An external DAC is an essential purchase for anyone looking to stream hi-res music from services like Apple Music, Qobuz, or Tidal, and the DragonFly Cobalt combines portability with incredible quality.

All of which convinced me that the DragonFly Cobalt succeeds in not one but two ways. First, it represents a worthy, evolutionary upgrade to the Red version. And second, it’s also, quite simply, one of the best headphone amp/DACs money can buy. At $299, the DragonFly Cobalt remains perhaps the greatest bargain in all of audio. Let’s hope AudioQuest never runs out of colors.

Given that the DragonFly black remains a complete and utter bargain and had me questioning whether the Red was really worth the extra outlay, I had some doubts about the Cobalt. These doubts are unfounded. While the Cobalt adheres to the same design practise as the more affordable models, this is a seriously talented device that manages to beef up its mobile credentials while also being a genuinely viable piece of home audio equipment. This is a rare example of something being most things to most people and for that reason, it comes Highly Recommended.

Is AudioQuest's DragonFly Cobalt worth the extra $100 compared with the DragonFly Red? Yes. That sense of ease it offers with long-term listening is something I don't want to do without. The DragonFly Cobalt has replaced the DragonFly Red as my eBook-reading companion.

The latest arrival in the DragonFly range is a huge step up from the already impressive Black and Red models, being capable of levels of performance that are nothing short of stellar. Fast, weighty, dramatic and super-clean, the sound is superb with portable devices, and more than impressive enough for 'main system' use, too – at which point it will be embarrassing many a larger, and pricier, rival.

I’ve recommended the DragonFly Red quite a bit since 2017/2018 but there’s another option that could put an end to both the Red and Cobalt.

The Cobalt for sure is the best DragonFly AudioQuest has released up to now. It’s small, pretty, sounds great, is affordable and does full MQA. (Cobalt is a MQA-enabled-renderer product, so it ‘reveals’ the full MQA when paired with an MQA core decoder, like the Tidal app)

Superb sound and convenience, great design and build.

Price has always been an attractive feature of AudioQuest’s DragonFly DACs, but the flagship Cobalt justifies its heftier tag