Audioquest Dragonfly Cobalt USB DAC/AMP

The Dragonfly Cobalt is Audioquest’s new flagship DAC, and offers an improvement on what made the Cobalt Black and Red so popular. With an upgraded ESS ES9038Q2M DAC, a more efficient and cleaner USB power supply and an updated, smaller form factor, the Cobalt is a high quality solution for people who want great audio performance in a small, convenient form factor.

The Cobalt can be connected to a phone or computer via the included USB-C Dragontail adapter, and connection to an iPhone or iOS device is possible via the Apple Lightning to USB Adapter (not included). Once connected, the Cobalt acts as a small DAC/amp capable of driving all kinds of loads including IEMs or full sized, high impedance headphones. The Cobalt offers smooth, detailed sound with an even lower noise floor than the Dragonfly Red and Black, meaning that even very sensitive IEMs can be used with no issues with the Cobalt.

Rounding out the feature set is a maximum 2.1V output level, which means that the Cobalt can be used as a proper line level line-out connection to external devices, and a renderer fully capable of unfolding MQA.

There are portable amp/DACs that offer more power and capability, like the Chord Mojo or iFi iDSD BL, but few options are as convenient and easy to use as the Cobalt.

With an upgraded DAC and cleaner, more efficient USB power supply, the Cobalt improves on everything that made the Dragonfly Red and Black so popular.