Review on 🐉 Enhanced AudioQuest DragonFly Red USB DAC/Headphone Amplifier for Higher Performance by Jessie Ritchie

I have the audiophile's world (or the rabbit hole, depending on who you ask) in mind discovered a few months ago and gladly tried out different headphones + DACs/amplifiers + Hi-Res tracks during this time. My goal is to (1) find combos that I like and stick with, rather than endlessly drooling over things I don't own, (2) find good stats that fit my lifestyle and make sense ( z my kids, they can't go to college because I need new headphones, but I also don't kid myself that a $20 pair is going to sound kinda premium) and (3) never become the guy who uses the arrogant terms "Audio sommelier" used I read on message boards all too often. .In the DAC/amp world I already have the Fiio Q1 (was good but didn't really do much for me) and the OPPO HA-2 (looked very smooth - made everything louder - but it was also harsh in the end/ sterile in the altitude department). I've been craving Chord Mojo for a long time and would love to hear it. No doubt it sounds great! But I'm afraid it won't sound "great for $600" to me (see point 2 above). And then a few weeks ago I came across a Darko review of this new red and knew I had to try it. Gen (via Korg's iAudioGate) and also via my Macbook Air (running Roon). Setup is super quick and intuitive. Audioquest did a really good job of including a detailed layman's brochure that tells you everything you need to know (and why, which is pretty cool in the audio world - too many companies treat you like you already have a master's degree in hi-fi audio). Added bonus: Audioquest ALSO added a nice travel case + HDtracks coupon + 60-day free trial of Roon (which is nice since Roon's trial period is only 14 days). If you haven't read about Roon yet, I highly recommend it - it allows you to play higher resolution titles on your Mac computer. .and it will absolutely improve the sound of your music. The same goes for the Onkyo HF Player for your iPhone. In any case, let's get down to business. How does red sound? Pretty good - IF (1) you have good headphones and (2) you are using better sources (like the players mentioned above). If you don't do any of these, your music will sound louder, but not necessarily much better. I use the HIFIMAN HE400 which is a great open planar magnetic headphone. They're already efficient, so they don't necessarily need an amp, but almost anything sounds better with an amp. Anyway, if you're wondering how exactly the sound is enhanced with Red, here's my best way of explaining it: more complete and more realistic. Imagine a hairbrush - imagine it being a visual representation of your music without a DAC/amp. Now imagine that all those tiny gaps between the teeth of the comb are filled - this DAC/amp will work. It feels like it's filling in the gaps/missing information/details you weren't aware of, making everything sound a little louder/clearer/brighter/realistic/sweet overall. Bass drums have more bass. You can feel more "twist" in the guitar and bass notes. More clicks on snare drums. Meaning). Also, there's more separation between the instruments, creating the "space" you're reading from, making it feel like you're in a studio surrounded by musicians rather than just a wall of sound. I did an A/B test of a popular rock song by listening to identical snippets with and without Red. Without them, I found the bass guitar disappeared into the drums. Sometimes you would hear it and sometimes you wouldn't (it would just be dirty). But in Rot, a distinct bass guitar plays along with a distinct drummer. Don't get me wrong - the overall effect isn't that huge difference between day and night that will blow your mind - so don't wait. Do this or you will be disappointed. If you instead take the time to get good copies of music + good headphones + good sources, you'll notice improvement and enjoy Dragonfly's positive contributions, and you'll want to hear more of your music. Also, a cool thing that's really useful: the dragon on the device will light up and change color to let you know what sample rate your music is at. OVERALL: The sound is excellent. The value is excellent. The care they put into the brochure + add-ons was a pleasant surprise. Comfort is top notch. And the fact that it's future-proof (they designed it with firmware updates in mind) is great. If any of the above describes your philosophy, you'll probably like it. ---------- UPDATE 1 MONTH LATER: I've always been curious about CHORD Mojo so I went ahead and decided to give that a listen too. I spent about a week with this and my 100% honest conclusion was that I personally didn't hear any audible difference between DragonFly Red and Mojo. Both make my music sound better, but neither makes it better (at least to my ears). I'm sure there are measurements or benchmarks or whatever that prove Mojo "wins". but I couldn't select it. I have no idea if that's because there's no noticeable difference between the two, or if my equipment isn't good enough to tell the difference (although I use Hifiman HE-400, Westone W30, and Audeze Sine, which all far from entry level gear), or my ears just aren't "golden" enough to tell. Who knows - I'm sure others swear they can tell one from the other. Anyway, Mojo definitely sounded great, but so did Red. And Red is 1/3 the price, the firmware is upgradeable, much more discreet/portable and never needs to be charged (I've already had a bad experience sitting down to listen to music but the Mojo's battery died after 10 minutes empty and charged for 3 hours). So I gave back to Mojo and left Red.