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Dragonfly DAC

Am considering buying a Dragonfly DAC (black or red I'm not yet entirely sure). I've looked thru' other forums and Audioquest's own site but haven't seen a definitive answer to my question.

I'm gonna be connecting the DAC to my Onkyo TX-NR414 amp which I use for pure audio and home cinema. Will the DAC play & transmit anything from the computer ?? I.e. radio stations via MusicBee, AIMP etc. and audio playing on specific websites i.e. YouTube and UK specific radio station websites.

I ask this because a lot of reviews mention, Spotify, Pandora but don't say just 'everything'.

I have a desktop PC but the soundcard won't work on Windows 10. (Windows 7 is fine). I thought this might be a good solution for both Windows 7 & 10.

Thanks in anticipation.
rigsby
glennewdick's avatar
glennewdick
1,669 posts
 
The Dragonfly DACs need a USB input and have a micro headphone output. I have a black and Red both are excellent for the money. The dac plugs into a USB on your computer and outputs Single ended into a mini headphone jack (you would need a mini to RCA adaptor if going into your amp). 

I use one on my computer system and plug it into the USB port and then select on the volume options on the computer the dragonfly as the primary output device. easy as it shows up in the list. and everything your computer plays for audio will be outputted from the dragonfly. its about as easy as it gets in audio digital. I set the volume on the computer at max and let my amp deal with the volume control. 
rigsby OP
1 posts
 
Thanks Glennewdick. I'm almost ready to take the plunge !!

One thing. I posed the question on another forum and was told that the output would be mono because the sound is being converted into a single analog channel. This is surely wrong.
akg_ca's avatar
akg_ca
2,245 posts
 
GLENNEWDICK nailed it.

https://www.wifihifi.ca/LatestNewsHeadlines/Hands-OnReview:AudioQuestDragonFlyBlack1.5/Red.html

I use them on both: 

(1) with my desktop PC to bypass the crap sound card output for my desktop stereo, and
(2) in conjunction with the APPLE camera adapter to bypass on the crap APPLE internal DAC on my iPhone for mobile stereo through headphones.


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