--- product_id: 27536997 title: "AudioQuest Dragonfly Red USB Digital-to-Analog Converter" brand: "audioquest" price: "$520.28" currency: USD in_stock: true reviews_count: 13 url: https://www.desertcart.ec/products/27536997-audioquest-dragonfly-red-usb-digital-to-analog-converter store_origin: EC region: Ecuador --- # 32-bit SABRE DAC2.1v for pristine audio Works seamlessly with Apple & Android devices USB Type A plug-and-play compatibility AudioQuest Dragonfly Red USB Digital-to-Analog Converter **Brand:** audioquest **Price:** $520.28 **Availability:** ✅ In Stock ## Summary > 🎶 Unlock studio-quality sound anywhere, anytime. ## Quick Answers - **What is this?** AudioQuest Dragonfly Red USB Digital-to-Analog Converter by audioquest - **How much does it cost?** $520.28 with free shipping - **Is it available?** Yes, in stock and ready to ship - **Where can I buy it?** [www.desertcart.ec](https://www.desertcart.ec/products/27536997-audioquest-dragonfly-red-usb-digital-to-analog-converter) ## Best For - audioquest enthusiasts ## Why This Product - Trusted audioquest brand quality - Free international shipping included - Worldwide delivery with tracking - 15-day hassle-free returns ## Key Features - • **Portable Powerhouse:** Compact and lightweight at just 3.5 ounces—take premium sound anywhere. - • **Audiophile-Grade Clarity:** Experience ultra-detailed, transparent sound with the 32-bit SABRE DAC2.1v chip. - • **Plug-and-Play Simplicity:** No drivers needed; just connect via USB Type A and elevate your audio instantly. - • **High-Resolution Audio Support:** Play everything from MP3s to 24-bit/96kHz Hi-Res files without compromise. - • **Universal Device Compatibility:** Effortlessly connect to laptops, tablets, and smartphones—no tech headaches. ## Overview The AudioQuest DragonFly Red is a portable USB digital-to-analog converter and headphone amplifier featuring a 32-bit SABRE DAC2.1v chip. It supports high-resolution audio up to 24-bit/96kHz and is compatible with Apple and Android devices via simple adapters. Lightweight and plug-and-play, it delivers clear, rich sound to headphones and audio systems, making it a top choice for audiophiles and professionals seeking premium portable audio enhancement. ## Description Combining award-winning performance and exceptional value, DragonFly Red is a portable, plug-and-play USB DAC (digital-to-analog converter), preamp, and headphone amp that connects to laptops, tablets, and smartphones to deliver clean, clear, naturally beautiful sound to headphones, powered speakers, or complete audio systems. While DragonFly can natively decode resolutions up to 24-bit/96kHz, it can play any file type regardless of resolution, from MP3 to MQA and Hi-Res. ## Features - 32-Bit SABRE DAC - 2.1v Output Drives Almost Any Headphones - Works With Apple and Android devices when paired with a simple adapter - Plays everything from MP3s to 24-bit/96kHz high-resolution files - This versatile DAC improves everything – detail transparency immediacy richness tone - Connector type: USB Type A ## Technical Specifications | Specification | Value | |---------------|-------| | Asin | B01DFMV4NQ | | Best Sellers Rank | #45 in Headphone Amps | | Brand Name | AudioQuest | | Compatible Devices | Cellular Phones, Headphones | | Customer Reviews | 4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars (4,650) 4.4 out of 5 stars | | Global Trade Identification Number | 00092592050532 | | Included Components | DragonFly Red | | Interface | USB | | Item Type Name | DAC | | Item Weight | 3.5 ounces | | Manufacturer | AUDIOQUEST | | Material Type | Flat-knit | | Maximum Supply Voltage | 2.1 volts | | Minimum Supply Voltage | 2.1 volts | | Model | Dragonfly Red | | Number Of Channels | 1 | | Number Of Items | 1 | | Number Of Pins | 4 | | Part Number | FBA_Dragonfly Rosso | | Unit Count | 1 Count | | Upc | 092592050532 | | Warranty Description | 1 Year | ## Product Details - **Brand:** AudioQuest - **Interface Type:** USB - **Maximum Supply Voltage:** 2.1 volts - **Minimum Supply Voltage:** 2.1 volts - **Number of Pins:** 4 ## Images ![AudioQuest Dragonfly Red USB Digital-to-Analog Converter - Image 1](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51f1Gf0ivHL.jpg) ![AudioQuest Dragonfly Red USB Digital-to-Analog Converter - Image 2](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/61TGmIFd-yL.jpg) ![AudioQuest Dragonfly Red USB Digital-to-Analog Converter - Image 3](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/71XTmtkKuzL.jpg) ![AudioQuest Dragonfly Red USB Digital-to-Analog Converter - Image 4](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/71GBibjWclL.jpg) ![AudioQuest Dragonfly Red USB Digital-to-Analog Converter - Image 5](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51wj+5qdHRL.jpg) ## Available Options This product comes in different **Color** options. ## Customer Reviews ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Great little DAC *by on Reviewed in the United States June 3, 2013* I will start this review by saying that I am not an audiophile. I very much enjoy good music and high quality audio, but I think that spending upwards of 1000 on a product that gives you an extra 5% performance is silly. So when I found the Dragonfly DAC in a variety of Audiophile magazines I was intrigued.The Audioquest DrogonFly DAC is a very interesting device. Much smaller and more portable than a standard DAC, but supposedly built with the same high fidelity bits you find on much larger tabletop DACs even including a headphone amp and an analog volume control. In my findings, this DAC performs admirably. The speakers I'm powering are a pair of Paradigm Shift A2s.In terms of build quality this thing is built like a tank. I have a large number of thumb drives (Although no waterproof/tough style drives) and this thing feels far more solid and robust than any of them. The included cap is nice, although like most thumb drive style caps it's quite easy to lose. The packaging that it comes in is very nice and indicates some serious thought was put into the product. It's shipped in wrapped in a velvet-esque carrying case, inside high density foam in a double cardboard box. I'm fairly certain you could drop this thing out of the delivery vehicle on a freeway and run it over a couple of times and it would still be in perfect condition.I've put it through the ringer with a large variety of music from pop streamed at 128kbps from Spotify, to classical 192/24 FLAC files. In all counts the DAC has impressed. I found it nice and neutral, just like a good audio device should be with no particular character other than very clean precise music. Coming from an onboard soundcard (albeit a decent one on a very high end motherboard) there was a world of difference. As cliche as it is, I heard details I'd never heard in a variety of tracks and everything I listened to seemed much more precise. I also enjoyed enhanced soundstage that was helpful in FPS games to more accurately locate the location of enemy footsteps.I have two complaints, both of them fairly minor. First and foremost, The connector worries me. I work as a Custom installer doing audio systems, and one thing I've learned in my work is never trust a mini-jack. The connectors are flaky at best and it's worrisome to see it included on a $200+ piece of equipment, especially one where it's likely to be plugged and unplugged on a regular basis. That being said, the build quality is fantastic, the thing feels like a tank, so although I'm wary of the connector, until I get evidence to the contrary I have no reason to believe it will be damaged.My second complaint is that with my initial unit, there was a fairly serious issue whereby the USB connector seemed to not make contact unless there was a significant amount of pressure on the DAC. I believe this was either an early production issue, or possibly just my sample, however it was extremely annoying. At best, my sound would cutout every time the pressure on the DAC was released, and at worst, it would make horrible popping noises that sounded as though they were desperately trying to blow my speakers. The constant pressure required on the USB ports on my computer worried me with regards to longevity. After some fairly substantial searching I was unable to find many similar complaints online, so I must assume that it was either limited to a very small initial run or people aren't speaking up. Given that this is the internet I'm forced to conclude the former. That all being said, after a couple weeks of searching to see if I could possibly resolve the issue through software, I contacted the company and they informed me it was a defective unit that should be RMA'd. I live in northern California near the Oregon border and after sending it out the new unit arrived within a bit less than a week. Given my difficulty tracking down similar issues with other purchasers, I believe this was a short term problem and I believe any currently selling models are well past having this issue. The replacement unit they sent me works perfectly and I've had 0 issues with it at all.Overall I have been very pleased with this DAC and I would highly recommend it to anyone looking for good, portable, reasonably priced sound. ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ What’s Old is New Again. *by on Reviewed in the United States December 23, 2021* What’s Old is New Again.All the reviews out there in the blogosphere/vlogosphere that tout the Dragonfly Cobalt and its ability to enhance your listening experience are overwhelmingly positive, so you can certainly look up any of those reviews from an expert’s point-of-view. But from an Average Guy’s view (like me), I can definitely hear the difference when using this device.I tend to listen to music in my car more so than any other place. And, for that, I usually stream music via my phone (Amazon Music HD) through the car’s AUX port. I have been doing this by simply taking a high quality 3.5mm audio stereo cable with two male heads and plugging one head into the AUX port and the other into the phone’s headphone jack. I own an LG G8 Thinq (the last flagship phone LG made in 2019 prior to exiting the smartphone segment; and this phone features that rare headphone 3.5mm headphone jack). Back then (and even today in late 2021), that in-phone DAC was generally regarded as the best by quite a margin (the phone’s max sample rate output is 24-bit / 48 KHz).Meanwhile, I own a 2014 BMW 3 Series and I have done lots to improve its musical components. I’ve upgraded my amplifier (Up7BMW) and all speakers/A-Pillar tweeters (FOCAL brand). And, I purchased an Equalizer app on the Google Play Store. Still, wanting higher fidelity, I then purchased the Dragonfly Cobalt DAC.Immediately, even with all of the upgrades that I’ve invested into my car’s sound system, I could hear a musical boost. And when I play my favorite songs, old and new, the enhanced fidelity peels back all of these musical elements that I had never really noticed before (a more pronounced drum beat; the sliding of the fingers along the neck of a guitar; the raw emotion of a singer’s voice; better defined strumming from a generally-hard-to-notice acoustical guitar, etc… - what audiophiles would describe as neutrality). I’ve read various articles stating that listening to your radio does sound muddy, which it does. You can (and I can) hear a difference when playing a CD. But, adding a good DAC takes it up one notch further, and you feel like you’re right there in the front row of a concert or at the recording studio itself.Now, your listening experience may differ because not everyone “hears” the same or perhaps as well. So, if seeing a number helps you to visualize improvement (although “seeing-is-believing” is different than “hearing-is-believing” in this case), here’s what I’m seeing with my LG G8 ThinQ. Without the Cobalt, the phone’s DAC can stream music at up to a sample rate of 24-bit / 48 khz, which is pretty good. I know this because with Amazon Music HD, you can press the music quality “badge” to bring up this kind of info. Now, with the Cobalt plugged in, the output increases to 24-bit / 96 khz. I’ve read that the max output, though, would be 24-bit / 192 khz, so let’s quickly talk about that pinnacle of sound quality for a second. The only way of possibly getting there from my readings (and I’m sure there are other ways that I haven’t discovered yet) is by subscribing to Tidal’s HiFi Plus Tier (which is their top tier) AND also downloading onto your phone an app called USB Audio Player Pro (also known as UAPP). Somehow – and I profess my ignorance on this as I’m not a sound engineer – this app plus the Dragonfly Cobalt plus its ability to play well with Tidal (the technical term sound engineers use is “unfolding”) allows access to that 24-bit / 192 khz musical experienceAnyway, as you’ll already know, the Dragonfly has this helpful light that