AUDIOQUEST DragonFly Black V1.5 USB DAC

The AudioQuest Dragonfly Black is a USB powered and input asynchronous mode DAC and preamplifier that transforms PCs, Macs, smartphones and tablets into high fidelity audio playback systems. It's a USB digital-to-analog converter (DAC) designed to deliver cleaner, clearer, more naturally beautiful sound from any computer, smartphone, or tablet. DragonFly Black's unique design allows for playback of any file type regardless of resolution. Natively, DragonFly Black is capable of decoding 24-bit/96kHz data. (For files with higher sample rates, your computer or mobile device, in conjunction with its playback sofware, will resample the data to a compatible resolution).

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". The ESS9010 DAC chip in Black employs minimum-phase filtering for naturally detailed sound. The DragonFly Black uses a high-quality headphone amp and analog volume control. DragonFly Black outputs 1.2 volts - enough power to successfully drive all preamplifier input circuits and a wide range of today's efficient headphones. 

DragonFly Black represents the culmination of several new and exciting achievements. 
Over the better part of three years, AudioQuest and acclaimed engineer Gordon Rankin have been tirelessly developing sophisticated software solutions that have allowed us to implement a new, high-performance class of USB microcontroller. We have chosen to work with Microship, a leading provider of microcontroller and analog semiconductors. With exceedingly low poer consumption and extremely low-noise power supplies, the Microchip microcontrollers achieve unprecedented levels of efficiency and signal-to-noise ratio, regardless of bit - or sample - rate. 

While DragonFly versions 1.0 and 1.2 achieved new standards of performance and portability in the high-fidelity audio world, many of our customers have longed for a similar product that could be reliable used with their handheld mobile devices. Previously, DragonFly's power consumption limited its compatibility to Mac and Windows laptops and PCs. Now, with our developments in the field of microcontrollers, we are able to improve DragonFly's performance while also offering compatibility with handheld Apple Mobile and Android devices. Improved performance and greater versatility!

DragonFly Black employs a unique clock system called a Hybrid-PLL. While not discrete, the Hybrid-PLL performs equal to, or better than, many discrete clock systems, at a fraction of their cost. This has allowed us to devote resources to more sophisticated components elsewhere. 

Asynchronous Mode Operation

The Dragonfly Black decouples itself from the noisy environments of the source device via async mode audio data transfer. The device contains its own master clocks to stabilize the signal via jitter elimination. The resulting digital audio stream is accurately timed at every frequency simultaneously, providing the listener with the most artifact-free reproduction of the original movie or music track.

Flagship DAC Chipset

At the heart of the Dragonfly Black are the ESS ES9010 premier stereo DAC, an extraordinary 32bit, 384kHz converter used on many of the world's best BD players, AVRs and professional studio equipment. As well as accepting both PCM and DSD data natively (up to 11.2Mhz), the chip incorporates ESS's patented HyperStream architecture to achieve enthusiast levels dynamic range, smoothness and detail.

Audiophile Grade Analogue Preamplifier

Most other USB DACs use simple digital bit truncation to reduce volume, a process that significantly degrades the soundtrack's dynamic range and emotional impact. The Dragonfly Black avoids this problem altogether by integrating a real analogue preamp output stage, which allows it to drive headphones, power amplifiers and active speakers with full clarity and richness at any volume. Finally, the Dragonfly Black has a special fixed output mode for connection to AVRs and integrated amplifiers.