elsewhere but… I don’t find the Focals much fun to listen to.
Plus because the low end seems pretty flat and maybe a bit muted, I often find myself boosting the low end on my mix only to discover when playing back on other speakers that I’ve over done it, kick drums are the worst.
So…
Are the 770s fun for different music styles? (Electronic, folk, indie etc..)
How’s the bass? I appreciate the urbanites are a bit like owning a set of beats but I keep coming back to them for that extra oomph, even though it’s a bit too much.
Finally, I was looking at the dragonfly as well, out of curiosity, whats it like driving the 80ohms direct from an iPad?