defines the quality of the music you’re hearing. Unfortunately though, unless you’re paying $240 a year for Tidal’s top hi-res tier, that light then also gives you a sense of FOMO. I pay $80 a year for Amazon Music HD (as I am already an Amazon Prime member). Now, for just $80 a year and despite not being able to reach that 24-bit / 192 Khz threshold, I can still attain musical nirvana. So, Amazon Music HD is totally worth it. And the Dragonfly Cobalt, IMHO, is totally worth it too.But, as with all things subjective (like hearing), your mileage may vary. Will this be worth it to you? In this case, there are four things that you’ll want to considerA) Can you hear the difference? Again, some of us have better hearing than others. If you can’t hear much the difference between music over the radio and music on a CD, then you probably won’t hear much of a sonic upgrade here.B) How many hours a day will you use this? That is, why purchase a pricey doodad if you’re only going to use it now and then? It’s kind of the same in-your-head argument when you think about joining a gym or subscribing to Disney+.C) Think about your music source. The idea of a DAC is to allow it to further “unwrap” the audio file to allow for that richer listening music (again, using that term “neutrality”). But, if you’re listening and happy with Spotify Free or any other lossy music tier (usually the free ones with possible ads), those files won’t have much to reveal anyway. The entry point at which to consider whether to invest in a DAC or not is when you are subscribing to a hi-res music service (i.e.: Quboz; Amazon Prime HD; Tidal Hi-Fi; etc…).D) Finally, think about the equipment that will be outputting your sound (e.g. earphones, earbuds, speaker systems). If they are of low quality, then a DAC probably won’t do much. And keep in mind that this DAC would also probably cost MORE than most run-of-the-mill earphones, earbuds, speakers).Oh, I do want to bring up one thing if you subscribe to Amazon Music HD. I saw on their FAQ page that Amazon Music HD is not always reliable in giving max audio quality if it doesn't sense a super-fast internet connection (or maybe if a lot of subscribers are trying to stream hi-res music at the same time – let’s call it ‘congestion’), so I’ve seen the light turn both powder blue (denoting a bitstream of 96 KHz) as well as cobalt blue (denoting a bitstream 48 KHz for the same song during different times of the day, but never below that number if you’ve set songs to play at HD or better quality). In fact, on its FAQ page, it does say, “For streaming, the current source file quality may change due to varying network conditions.” So, if you’re subscribing to Amazon Music HD and see this happening, it’s not the Cobalt malfunctioning.Finally … here’s a question you’ll want to ask yourself and a suggestion. Have you looked at the THX Onyx? It is also a very well-regarded DAC and probably a 2nd place runner-up if you read the various reviews out there about DACs (with the Cobalt being the consensus winner when talking about power/portability). However, at the time of this writing, the Onyx is currently on sale for $150 (down from about $200, and can be found here on Amazon or on Razer.com). Hmmm… $150 for the Onyx vs $330 for the Cobalt? That does make the Cobalt a tougher sell, actually.Again, the only real downer here is the price. $330 seems pricey, even though it’s a svelte yet powerful top-of-the-line product.If you are willing to consider really good dongle DACs with perhaps less of a svelte/compact form factor that cost just half as much, you may also want to check out these very worthy alternatives, also found here on Amazon.- THX Onyx, $150- Helm Bolt DAC, $150- Astell & Kern USB-C Dual DAC Cable, $100In the end, the Dragonfly Cobalt is a 5-star product (although I’m not convinced that it’s $150 better than the THX). I’m very happy with this product. If you tend to listen to music quite a bit to complement your day, then investing in a really good DAC like the Dragonfly Cobalt makes for a solid purchase decision.Good luck on finding what suits you best. ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Good, sleek, portable inline Dac. May require an adapter for phone or tablet. *by on Reviewed in the United States April 5, 2022* I like the sound quality, added volume, and portability. This replaces my dragonfly red that failed. I bought the warranty for it and with the credit I replaced it with this. I use it inline with my iPad going to a klipsch 2.1 computer speakers in the shop. The headphones at home I used on this Dac and the Dragonfly red were Sennheiser 599’s. My son upgraded his Dac(to an RME ADI-2 pro) and headphones (to Hifiman). While my dragonfly red was out for repair, I got a chance to use my sons older set up - a jds labs element 2 and Sennheiser Hd700’s.I can tell you with certainty, that these inline amps are for different needs than the dacs that require external power source. The lack of an external power source or lion battery will limit amplification, especially higher impedance headphones - there just isn’t enough required voltage to drive the internal amp louder. IC companies are getting much better at providing an op amp that has more gain with the same audio input level than earlier op-amps. This means you get more volume with the same signal level. This is the path Audioquest has chosen. You’ll need a USB A female to USB C adapter or USB A female to lightning depending on your mobile device. See my pic, apple camera adapter. It allows me to keep my iPad charged while I play it. It doesn’t give it any extra juice for amplification. There are portables that you have to charge first and it plays on battery power - IFI has some I would love to try.I know many people claim they don’t hear the difference or can’t hear the difference between internal vs external dacs. OR they can’t hear any difference even with 44k streaming - internal Dac vs external Dac. My dad is 83 and we did many AB comparisons with straight 44k and even these Dragonfly’s are better than OEM apple dacs. I know they use good stuff, but I can easily tell the difference. I can’t speak for the Cobalt version (Blue), but these inline dacs are made for portability, louder, and better sound - which they do.Where these dacs come into their own is 88k sampling and above. Try a streaming source like Qobuz or such and download some hi-res version of the songs that make these thing shine. Streaming an 88k and above is an issue due to how big the file is. Downloading eliminates buffering. I get a warning on Qobuz that lets me know I’m not allowed to play a hi- res version without downloading it first. Maybe if I had fiber internet it wouldn’t be an issue.The difference in what a Dac can do for you is best described by the day I got my first HDCD transport. When a drummer hits a cymbal during a soft part of the song - how long do you hear the ring. With cheaper dacs and smaller sampling 44k and lower, there is data missing from the original recording - the cymbal decays quicker. Us old farts that love vinyl are attracted to high sample rates and lost-less files. We each prefer or dislike certain types of files or recording options. Sound is as subjective as food, colors, cars, and friends. Again if you don’t hear the difference, don’t hate, just save your money for something else ;)Happy listening. ## Frequently Bought Together - AudioQuest - DragonFly Red USB DAC/Headphone Amplifier - PChero Headphone Ear Pads Covers, 2 Pairs Washable Strechable Headset Earpad Cloth Cover for Gym, Training, Aviation, Racing, Gaming Over The Ear Headphones, Fit 3.5" - 4.3" Ear Pads - GE 6-Outlet Surge Protector, 6 Ft Extension Cord, Power Strip, 800 Joules, Flat Plug, Twist-to-Close Safety Covers, Protected Indicator Light, ETL Listed, White, 67051 --- ## Why Shop on Desertcart? - 🛒 **Trusted by 1.3+ Million Shoppers** — Serving international shoppers since 2016 - 🌍 **Shop Globally** — Access 737+ million products across 21 categories - 💰 **No Hidden Fees** — All customs, duties, and taxes included in the price - 🔄 **15-Day Free Returns** — Hassle-free returns (30 days for PRO members) - 🔒 **Secure Payments** — Trusted payment options with buyer protection - ⭐ **TrustPilot Rated 4.5/5** — Based on 8,000+ happy customer reviews **Shop now:** [https://www.desertcart.ec/products/27536997-audioquest-dragonfly-red-usb-digital-to-analog-converter](https://www.desertcart.ec/products/27536997-audioquest-dragonfly-red-usb-digital-to-analog-converter) --- *Product available on Desertcart Ecuador* *Store origin: EC* *Last updated: 2026-08-19*