Has anyone heard the Audioquest Dragonfly?

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.

The set up with windows is about the same. Wondering if it would work with YouTube, Skype and things like that as well.

10-02-12: Zeal
The set up with windows is about the same. Wondering if it would work with YouTube, Skype and things like that as well.

Yes, of course. All sound coming from or through the computer starts in digital form and has been decoded by the computer's built-in DAC. When you plug in the Dragonfly and configure the computer to output to it, you're transferring the computer's internal DAC function to the Dragonfly via its USB port.

I got a private email from an A-goner about using the Dragonfly between his computer and the Outlaw OAW3 wireless system to wirelessly connect his computer to his stereo. However, the return address was no reply@audiogon.com so my reply got bounced.

Assuming the sender is aware of this thread, let me repost my answer here:

For the signal chain you propose, there's no place or use for the Dragonfly. All wireless transmitters/receivers for wireless speaker operation are digital. That means the D/A conversion happens within the Outlaw's wireless receivers and your internal Beats DAC is already bypassed. When you connect the USB cable between the OAW3 and your computer, the computer recognizes the connection and you have to configure the computer to send its audio output as a digital stream via USB to the Outlaw transmitter. This configuration bypasses the DAC in your computer already. Then the Outlaw transmitter digitally transmits this signal wirelessly (much like a cordless phone) to the wireless receivers plugged your stereo. The wireless receivers receive the in-air transmissions as digital data and convert it to analog before sending it (via low level analog connection) on to your receiver or preamp or whatever. So there's no place and no applicability for an external DAC in this signal chain. So if you don't like the D/A conversion you're getting with your current setup, your problem is with the Outlaw DACs, not your computer's internal Beats DAC, because it's bypassed.

The mini-plug to mini-USB adapter cable you propose won't work, because the Dragonfly's mini-jack output is analog and the Outlaw transmitter is only going to read a USB protocol digital stream. If you use the Dragonfly, you'd need to directly connect its mini-plug output to your stereo input with a mini-plug to stereo RCA adapter cable. If you use a quality cable such as AudioQuest, you should be able to use an interconnect of 5 to 8 meters without much degradation if any. Right now MusicDirect has last year's model 3M and 8M mini-to-RCA cables for $59, marked down from $209. I have a 3M one and it's very nice.