The king of portable headphone DACs is dead – but what a run it had

This week, I lost an important game of rock, paper, scissors with our senior staff writer, Harry McKerrell, which meant it was my turn to update our best headphone amps buying guide.

And while, on the one hand, this was a good thing, as we’ve tested a key model worth recommending since its last spring clean, it was also a bit of a sad occasion.

Why? Because, during the update, I realised a much-loved, longstanding piece of hardware, which many of the team and I have fond memories of, has finally gone to the big hi-fi farm in the sky.

Specifically, the AudioQuest DragonFly Cobalt DAC lost its place to the newer iFi Go Link Max, after final stocks of the older, discontinued dongle finally started drying up.

If you’re wondering why such a small change caused such a stir that I felt the need to write this feature marking its passing, then trust me, I get it.

I mean, it’s a portable headphone DAC, right? Hardly the stuff of Temptation-level hi-fi glory. And even then, there’s a lot going on in the world right now that’s a much bigger deal than the disappearance of a veteran DAC from a buying guide.

But remember, for many people, myself included, hi-fi is a very personal thing. After all, fundamentally, it’s a hobby rooted in a deep love of music and finding the means to enjoy it in the best way possible.

Which is why we all have strong memories associated with the hardware we were using when we had a particularly good listening session, or a great album landed in our lives. And for me, the original AudioQuest DragonFly DAC is just such a piece of hardware, so seeing its final version purged from our guide, after years of loyal service, gave me a severe dose of nostalgia.

There are a few reasons for this. First, it was one of the first bits of audio hardware I reviewed in my first job as a professional shiny-things chaser, many moons ago. And, as the old adage goes, you never forget your first (yes, I know that’s creepy regardless of the fact that 100 per cent I am just talking about tech reviews here).

Second, and more importantly, it was a quietly revolutionary item at the time, that, outside of my headphones, rapidly became my most used bit of hi-fi as it solved a key problem no one else seemed to care about – mobile devices' subpar audio.

Even in 2026, there’s still a loud community in hi-fi that turn their noses up at the idea of using a smartphone as their primary music player.

And look, I get it, we test modern phones, and plenty are pretty bad at audio, especially if you’re using a cheap Android. And this is especially true when using a poor-performing handset on the go with a cheap pair of wireless earbuds. That’s why only a select number get into our best smartphones for music fans buying guide.

But as a guy who lived through the early years, trust me, they’ve come a long way since 2012, when the first DragonFly landed.

The Samsung Galaxy S3, Google Nexus 4, and iPhone 5; I was there and reviewed nearly all the big-name handsets. And I can confirm that, while the iPhone was the best of the bunch, even with a decent pair of cans, audio quality wasn’t great.

With noisy circuitry, poor DACs, tiny amounts of storage and a woefully limited number of decent streaming services to choose from, the times were bad, man.

As a prog and jazz fan, even with decent cans, it was a dark time. I lost so much detail and dynamic range, with the handsets and terrible Ogg Vorbis streams (remember those?), turning what should have been maestro-level tracks full of explosive crescendos and complex, interlinked melodies into flat, dull messes.

So getting this tiny, USB stick-sized dongle that made things, well, better, was awesome. I still remember the light bulb moment I had when taking it out of its box and testing it for the first time.

I was at my desk, foolishly trying to multitask, writing news while I let it do its thing in the background, powering my playlist for the day (which 100 per cent did not include Mumford & Sons, or any of the era’s other crimes against music, before anyone asks what I was listening to).

I’m probably exaggerating, but I remember it being akin to seeing colour for the first time. Connected to my Nexus 4, the snappy rhythm of the slap bass in Incubus’ Battlestar Scralatchtica returned. Jumping to System Of A Down’s Toxicity, Serj Tankian’s vocals finally had the dynamics required to make the song sound “right” and retain the staccato, attacking feel it’s meant to.

As I detailed in a previous feature, I loved the tiny DAC so much that when the review sample went back, I chose to live on beans on toast for a week (staff writers didn’t earn much back then) so I could get one of my own.

And that was only the start of the unit’s legacy. As you’ll see if you look at our DragonFly Black, DragonFly Red and final DragonFly Cobalt reviews, the series improved and refined itself with each new generation.

Even now, the Cobalt continues to be good, as evidenced by its final What Hi-Fi? Awards win in 2024. But after being discontinued, stocks drying up, and it looking more and more unlikely to get a refresh, its time in the sun is undeniably over. And that makes sense.

With more and more people using wireless headphones, especially when out and about, the market for a gadget like the DragonFly is getting smaller. People just don’t use wired headphones, let alone portable DACs, the same way anymore. And truthfully, even during their peak in the early 2010s, they were still a niche in the market. So I get why the company doesn't seem interested in making a newer model.

But, even so, I can’t help but feel a minor pang of nostalgia and that we’ve lost something a little special, now that the final DragonFly has been removed from our buying guide. The line of DACs' time as my main hi-fi gadget on the go may be done, but what a run we had together…

MORE:

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Our picks of the best wireless headphones