Portable DAC vs DAP

Equipment / Electronics / Gear / Accessories Source Gear / Other
21

I was looking for a portable amp/dac. I ultimately went with an xCan over the THX aaa option. Its a pretty serious amp and when using the bluetooth its an amp/dac. Currently using andromeda, orions and soon P1`s. For just a dac the xDsd is a beast too.

22

New to the mix: AQ just released the Dragonfly Cobalt :star_struck:

23

oh yay. Another overpriced USB DAC from Audioquest that is outperformed by essentially anything. Beautiful.

24

why the hate on the Dragonfly?

25

Thought i was pretty clear on that.
It is extremely expensive for what it really offers
There are other devices out there that perform better at much lower cost
There are devices just as small or smaller that offer similar power and performance for less cost.

It just isn’t a really good investment in my opinion.
I would rather spend 100 dollars on the earStudio es100 which let’s be honest gives very similar performance and way more flexibility and features.
Or maybe the Hidizs portable cable amp dac for 45 dollars if i really wanted ultimate portability.

Then I could afford to drop 200-250 on a destop system.
I could also just say, “woah if i am spending 300 dollars on a dac amp i am probably spending way more on a headphone and maybe I actually want power and some options for it. Why not get the THX portable, the Xcan or something that really matches what I am throwing at it”

That is why I hate the dragonfly.
And I can’t even give the cheaper ones a pass because there are other things again out there that do the same but do it better.
why get the red dragon fly when you can get the es100 for the same price. Just doesn’t make sense to me.

Or hell get the zishan dsd. good dac, good amp, balanced and single ended, its a portable dap but also can function as a usb dac. It’s 100 dollars. so why not.

Audioquest can make nice things. The nighthawks are a testament to that. But their real business is making things that are cheap to make and selling them at high prices. Their cables and these dacs are part of that.

1 Like
26

I kinda agree, since I just believe that the reason people like the dragonfly series is because of the heavy tuning and strong sound signature they provide vs a traditional dac amp combo