6/18/2023 0 Comments Dragonfly cobalt vs red![]() ![]() This is, of course, a very good thing overall, for people using harder to drive headphones. As it stands, it's not such a big issue, but I can't go past 25-30/100 volume on it since it's gonna kill my IEM on account of the power output of the DF Cobalt. The only issue I have with the DF Cobalt is that there's is abs no way to set a volume limit, not in Windows sound device manager nor within the Tidal app. I'm not planning to use the DF Cobalt as a mobile solution with my phone, even though it works pretty seamlessly with the included Audioquest Dragontail USB-C dongle. So I ended up relegating the BTR5 to my car as through LDAC bt it sounded way better than with the louse SBC bt connection to the car's receiver. When I compared it to the BTR5, it was a DIFFERENT league, comparisons (at least for my situation with my IEMs) was pointless, there was a world of difference across all the conceivable sound metrics. I first tested the DF Cobalt vs my phone, and it sounded slightly clearer and better, especially in the mids. I ended up buying the DF Cobalt (I've had the DF Red a while back, on different headphones). So i started searching for a good DAC that would sound better than my phone, for laptop use. The problem is each time I would listen to music while working, I was longing for the Xperia's sound quality, but unfortunately switching jacks back and forth between my laptop and phone was a hassle, and I couldn't use my phone as a laptop DAC, obviously. At that point the BTR5 was relegated to laptop use only, since i don't really mind the cable (got a Campfire Audio Copper Litz cable with in-line remote and volume control which work with my phone for calls) for mobile use. But the sound was noticeably warmer, wider, with better heft to the lows and mids, and especially less grain/harshness in the vocals and high end. I didn't have nearly as much power (max volume is equivalent to around 40-41 out of 60 volume on the BTR5 on low gain), but I didn't need that much power, since the max I could handle is about 70-80% on the phone (35ish on BTR5). ![]() ![]() The first thing i noticed is that my phone sounds clearly better than the BTR5 (by using it's 3.5 mm jack). I'm searching information to evaluate the upgrade from one of those. I'm thinking to upgrade in the next months my G6 with a Dragonfly Red Cobalt or Apogee Groove. Here's my 2 cents: Got the BTR5 a while back to use as DAC/AMP with my laptop at work and as BT receiver for my phone (Sony Xperia 1 mark 2, LDAC bt) - my IEMs of choice are the Campfire Audio Polaris v2 (17 ohm, quite sensitive, don't require heaps of power). Currently my set-up consist in a Sennheiser HD599 paired with a Creative Sound Blaster G6, playing Hi-Res audio through Audirvana+ via DirectMode, and I found this combination great. ![]()
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