Audioquest Reveals Design Goals for DragonFly Black, DragonFly Red, and Beetle

Audioquest has revealed its overall design goals for the Dragonfly Black, Dragonfly Red and Beetle DACs recently shown at CES 2016:

Improved Performance

• Advanced 32-bit Microchip microcontroller
• Higher-performance 32-bit ESS DAC chips
• Improved signal-to-noise ratio
• Lower distortion
• Lower power consumption
• Lower phase noise (audio-related jitter)
• 64-bit bit-perfect digital volume control (DragonFly Red & Beetle)

Broader Compatibility

• Asynchronous USB compatibility with:

       OS X and iOS (5 and newer)
       Windows 7, 8.1, 10
       Android Jellybean 4.1 and newer (as long as the device supports USB Host Mode)

• Asynchronous Bluetooth compatibility (Beetle only) with:

       OS X and iOS
       Windows 7, 8.1, 10
       Android Cupcake 1.5 and newer

Lower Power Consumption

• Microchip MX Microcontroller: Consumes 77% less currant than the TAS1020B and 95% less current than the XMOS microcontroller
• Does not require DC-to-DC converters or other noise-generating power supply components
• Employs analog-linear power supplies

Software Upgradability

• Free OS X and Windows desktop application
• Device name can be customized to accommodate multiple devices in one user environment (Beetle only)

Improved Price-to-Performance Ratio

• DragonFly Black: $99 US MSRP
• DragonFly Red: $199 US MSRP
• Beetle: $199 US MSRP

Source: Audioquest