I reviewed the AudioQuest DragonFly Red and the Black 1.5 in August 2016 and was rather
charmed by them.
especially the Red.
Only four months later it was announced at CES 2017 that an update was planned, enabling
MQA on both models.
During High-End Munich 2017 the update was finally released.
So time for an update.
For a description of both the DragonFly Red and the Black 1.5 see the initial review by
following the link in the show notes.
Updating works the same for both models, but earlier models like the Black 1 and 1.2 cannot
be updated.
Just download the free DragonFly Desktop App, install it and then run it.
It will ask you to connect the DragonFly to the USB port, after which the device manager
pops up.
It checks whether an update is available - which will be the case - and suggests to install
it.
If you click the Update Now button the process will start.
A clear warning is displayed not to disconnect the DragonFly during the update process for
this might render it useless.
In my case it took only two minutes to update.
The DragonFly's can render MQA files only when working together with software that supports
MQA decoding.
MQA playback is a two stage process, split up in decoding and rendering.
Decoding is the hardest and needs the most computational power.
This can't be done by the DragonFly's, thus needs to be done by the playback software.
Currently Tidal and Audirvana+ 3 provide MQA decoding and Roon will have it soon.
The decoded signal can be up to 96 kHz.
The second stage, the rendering, can only be done in a DAC and so is performed by the
DragonFly's.
The USB interface chip in the DragonFly's is limited to 96 kHz to keep the power usage
low.
No problem for the decoded MQA files since they are limited to 96 kHz too.
But now comes the interesting part: inside the DragonFly's the second stage, the rendering
stage, reconstructs the signal to the original resolution.
So if it was a 384 kHz file, it will be played back as a 384 kHz file.
The DragonFly's even playback 768 kHz MQA files.
By the way, some people think that all MQA files are 192 kHz.
They're not.
Many are 44.1 or 48 or the twofold of that, but there are also 384 kHz or higher files.
Now, lets get testing;
I used Audirvana+3 as the player and my reference sets for playback.
For playing with MQA disabled I used Roon since that doesn't yet support MQA decoding.
I also listened over my AudioQuest NightHawk headphones and Sony MDR-EX700 in-ears - despite
the claustrophony.
For comparison between MQA and non-MQA I used a number of free downloadable tracks from
2L.no and other MQA tracks bought at Highresaudio.com.
It is hard to say if the sound of the DragonFly's has improved by the update for playing normal
audio files since I can't compare.
But I thought I could compare between MQA and non MQA since I have a limited number
of tracks of which I know they came from the same master.
First a disclaimer: when testing equipment you want only one factor to change.
But when Audirvana+ detected the DragonFly, the option to switch off MQA support is gone.
Ideal for normal use, not for testing.
It means that I can't fully define what sound properties belong to the MQA rendering
and what to the differences in software.
Learned from an earlier review I now know there is a difference between the normal CD-quality
file, the non-decoded MQA file, the 24/96 or 192 file and the decoded MQA file.
See "What went wrong in the initial DragonFly MQA review" if you're interested.
I started up with cd-quality files, to compare them to non-decoded MQA files.
In most cases timbre of both were about the same but playing MQA files opened up the stereo
image, made voices more natural, gave deeper base and overall a less stressed sound.
Also percussive instruments sounded more realistic, more coherent.
Again, this was without MQA decoding, using Roon as player.
Switching to high res PCM files brought a bit of stress back together with sometimes
other qualities being slightly less but that varied strongly between albums.
Playing MQA decoded files using Audirvana+ took stress away again, gave slightly improves
sibilance control and again all other changes were not constant over all albums.
For those that don't speak the audiophile lingo: the sound of MQA files is less a burden
to the brain, played back over the DragonFly's using the MQA rendering more than when not
decoded.
This is a good test: try to read a book when playing MQA music and then non-MQA music.
You will notice that reading is more difficult when playing non-MQA music.
Or not, of course, if you're not sensitive.
MQA files make the difference between the Black 1.5 and the Red somewhat smaller.
I would still prefer the Red and would be happy to spend the extra € 100.
But you might say it's twice the price of the Black 1.5 and you would be right too.
The nice thing about the DragonFly's is that the volume still can be controlled by
software while playing MQA since it uses metadata to control the DragonFly volume.
If you are sceptical about MQA, spend € 99 on the Dragonfly Black 1.5 and listen to the
difference using for instance the free files on 2L.no.
For those that want MQA for the road: us the camera adapter for the iPhone or the OTG cable
for Android and you're set.
If you're a music gourmand, even on the road, spend the € 199 for the Red version.
AudioQuest shows that MQA developments at the lower end of the market can be done and
I expect other manufacturers to follow.
Some might hasten now, others might be hesitant since integrating MQA into a device does require
serious R&D money that can only be earned back with large volumes or high prices.
Anyway, I will keep track of new developments, so stay in contact to hear about them by subscribing
to this channel or my newsletter or follow me on Twitter, Facebook or Google+.
See the show notes for the links.
If you have a question, post it below this video but please don't ask me for buying
advise.
See my About Questions video to find out why.
If you liked this video, please consider supporting the channel through Patreon and see super
exclusive videos too.
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The link is in the show notes.
And don't forget to tell your friends on the web about this channel.
I am Hans Beekhuyzen, thank you for watching and see you in the next show or on theHBproject.com.
And whatever you do, enjoy the music.
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