# Audioquest Dragonfly Black, Fiio K1 and Cozoy Astrapi: A rambling comparison.



## stewtheking

The following is a brief (not very brief, sorry!) comparison of a few small 'dongle-DACs' that I have been playing with. Making my way back into the head-fi game after a few years away, I treated myself to a pair of Trinity Audio Atlas IEM's, and then fell into the all-too familiar cycle of “oooh, I wonder if spending a little more money would...”. Yeah; so far, so familiar.
  
So, after a bit of reading, I ordered a Cozoy Astrapi on eBay... and before it arrived, I spotted the Fiio K1 and on impulse decided to try that as well. The Dragonfly was a few weeks later, again this was rather an impulse buy. This is a brief comparison between the three, in the hope that it aids others in their decision-making. They all follow the same basic pattern of device; a small, iOS-capable DAC/amp, which is powered via the lightning connection. No need to worry about making sure multiple things are charged, and minimal strapping/banding of devices together to get them to sit nicely in a pocket. As well as the three DACs on test, I also have a look at the Fiio L19, which I am using to connect the K1.
  
​I include a few photographs, but do not claim to be any sort of decent photographer. If there is anything you would like to see in more detail, let me know and I will attempt to oblige. 
   
  
  
  
*Unboxing:*
  
Astrapi: £70 shipped
A nice, slick, apple-esque box, with the dac sitting nestled in plasti-velvet-lined foam. All very nice and pleasant. The thing itself looks lovely in person, feels both high quality and (possibly more importantly) robust. All-metal construction, and a nice matte-finish. The pocket clip also looks and feels very nice, but time will tell whether it holds up to daily use. The packaged cables look and feel well-built, although they do seem to hold a bend rather vigorously. Since beginning writing this review, the cozoy has proved that it can't always quite stand up to daily use. A clip inside the headphone jack that keeps the plug secure has un-secured itself, and the plug is no longer held very securely. The thing is still functional, but not robustly reliable for carrying on a daily basis, as the headphones fall out.
  
K1: £35.99 shipped 
An entirely-forgettable plastic sleeve, that was discarded within moments and lost soon after. Not that exciting, but then again when you are paying not much more than the cost of a reasonable steak dinner, it makes sense to spend the money where it is going to be useful. The amp looks just as nice as the cozoy, but with a 'titanium coloured' finish, and plastic end-caps, rather than the metal of the cozoy. The pocket clip looks like it would be pretty poor, but hasn't either fallen off or broken yet, so perhaps it may be fine. The included short cable was (from what I remember) perfectly adequate, but also very easy to lose. 
  
Dragonfly: £89 shipped
A cardboard box with many words in many languages. And then a fold-out section, with even more words. SO MANY WORDS! Inside there's a nondescript plastic tray with the device on it, and a weird little leather pouch that is both too stiff to easily accommodate or remove it, and too small to fully protect it. It looks very pretty, but given these limitations, pretty pointless. (Incidentally, some have described this as leatherette, but mine certainly smells like leather, rather than plastic). Then there is a 'Flight Manual' (only in English, perhaps the Germans, Italians and Russians that read their language on the outside of the box have to fend for themselves at this point?), a voucher for 60 days free 'roon' trial, and a 15% discount for HDtracks, in German. A comprehensive, if somewhat idiosyncratic, set of inclusions. The device itself, it must be said, is absolutely gorgeous in person. Solid-feeling, with a smooth matte finish that photos don't seem to do justice to. Were it not for the annoyance of the apple CCK on the end, it would comfortably be the prettiest of the three. It's also *heavy*, in a way that just delicately whispers 'classy'. 
  
Conclusion:
I've got to give it to the Dragonfly. It's just a really polished offering, and shows its class over and above the cozoy. The Fiio, at around half the price (if you don't include the L19 cable), is still reasonably close, and certainly not embarrassed by any means. 
  
*Connectivity/Pocketability:*
  
In my opinion, this is one of the most important aspects of a portable rig. If it's a pain-in-the-proverbials to get working, and temperamental as a Pop-Diva, then you aren't going to want to fiddle with it when you are walking around the supermarket, and for my money, if it doesn't easily fit in a pocket it's too much trouble to be worth it. I have only really played with these out of my iPhone (6S Plus). 
  
K1:

With the apple CCK, this connects up very reliably. No need to close the music app and re-open it, it takes a second or two to 'just works'. If unplugged, with this cable-arrangement, you can just re-plug it in, and it reconnects. For my requirements, however, this was unsatisfactory. Having a large, unsightly glob of cable-gubbinz, and then a bit more cable, and then the DAC, and then the headphone cable? Nope. No thanks. More hassle than I would ever want to be bothered with. Enter the “Fiio” L19.
  
Received wisdom seems split on this little beast, and information pretty thin on the ground. Is it actually made by Fiio? Will it ever get MFI certification? Is it actually going to work? Will it explode and burn my house down? I ended up deciding to just take a risk and order one. Hilariously, the most legitimate-looking website I could get to send me one (https://www.samma3a.com/en/) would only deliver to me in the UK if I pretended that I was actually in Qatar. I fully expected it never to arrive, but they were ruthlessly efficient, and the thing arrived in about 48 hours. All for £33 shipped!
  
