Support for Audioquest Dragonfly Black v1

I have two USB DACs - a Chord Mojo and the very first edition of the Audioquest Dragonfly Black. The Chord Mojo works perfectly with Audirvana, but the Dragonfly Black doesn’t seem to work at all. It shows up as an available audio device, but when I choose it and try to play through it, the dragonfly color changes from magenta (96kHz) to green (44kHz), there is a brief click/pop through my speakers, and then no sound. Can anyone confirm that the original Dragonfly Black is NOT supported/compatible with Audirvana, or is there something I’m just not doing to make the Dragonfly work? -Thanks!

Does Dragonfly work with other software?

@bitracer Yes. If I use Spotify, Tidal, Qobuz or Apple Music directly on my MacBook Pro, the dragonfly works as expected.

Check if maybe you’re oversampling beyond the supported resolution on Dragonfly.

Hello @kenco88, every version of the DF is compatible with Audirvana.

Can you send me a copy of the “Debug Info”? You can get it in Audirvana Settings>General>Debug Info

Note: By clicking on the Debug Info Audirvana button automatically copies all its content, all you have to do is paste it in response to this message

Sure thing. Here it is:

Audirvana Mac Version 3.5.33 (3563)
macOS 10.15.4 with 16384MB RAM

Registered to Kenneth P Coleman

SIGNAL PROCESSING:

Polarity Inversion:
	Globally: OFF
	Per track: ON
Effects plugins NOT ACTIVE

UPSAMPLING:
SoX not in use
SoX filter parameters
Bandwidth at 0dB = 99.5
Filter max length = 30000
Anti-aliasing = 100
Phase = 66

AUDIO VOLUME:
Max allowed volume: 100
Replay Gain: None
SW volume control: OFF

LIBRARY SETTINGS:
Sync list: 1 folders
AUTO: /Users/i846133/Music
iTunes/Music library synchronization: not synchronized
Library database path: /Users/i846133/Library/Application Support/Audirvana/AudirvanaPlusDatabaseV2.sqlite

ACTIVE STREAMING SERVICES
TIDAL: Connected as HIFI

=================== AUDIO DEVICE ========================

CoreAudio audio path, buffer I/O frame size: 512

Max. memory for audio buffers: 13312MB

Local Audio Engine:
Exclusive access: Disabled
Integer mode: Enabled

Preferred device:
Mojo
Model UID:Mojo:245F:0815
UID:AppleUSBAudioEngine:Chord Electronics Ltd:Mojo:413-001:2

Active Sample Rate: 96kHz
Hog Mode is off

Bridge settings:
Sample rate limitation: none
Sample rate switching latency: none
Limit bitdepth to 24bit: OFF
Mute during sample rate change: OFF

Selected device:
Local audio device
ID 0x54 AudioQuest DragonFly Manufacturer:AudioQuest inc.
Model UID:AudioQuest DragonFly:21B4:0081 UID:AppleUSBAudioEngine:AudioQuest inc.:AudioQuest DragonFly:© 2011 Wavelength Audio, ltd.:1

4 available sample rates up to 96000Hz
44100
48000
88200
96000
Audio buffer frame size : 29 to 4096 frames
Current I/O buffer frame size : 512
Volume Control
Physical: No
Virtual: Yes
MQA capability
Auto-detect MQA devices: Yes
Not a MQA device, user set to not MQA
DSD capability: Unhandled
Device audio channels
Preferred stereo channels L:1 R:2
Channel bitmap: Ox3, layout:
Channel 0 mapped to 0
Channel 1 mapped to 1

Audio channels in use
Number of channels: 2
Use as stereo device only: No
Simple stereo device: Yes

1 output streams:
Number of active channels: 2, in 1 stream(s)
Channel #0 :Stream 0 channel 0
Channel #1 :Stream 0 channel 1

Stream ID 0x55 2 channels starting at 1
8 virtual formats:
2 ch Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 32 little endian Signed Float 96kHz
2 ch Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 32 little endian Signed Float 88.2kHz
2 ch Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 32 little endian Signed Float 48kHz
2 ch Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 32 little endian Signed Float 44.1kHz
2 ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 24 little endian Signed Integer 96kHz
2 ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 24 little endian Signed Integer 88.2kHz
2 ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 24 little endian Signed Integer 48kHz
2 ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 24 little endian Signed Integer 44.1kHz

8 physical formats
2 ch Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 24 little endian Signed Integer 96kHz
2 ch Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 24 little endian Signed Integer 88.2kHz
2 ch Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 24 little endian Signed Integer 48kHz
2 ch Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 24 little endian Signed Integer 44.1kHz
2 ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 24 little endian Signed Integer 96kHz
2 ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 24 little endian Signed Integer 88.2kHz
2 ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 24 little endian Signed Integer 48kHz
2 ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 24 little endian Signed Integer 44.1kHz

