As a regular Stereophile subscriber for over three decades now I have read my share of articles and reviews on big $$$ components of all sorts. The budget components are interesting as well, although usually not enough so that I would give more than a casual glance at them. The rave reviewed $129. Pioneer SP-BS22 speakers for example look great in the magazine, to look at them in real life they would make a great pair of headphones.
Regular readers of this blog know that I am no fan of digital audio, although I will admit it has come a long way since the screeching CDs of the mid '80s. My living room system has a home theater PC that I get my tv on (yes, free from the internet), and also enjoy Pandora for casual listening.
So I have been curious about some of the newer USB dacs that have recently appeared on the market. The Audioquest Dragonfly ($250.) is one that has had some rave reviews for a number of months now, and this month's issue mentions a new 1.2 version that is supposedly improved and sells for $149, $100. less than the previous version. A quick bit of scouting around and my friends at the Stereo Shop had the older version for $99.
I was bored, the weather was nice, and I figured "ah, what the heck". I got in my car and went to the Shop.
This also gives me the chance to pop in on my friend Mark, who owns the CD Exchange and is also an audiophile.
Mark had a newly reissued first time on vinyl copy of the Ani Di Franco album "Not a Pretty Girl", and I felt what better way to justify a digital purchase than by buying an analog record!
The recording of this is spectacular, by the way. Obviously remastered for vinyl, not just a warmed over CD mix.
Anyway, by the time I made my way in to the Stereo Shop to see my friend Bob, there was a guy actually bringing a Dragonfly back for a refund. What are the odds? Said all it was was louder than what he was using.
I made my way home and plugged in the Dragonfly. Setup was straight forward, intuitive, and less than five minutes. I switched on Pandora and within a couple of minutes the difference was obvious. What's not to like? While my allegiance is still to analog, this is a welcome addition- very listenable. A noticeable improvement over the Acurus Act 3 I was using (yes, I know this is antiquated technology,but I told you I am not into digital).
Plus it frees up the coax S/PDIF on my PC for another future use.
I would highly recommend this to anybody looking for a cheap upgrade and improvement in their computer's sound. It basically replaces your sound card without any wires or soldering, and it works great as a headphone amp as well. I only wish it were a little wider on top and had RCA jacks as opposed to a 3.5 mm jack, but you can't have it all, I guess.