The L19 itself is very well build, “works” without the CCK, and means you can connect the K1 with a bit less unsightly cabling. I say “works” because getting it to connect to the iPhone and play music feels like trying to get a petulent teenager to tidy their bedroom. It WILL do it, but you might have to tell it a number times to make sure it does. It's more reliable when you have the music app closed before you start, and even then it doesn't always work. If you have sensitive IEM's connected, then you can listen for three processor 'clicks' as it connects, and after this, you can start playing music. It has a nasty habit, if you connect it while music is playing, of deciding to ramp up the volume to max and blasting your ears, which is somewhat unpleasant. Once it is connected, I have had no issues with it losing connection. 
  
The L19 makes it relatively easy to tuck the K1 around the back of the iPhone in a pocket, and I haven't found the need to add any sort of velcro-contriviance, although I am sure you could if you wanted. I've played with adding a rubber band (although I did not wrap it around when taking the photo), but not found the loss of screen-access to be really worth it. I have also decided to leave on the plastic pocket clip (because I will most likely lose it immediately) although removing it would make the package even more slimline. 
  
Astrapi: 

The included cable makes connection pretty reliably, although you usually have to close and reopen the music app in order to get it to actually play. Not a huge hassle, but more than once I have been standing in the supermarket with music vomiting-forth from my iPhone speaker, as I confusedly jab at the phone wondering why it isn't coming through my IEM's. If you have the intelligence to avoid this problem, then I salute you. Another point to note if you have sensitive IEM's, be careful when connecting and disconnecting the astrapi. It likes to give a loud 'click' when switching on and off, which whilst slightly short of painful, is rather annoying. Maybe don't have your 'phones in, and/or don't have them connected. 
  
Unfortunately, the Astrapi does not play nicely with the L19 cable, giving a 'this device requires too much power' message. I am therefore stuck with the stock cable for the moment (I am yet to find a suitably short micro-usb to lightning cable). This means that I have ended up clipping the thing to the top of my pocket, with the (slightly too long really) wire folded up behind in phone inside the pocket. It is functional, but a little bit of a pain when taking the phone out to change tracks (or to actually answer calls!). 
  
Dragonfly: 

No decisions to be made here at all. It goes into the CCK, and into the phone. Connection is über-reliable, and it will reliably take charge of the audio stream even mid-playback. It does give a little (maybe quarter second) burst of white noise as it connects, but this is at a pretty low volume and should give you any hearing discomfort, although it was rather unnerving at first. As for carrying the thing, I have either just been bunging the thing into my pocket and not worrying about it, or adding a little rubber-band when I have been bothered to. I have seen people experiment with little velcro pads on the dragonfly and then on the back of a phone case, but I haven't felt the need. The soft-feel of the dragonfly's outer case means I am not all that worried about it gouging lumps out of my screen or my case. Visually, the stark-white of the CCK is not the ideal complement to the sleek matte of the dragonfly (and if apple made a black version of the CCK, I would be all over it) but by no means is it a deal breaker. 
  
Conclusion:
I'd have to say, it's a score-draw here. I haven't had any issues carrying any of the three devices, it's tough to find any fault, other than possibly the length of the Astrapi cable. Nothing about any of these devices would stop me from carrying them if they were my only portable device. 
  
*Noise:*
  
So, the potential drawback of these tiny beasties. Noise. There is hiss/processor-noise in the background, of both the astrapi and the K1. The hiss is at a similar level for both of them, and is very noticeable in a quiet room to the point of being annoying. Once music is playing, this is not an issue, but at the quiet end of a song it is somewhat jarring. There are also some little clicks of processor-noise from time to time as well, again completely hidden by music. None of these sounds are effected by changing the volume. 
  
However annoying this is when comparing gear from a silent desk, this is not at a level where I've found it annoying when in an actual 'portable' situation. I am using standard rubber-flange tips, and in a busy street or on the train, this hiss just disappears into the general street-noise. Unless your IEM's are ridiculously well isolating or you need a sensitive IEM setup for a very quiet room for some reason, you shouldn't have an issue. 
  
The dragonfly, by contrast, spits notes at you from a practically jet-black background. It really is leaps and bounds better than the other two. Even with sensitive IEM's, in a quiet room, it's almost silent. Increasing the volume does increase the hiss, but not to any significant level unless your volume goes up to extremely high levels. (I am assuming this is due to the dragonfly using an analogue volume control, rather than digital). 
  
Conclusion: 
The dragonfly comfortably takes it. If noise coming through your IEM's is an issue for you, then the dragonfly is clearly your choice. If you don't tend to worry too much about noise-floor, and/or if you are dead-certain you are only going to be listening in noisy environments, and/or if you are not using sensitive IEM's, then I wouldn't worry. 
  
