Follow-Up: AudioQuest DragonFly in a Desktop Environment

Undeniably Better

February 14th, 2013 -- by Alan Taffel
Source: The Absolute Sound

I should point out that the MM1’s main purpose in life is to be an outstanding desktop speaker. At that it excels. The MM1’s internal DAC was clearly a secondary design consideration, as evidenced by the fact that all source material is converted to 44.1kHz. The MM1 offers no means of matching the DAC’s sample rate to the source, either manually or via ASIO4ALL. It’s no wonder, then, that the DragonFly proves to be the superior DAC. The take-away here is that getting the most from the MM1—and from similar desktop speakers—means bypassing both the PC’s and the speaker’s internal DAC in favor of the DragonFly.

Robert’s review mentioned how suitable this new product is to up-and-coming audiophiles. I can now attest that those newbies will experience significant benefits even in a modest desktop environment. As Robert pointed out, those benefits extend beyond mere sonic considerations. The DragonFly sounds undeniably better than anything most novices will have ever heard; it really does generate greater involvement in and enjoyment from the music. And that’s something even the most experienced listener can appreciate.

Comments

cheinonen@hotma... -- Thu, 02/14/2013 - 14:26

The review states "The B&W can also be tethered to the PC via a USB connection, but this configuration still employs the PC’s DAC." However you can read the details at the B&W page for the MM1 and see "MM-1 is different. It streams audio directly from your computer via USB and converts the signal from digital to analogue internally. So you'll always get the best possible audio quality, independent of the computer output."

You seem to post the opposite later about the MM-1 having a DAC, but the above is still incorrect. If you are running speakers from a computer over USB, then you're automatically bypassing the DAC on the computer, as USB is a digital connection and wouldn't carry analog signals.

mkoskenoja@gmail.com -- Sat, 02/16/2013 - 09:43

Good observation cheinonen. I would like to read the reviewer's explanation of the contradiction.

Alan Taffel -- Tue, 02/19/2013 - 18:45

I have received several letters pointing out this inconsistency, which was a bona fide misstatement on my part, for which I must apologize. You are, of course, absolutely correct that the MM1's incoming signal goes through its own DSP and DAC. Still, I don't think this renders my results moot -- I still heard what I heard -- but it does necessitate a different theory for why they came about.

In the first test, where I compare the analog output of the PC versus that of the Dragonfly, the result is startlingly superior in the latter case. I believe this affirms the old computer maxim, "Garbage In, Garbage Out" as it relates to the quality of the source fed to the MM1's DSP engine. The Dragonfly's superior analog signal gives the DSP better "data" to work with, and the results are sonically evident. In the second test, I compare the PC's USB output to the Dragonfly's analog out. One might expect the MM1 to sound better being directly driven by USB, but it didn't. One explanation for this is that the PC's USB signal is laden with jitter -- not a stretch by any means -- and the MM1 has no way to cope with it. This results in relatively poor sound. Sending the MM1 a pristine analog signal, such as that produced by the Dragonfly, eliminates that layer of jitter. Perhaps this explains why the Dragonfly's analog output as an MM1 source resulted in the best overall sound.

Alan Taffel
TAS Senior Writer

TD160 -- Sat, 03/09/2013 - 08:22

After reading this follow-up a few weeks ago, I got my Audioquest Dragonfly (DAC/headphone amp) for my Asus G73 and AKG K702 headphones, sounds fantastic.

Thank You Alan !

Dingo12 -- Sun, 04/14/2013 - 02:52

Hi, I've had the B&W MM-1's for a while connected via USB on my now defunct windows computer, (fantastic speakers)in the process of making the transition to a Mac mini, and have just learned of the DF, my questions are once I get the DF do I just hook-up via 3.5mm male to male cable between the DF and the Aux. input on the MM-1's (guess the MM-1's USB is no longer needed) and also read somewhere that the Macs automatically adjusts the musics bitrates instead of having to download some programPlease forgive the stupid questions, I'm a computer noob, but I love the technology Any advice would be appreciated