Has anyone heard the Audioquest Dragonfly?

Sfar, good one.

Johnny regarding the miniplug comment I made I guess I was thinking about a $250 device and a cable that costs almost as much just to be able to use it would make it less cost effective.

Also I wonder about the quality of the connection of the miniplug.

No big deal and I do still wonder how the Dragonfly stacks up against the Musicstreamer II which you can use RCA ICs with that you have at home already (most of us)

OK OK I am cheap! I said it!

my two cents...

Philojet: I'm also cheap but am addicted to good cables. I already mentioned a couple of excellent stereo mini-to-RCA iPod style interconnects, and I own some of each. The first is the Zu Audio Mission iPod cable. This is a cable designed to sell somewhere around $200. Yet Zu and other storefronts put up new or slightly used ones on eBay all the time. If you check the completed auctions you'll see that people are picking up 1M examples for anywhere from $25-45. These are *excellent* interconnects--fast, clean, smooth, full-bodied.

The other is an AudioQuest blowout at MusicDirect.com. I picked up one of these, a 3M AQ mini-5, retail $209, yours on closeout for $59. It's superb, and a gift at $59. If you need more length, here's an 8-meter mini-3 at the same price.

And if you need still more flexibility and length, go here for a selection of AQ mini-3 and mini-5 mini-to-mini cables (male at both ends) and a mini-plug extension cord (female and male).

If you want to use interconnects you already have, get one of these or something like it. $12.95 gets you the adapter at the mini-5 level of conductor--PSC+ (PCOCC six-nines copper with gold-plated connectors).

As to the Dragonfly's connectors, they're first-rate: silver-plated and thick and sturdy. Sliding that AQ mini-5 cable into the Dragonfly's stereo mini feels slick and secure.

I haven't listened to the HRT Music Streamer II, but the October 2012 issue of Stereophile is a Recommended Components issue. According to them, the Dragonfly is a Stereophile Class B component, same as the $500 HRT Music Streamer Pro, while the Music Streamer II and II+ are both Class C.

How does the Music Streamer II compare to the Dragonfly? One would think that a USB connection would be better then a single wire. Anybody make a comparison yet? Does the Music Streamer II bypass your computer DAC like the Dragonfly does?

10-02-12: Zeal
How does the Music Streamer II compare to the Dragonfly? One would think that a USB connection would be better then a single wire. Anybody make a comparison yet?

By that do you mean that the Dragonfly plugs directly into a computer's USB port where a Music Streamer requires a USB cable to connect between computer and DAC? I haven't compared the two brands, but I have used the Dragonfly plugged directly into the computer and also with a USB extension cable. I couldn't detect any sonic difference; maybe others could. For my purposes and situation, I found the setups interchangeable.

Does the Music Streamer II bypass your computer DAC like the Dragonfly does?

Yes, that's the point. Both DACs derive the digital data stream from a USB port. For the Mac you specify that audio output be directed to the DAC plugged into a USB port in System Preferences; I'm not sure of the setup in Windows.