*Gain:*
  
I am not a lover of volume. I like my music loud-enough, I have been known to rock-out on occasion, but I generally don't blast my ears ridiculously. I don't have any way of giving number-values, but I tend to listen relatively quietly. With my IEM's direct from the headphone jack on the iPhone, I get to a click-or-so above half-way, and that is ample level for me. With the K1, I am maybe a click or two below this, as it gives just a touch more volume. The gaps between the volume steps, just using the volume-buttons on the side of the iPhone, give fine-enough control that I can find a suitable listening volume without difficulty, and I don't end up blasting my ears. 
  
With the Astrapi, however, I have to turn the volume RIGHT DOWN to the very low end. Two clicks up is loud enough, three is pretty much too-loud and four is unpleasant. I am not quite sure why the gain setting on the Astrapi is quite so high. It does mean I could drive significantly more power-hungry cans, if I wanted to, but this output seems ridiculous. I tried my Sennheiser HD600's from it, and just over half-way was enough to be too loud for long-periods of listening. It also, oddly, seems to be very non-linear, in that there doesn't seem like a huge difference between half-way and full-volume. 
  
The dragonfly gives an output somewhere near to the astrapi. It is about 3 clicks to be loud enough, 4 if you are into a song and want to crank it a bit, and 5 is really a bit much. Probably my biggest actual criticism of the dragonfly is this slightly tricky control over the volume, as it makes settling in and finding the right setting somewhat hard. 
  
For my 'low-maintenance' approach to portable audio, this is a little annoying, as it means I end up taking my phone out of my pocket and adjusting the volume with a slider, rather than using the rocker-buttons on the side or the controls on my watch. It is not a deal-breaker, but the ability to have a little more precise attenuation would be nice. 
  
*Sound:*
  
The 'phones that I have tested these amps with are the Trinity Audio Atlas (dual-driver, hybrid IEM) and the on-ear-pretty-boy Aëdle VK-1. (For reference, my current home-reference listen is a pair of Hifiman He400i's, driven from a Schiit Bifrost Uber into a Schiit Magni 2 Uber.) Source material is (largely) my archive collection of 320kpbs AAC files, ripped from CD's, as I haven't quite taken the streaming or high-res plunge just yet. 
  
K1:
The K1 has to my ears a bit of an emphasis on the treble. This, combined with the fact that it lacks a little separation, means that the sound can sound a little splashy at times. Not quite sibilant, but I'd say getting close. With music that relies on any sort of aggressive treble, this could be a bit of an issue for you (or, you know, you might be a masochist and love that kind of thing?). With more relaxed fare, this is not a problem, but the sound is definitely skewed towards the top end. 
  
Astrapi:
The astrapi has a bit more in the way of bass than the K1, and doesn't have the same sense of over-emphasis in the treble. The bass can feel at times a little boomy, however. It feels like a 'stronger' sound, a little more impactful than the K1, and doesn't seem to be trying too hard. The slightly flabby bass aside, it's a pleasant enough sound, and easy to listen to. 
  
Dragonfly:
The more I listen to the dragonfly, the more I get the feeling that somehow, the other two amps are just playing at something, and this is a little more serious and grown up. There is air and space to the music, bass is tight and controlled, and to my ears there is no unpleasant peaking added to any part of the register. It just sounds more 'right' than the other two.
  
Conclusion:
The K1 is not quite in the same league as the other two, but I doubt many would be disappointed with either the astrapi or the dragonfly. They both do a good job at reproducing sound, and although I would give the sonic nod definitely to the dragonfly, the astrapi is by no means embarrassed. 
  
*Summing Up:*
  
So, which is best? Well, if you only have £36 to play with, probably the K1. Sound-wise, it's probably the dragonly. For sleek, “ooh, so shiny-and-tiny” cool-points, it's got to be the astrapi. But, as I mentioned earlier, for a portable rig to be worth it, yes, it's nice that it sounds excellent, but it's got to be reliable. It's got to work without road-side micro-engineering, first time, every time. I want to be able to sling it in my pocket and forget about it. Suffice to say, since the dragonfly arrived, I haven't carried either of the others.


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## notfitforpublic

Thanks so much for this. Exactly what I was looking for and the devices I wanted compared. Great Job!
  
 Have you had the opportunity to compare the DFB through on iDevice to an independent DAP? Wondering how the DFB iPhone combo rates vs a Fiio X3ii...


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## stewtheking

notfitforpublic said:


> Have you had the opportunity to compare the DFB through on iDevice to an independent DAP? Wondering how the DFB iPhone combo rates vs a Fiio X3ii...




Alas, no. Not really a DAP guy, myself.


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## foreverzer0

Have you compared it to the Dragonfly Red or Creative Soundblaster E5?


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## stewtheking

Compared the red to the black at CanJam. Red seemed more detailed, but brighter than the black, and as my current IEM's are already a little bright, the red is not for me...


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## Degru

Thank you for this post. I decided on getting a dedicated portable DAC/amp a week ago, and settled on the K1... definitely left me thinking that there just has to be more than this. The noise floor is really noticeable on my 16-Ohm Carbo Tenores and Bassos in quiet sections of songs.
  
 If the Dragonfly really is that far ahead of the K1, looks like I'll have a nice surprise waiting in my mailbox in a couple days


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