AudioQuest DragonFly Cobalt USB DAC & Headphone Amplifier

The AudioQuest DragonFly Cobalt, is AQ’s new flagship USB DAC, takes what music lovers around the world have come to expect from the multi-award-winning DragonFly family—naturally beautiful, seductive sound—and strips away fuzz and fog that weren’t even noticeable until the Dragonfly Cobalt removed them.

How is this possible? Like the critically acclaimed AQ DragonFly Red, Cobalt has the robust 2.1-volt output to drive almost any headphone, uses a bit-perfect digital volume control for outstanding signal-to-noise ratio, enables seamless compatibility with Apple and Android devices, and is an exceptionally competent and affordable MQA Renderer.

AudioQuest’s DragonFly Cobalt’s precedent-setting performance is made possible by multiple significant upgrades:

New, more advanced ESS ES9038Q2M DAC chip with a minimum-phase slow roll-off filter for more natural sound.
Microchip’s superb PIC32MX274 microprocessor draws less current and increases processing speed by 33%.
Improved power-supply filtering that specifically increases immunity to WiFi, Bluetooth, and cellular noise.
Includes a form-fitting DragonTail female USB-A to male USB-C Adaptor. All DragonTails use AQ’s Carbon-level USB cable.

Of course, the DragonFly Cobalt uses Gordon Rankin’s precedent-setting StreamLength®asynchronous-transfer USB code. Further, in Gordon’s monoClock® technology, a single ultra-low-jitter clock generated from the ESS ES9038Q2M DAC chip runs the ESS chip functions as well as all microcontroller functions. This superior clock enables AudioQuest’s DragonFly Cobalt to provide greater resolution and clarity than DACs with multiple clocks.

All this goodness is packed into a sleek new case that measures just 57.5mm x 18.6mm x 11.9mm, making AudioQuest’s latest DragonFly 10% smaller and even a bit more pocket-friendly.

Remember: For even better performance, add a JitterBug!