Local devices found : 4
Device #0: ID 0x59 DELL U3417W Manufacturer: Apple Inc. Model UID: AppleGFXHDA:0 UID: AppleGFXHDAEngineOutputDP:10001:0:{AC10-A0DF-3039324C}
Device #1: ID 0x2a Built-in Output Manufacturer: Apple Inc. Model UID: AppleHDA:57 UID: AppleHDAEngineOutput:1F,3,0,1,1:0
Device #2: ID 0x54 AudioQuest DragonFly Manufacturer: AudioQuest inc. Model UID: AudioQuest DragonFly:21B4:0081 UID: AppleUSBAudioEngine:AudioQuest inc.:AudioQuest DragonFly:© 2011 Wavelength Audio, ltd.:1
Device #3: ID 0x3b ZoomAudioDevice Manufacturer: zoom.us Model UID: zoom.us.zoomaudiodevice UID: zoom.us.zoomaudiodevice.001

UPnP devices found : 0

The DF is a MQA Renderer, you need to set it up manually as there is a bug we need to fix with MQA Auto detection.

Does that mean in the setting “DAC not detected as MQA, use as” should be set to “MQA Renderer”? If so, I just tried that and got the same results. I also tried it with that setting and “Auto-detect MQA devices” turned on and off. No change with that option on or off.

@Antoine Could you let me know specifically what settings I need to have to get the DF to work? I don’t think I’m getting it right with what I’m trying.

Thanks!

The correct setting is “MQA Renderer”, but it’s weird it’s not working. Something must be interfering with it, maybe some other application.

Have you checked for firmware update ?

Hello @kenco88, do you mean even if you set it manually as a Renderer in Audirvana the DF doesn’t work properly?

Ooh, no I haven’t, and I’m not sure Audioquest supports it anymore either. They have a Desktop Device Manager, but it says it isn’t compatible with DragonFly 1.2 and earlier. I believe mine falls into that category, since I downloaded their Device Manager, tried to open my DragonFly and it says my device isn’t supported. I just emailed their technical support team informing them of my issue and asked if there are any firmware updates available for the DragonFly 1.2 and earlier models, how I might update mine, and if they are aware of any issues using their early DragonFly models with Audirvana. I’ll post an update once they reply.

@Antoine Yes, for the setting, “DAC not detected as MQA, use as” I set it to “MQA Renderer” and there is no difference. Same exact results.

From AudioQuest customer service:
"Maybe the issue is the original Dragonfly is not compatible with MQA? The Black, red and Cobalt all are. I regret there is no way to update the original Dragonfly – this is only possible on the newer models.

Can you try your Dragonfly without Audirvana? If you experience the same issue when playing non-MQA files with different software, then I think it’s safe to say the issue is with the Dragonfly.

Best regards,

Alasdair Patrick | AudioQuest | Customer Service"

Every other source/software I’ve tried (Spotify, Tidal, Qobuz, Apple Music, etc.) all work fine through this v1 DragonFly, including tracks marked as “Master” level streamed in Tidal, which I believe are MQA files. I’m guessing the issue lies in the specific compatibility of such an early edition of the DragonFly and Audirvana?

Set manually Audurvana to Non MQA, and try again.

I tried setting it back manually to Non MQA, with auto-detect on and off. No change. I think I’ve tried just about every setting combination I can think of and still no sound coming through this DragonFly.

Have you tried different USB ports?

Yes. No real change. Sometimes I get sporadic noise, sometimes nothing. I tried each of the four USB-C ports on my MacBook Pro, as well as my iMac, both with it set to “Not MQA” and “MQA Renderer”.

If it works with other apps it should work with Audirvana too. I’m suspecting it’s caused by something else addressing the device and is interfering with Audirvana.

Set the “hog mode” to on. Set “limit to 24bit” to on. Close all other audio apps.

If it still doesn’t work, try on another system running Audirvana.

Nope, still no change. I closed every other program I had open. I Set “Exclusive Access” on, with Integer Mode on and off, and Large CoreAudio I/O Buffer on and off. I even tried limiting not just to 44.1k, but to every Max Sample rate offered by the device. No change. I give up.

All is not lost though, as I do have a Chord Mojo, which works perfectly with Audirvana. I was just curious if there is a way to get this DragonFly to work, that’s all. I’m going to assume the answer is, “No, the v1 AudioQuest DragonFly doesn’t work with Audirvana, and it’s not going to. Enjoy listening via your Chord Mojo.” Still, I really appreciate all the thoughtful advice you’ve all given me on things to try to get this thing to work. Cheers! :slight_smile: